What's Up - Your guide to what's happening in Fayetteville, AR this week!
Issue link: http://www.epageflip.net/i/1439772
Editor's Note: We like to look back this time every year at the stories that we think best captured the state of the arts in Northwest Arkansas and the River Valley. This year, we've been trying a new format. Each of us on the What's Up! staff selected her three favorite stories from 2021. We've reprinted them as they ran previously, with an update on what's happened since then. This final week, those three stories focus on the amazing and ambitious new Fayetteville Public Library; the popularity of cocktails in entertainment; and an international exhibition about genocide. This story originally appeared Jan. 10, 2021, in What's Up! LARA JO HIGHTOWER NWA Democrat-Gazette I have always imagined that Paradise will be a kind of a library," wrote Argentinian author Jorge Luis Borges. Indeed, when the Fayetteville Public Library — closed to the public since late September, when finishing touches on the expansion were being made — opens its doors later this month, those viewing the $49 million expansion may see Borges' prediction realized. I did, on a recent cold, windy December day when Samantha Herrera, FPL marketing and communications manager, gave my 10-year-old twins and me a tour of the new space. As it is for many in Northwest Arkansas, the FPL has always been an important place for our family — a happy destination for all four of us — and that's remained consistent from the time the kids were toddlers, pawing through board books, until today, as they gobble down chapter books and graphic novels. But like the demographics and interests of my own family, the Northwest Arkansas community is constantly in flux, and the FPL has made a commitment to keep up with that growth. When the Blair Library on Mountain Street first opened its doors in October 2004, it was an 88,000-square-foot, $23 million project that took visitors' breath away. A modernized version of the traditional library, it boasted a catalog of 270,000 books, 30,000 audiovisual titles and 500 periodicals, and an Arsaga's Cafe in its lobby made it even more of a community hub than it had been in its previous space on Dickson Street. The popularity and necessity of the new building became immediately apparent, and the ensuing years found the library constantly expanding its offerings, reaching maximum capacity on most of its events and running out of room for its burgeoning collections. Meeting and study rooms were in constant demand. Multi-use rooms meant chaos when one event immediately followed another. When a special election to consider a millage increase for an FPL expansion was held in August 2016, voters overwhelmingly approved the increase, and construction officially started in July 2018. Which brings us back to last month, when Herrera gave us our jaw-dropping tour. From the moment we walked into the atrium-like new entrance and gazed at artist Aimee Papazian's "Voyage of Lost Keys," a magical sculpture that seemingly hangs in mid-air, we were awed by the scale of the 80,000-square-foot-plus expansion. Floor-to-ceiling windows never let us forget the beautiful environment that surrounds the building. There is a new, 8,700-square-foot event center, and the size of the children's library has doubled. Other additions include a 16-station teaching kitchen, an Art and Movement room, the J.B. and Johnelle Hunt Family Center for Innovation and the J.B. and Johnelle Hunt Family Gathering Place. As Herrera explained the thoughtful function of each new space, one thing was abundantly clear: The prescient forethought of every choice made has the concept of community in mind. Small nooks and meeting spaces throughout are comfortable spots to gather. The Center for Innovation and community kitchen offer services that could help start or boost careers. A dedicated story time room and craft space give relief to frazzled moms of tots. The Art and Movement room will provide access to free or low-cost dance and exercise classes. A librarian close at hand in each section means questions can be answered quickly and easily. The spacious event center gives additional opportunities for more community members to see special speakers and productions. And, of course, there are the books, the beating heart of every library, regardless of how modern or technologically advanced it might be. FPL EVENT CENTER Herrera says the new event center was designed to meet a multitude of needs. The seating is flexible and can accommodate up to 500 people when set up for a banquet, 700 in stadium- style seating or 1,000 standing. It boasts a state-of-the-art control booth with a concert-quality sound system, as well as professional video production capabilities, a dressing room and a green room. Guests can walk from the parking garage directly across the outside Gathering Place to the center, bypassing the rest of the library entirely. FPL Executive Director David Johnson has high hopes for the center. "The center will allow us to hold a wide variety of events that space constraints in the original building made problematic," says Johnson. "For example, the Lois Lowry author event had over 900 people in attendance, far exceeding our 600-seat capacity. Attendees were standing in any available inch of space. When we hosted the Levon Helm documentary film and panel discussion, 'Ain't In It For My Health,' the Walker Room was at its maximum capacity of 275, and the lobby was filled with temporary overflow seating. The various banquets we've held — Fayetteville Public Education Foundation's Hall of Honor, the 'Up Among The Hills' Gala and documentary film premiere, the Miller Williams Memorial — have required a much more expansive shutdown of the library. Additionally, when FPL was scheduled to be Maya Angelou's final public speaking engagement, we moved all of the 2,000 tickets online in 28 minutes. "In sum, what we have learned since the opening of the Blair Library in 2004 is that the quality of events that the library brings to this community has generated tremendous demand that far outpaces our capacity." THE J.B. AND JOHNELLE HUNT FAMILY GATHERING PLACE "This outdoor community gathering space is comparable in size to the historic Fayetteville square," according to the FPL. "It features polished stone amphitheater seating that surrounds an open, grassy area lined by benches and native trees." Herrera says this space can be used for organized events — with space for up to 1,000 guests — or in a more casual way, as a place to study, read or socialize. TEACHING KITCHEN With 16 cooking stations and a walk-in refrigerator and freezer, the 1,500-plus-square-foot teaching JANUARY 2-8, 2022 WHAT'S UP! 5 YEAR IN REVIEW Books And Beyond FPL expands spaces for art, music, food, family, fitness The new wing features designated sections for teens, ages 6-plus, and babies and toddlers, which you can see in this photo. The antique aircraft are on permanent loan from the Arkansas Air and Military Museum, also in Fayetteville. (NWA Democrat-Gazette/Andy Shupe) See Library Page 38