Page 7 - Downtown LR Partnership 2016

TOP OF THE ROCK
Each year at the Downtown Little Rock Partnership Annual Meeting, a Top of the Rock Award is given to an organization, business or individual that has demon- strated extraordinary advancement for downtown Little Rock. From urban devel- opers who’ve helped revitalize the down- town core to publicly funded education organizations over the past 22 years, the ways the Top of the Rock honorees have shaped the city are as varied as the award winners themselves.
They include Anne Laidlaw and the Arkansas Building Authority, Entergy Arkansas, the late Doyle Rogers Sr., Judge Floyd “Buddy Villines, Dr. Dean Kum- puris, the Witt Stephens Jr. Central Arkan- sas Nature Center, the University of Ar- kansas’ Clinton School of Public Service, Walter E. Hussman Jr. and more.
The Central Arkansas Library Sys- tem, or CALS, (cover photo) and Bobby Roberts are the most recent recipients for this prestigious award. Roberts has been the director of CALS since 1989, retir- ing in March 2016. During his tenure, our library system, with its headquarters downtown, has been recognized as one of
the premier library systems in the country. Roberts has been involved with down- town development since he joined the staff of CALS. He has served on the board of the Downtown Little Rock Partnership and is a member of the River Market Neighbor- hood Association, the Little Rock Regional
Chamber and many other organizations. His first significant downtown-devel- opment move was to relocate the Main Library to the abandoned Fones Brothers warehouse at 100 Rock St. in 1997. As the River Market District developed, the Main Library campus did, as well. The Cox Cre- ative Center was opened in 2001, the Ar- kansas Studies Institute building in 2009, and the Ron Robinson Theater in 2014. A
new parking deck will open in 2016.
For more than 100 years, the Central Arkansas Library System, Arkansas’ largest public library system, has helped patrons with materials and services for their infor- mation and enjoyment. Books, DVDs, au- dio books and computers are available at 14 CALS branches for Pulaski and Perry coun- ty residents. Last year, over 2 million people visited the system’s branches and checked
out more than 2.5 million items.
Bobby Roberts
CALS offers free wireless access in all branches, laptop computers for in- house checkout, a state-of-the-art RFID self-check system, an “Ask-a-Librarian” chat function for immediate service, and thousands of e-books and audio books in the downloadable library. Program- ming and resources are all free.
2016 | DOWNTOWN LITTLE ROCK 7