What's Up - Your guide to what's happening in Fayetteville, AR this week!
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but not, 'Oh, there's my friend Sandy, doing Downward Dog.'" Herrera says the FPL envisions classes like tai chi, yoga and dance will be held in this room, as well as adult art classes when tables are added. "Personally, I am really excited for the Art and Movement Room," says Fitzgibbon. "Intellectual wellness and physical wellness are closely tied, and having affordable, unintimidating access to movement-based programs provides important health literacy to our community. I am also excited for all of the opportunities the expansion offers my preschool-age daughter, who will grow up with tremendous access to the arts and technology." Post-pandemic, Hoover says the room will be available to local organizations as a rental for dance and exercise classes. Children's Library If you're between the ages of 6 months and 18 years old, you can't help but feel valued by the FPL's expansion. Or so my 10-year-olds tell me, loudly and multiple times, on the way home from our tour. The new building doubles the space dedicated to these age groups, with 32,000 square feet split into three separate areas for pre-schoolers, grade schoolers and teenagers. Each new area has its own distinct personality: Bright colors and accessible book bins will attract preschoolers to their downstairs space, and they won't be able to tear their eyes away from the retired antique airplanes that swoop above their heads where they hang from the soaring ceiling. The Walmart Story Time Room has a puppet theater, and the dedicated craft room means no more juggling chairs and art supplies to try and make one room fit all needs. Two parents' rooms also allow for quiet feedings. Upstairs, the space for early adolescents features comfortable chair groupings and tables. My kids couldn't take their eyes from the row after row of chapter books, many of which are new. Study rooms and alcoves line one side of the room, offering ample space for quiet retreats. Across the way, you'll find the teenage space, decorated in a soothing blue with hip, space-age swivel chairs. Cunning little nooks are cut into the walls, complete with electrical outlets with which to charge devices, and study rooms come complete with large monitors. Oh, and there's a dedicated game room, something my children were beside themselves to discover — though they'll have to wait a year to enjoy it. The teen section is limited to kids from the ages of 11 to 18; while others can access the books in that section, hanging out is strictly limited to that age range. www.malco.com 479-439-8125 www.malco.com www.malco.com 6 WHAT'S UP! JANUARY 10-16, 2021 COVER STORY Jessica Smith is one of the many new hires the FPL has made during the expansion. She's going to be working in the Children's Library and, judging from the way she answered every question my children threw at her, she'll be very good at it. "It's beyond exciting," she says when I ask her what the experience of working in the new section has been like so far. "Everything is so new and beautiful. It's like we came in, and I feel immediately spoiled rotten. Everything is top notch." (NWA Democrat-Gazette/Lara Jo Hightower) FPL Continued From Page 5