Difference between revisions of "William F. Laman Public Library"
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Revision as of 12:14, 9 July 2009
The William F. Laman Public Library is located at 2801 Orange Street in North Little Rock, Arkansas. The library has an Argenta branch at 506 Main Street. The library is named for longtime mayor William F. "Casey" Laman.
North Little Rock's first public library was established through a special local tax passed in 1945. The City of North Little Rock hired Myrtle Deason as the first librarian and the library opened in 1947. The first library for the city was located in a two-story house at 211 Maple Street. As city services were segregated at the time, a library for black patrons was established at 808 East Thirteenth Street.
A civic improvement bond championed by library director Elsie Wiesenberger in 1959, led to the construction of the present Laman Public Library in 1962. The library opened on December 30th of that year. The first library director in the new building was Helen Elrod. Four directors followed: Wilma Ankrum, Patricia O'Bannon, Nancy Pack, and Jeffrey L. Baskin.
Library facilities expanded in 1970 and again in 2002. The library now has about fifty thousand square feet of space. Laman Library is framed by Laman Plaza, which contains a gazebo designed in the 1960s by architect E. Fay Jones.
The Argenta Branch of the Laman Public Library opened in May 2006 in the renovated old City Hall and adjacent fire station. The facility is shared with the North Little Rock History Commission.
