Public Library

Blair Library
Fayetteville's Blair Public Library

Fayetteville's Blair Public Library is a community hub and intellectual center that will serve as a downtown anchor for decades to come. The library is technologically savvy and also filled with comfortable, cozy, reading niches and study areas. More than just a building, Blair Library is the home of an extensive and excellent collection of books, periodicals and media that will grow to more than 300,000 volumes in the coming years. Blair Library meets the informational needs of our community - from fiction to film and from children's literature to resources for homework. In every way, Blair library provides the perfect setting for both traditional and 21st Century library services.

Blair Library was recently designated by the U.S. Green Building Council as a LEED® silver-certified building for its environmentally-friendly design and operation.

Blair Library is a certified "green" building. It is the first building in Arkansas to be registered with the U.S. Green Building Council's LEED certification program. The new library's many green features include a cistern to catch rainwater for irrigation, waterless urinals, a white reflective roof, a terrace surrounded by a "green" roof of plants to minimize heat reflection, lumber from sustainable forests, automatic and stationary sun shades, and many furnishings that feature recycled materials. In addition, the building meets or exceeds tough standards for building envelope, systems and indoor air quality.

LEED Certification

http://www.faylib.org/new_library/pdf/LEED.pdf
Thomson Gale/Library Journal Award
Library Journal Award

2005 Library of the Year

The Fayetteville Public Library building can now stake a claim to being the best library in the country. The June 15, 2005 issue of the Thomson Gale/Library Journal proclaims the library "Library of the Year for 2005". The Blair Library is recognized by a national organization as the best in the nation for service to the community; creativity and innovation in community programs; and leadership.

For earning this honor, the library received a check for $10,000. Notable factors contributing to the receipt of the award included:
- Since 1998, the number of visits and cardholders has tripled
- The Fayetteville Public Library Foundation raised $8.1 million to complete and endow the library building
- Attendance at summer reading programs and workshops increased four-fold since 1998

RESOURCE AVAILABLE FOR STARTING A SMALL BUSINESS:
New software for library members provides budding entrepreneurs with the steps to begin their own business. "The Business Plan Handbook" is an online resource available at the link below under the heading Digital Library.

Library Facts & Features
  • Size: 88,000 square feet
  • Capacity: 300,000 items
  • Public computers: 130
  • Seating capacity: 264 reader seats
  • Free wireless internet to library cardholders and visitors

Meeting facilities:

  • A large room seating 200
  • A board room seating 26
  • A large study room seating 6

Special places:

  • Large traditional reading room
  • Computer lab for 26 adults
  • Fireplace room
  • Two outdoor terraces
  • 5 study rooms
  • Large quiet study room for 10

Special places for children:

  • KidsTech area for 12
  • Read Aloud room and collection
  • 3 study rooms
  • Earth, Air, Fire, and Water children's reading niches

Fayetteville Public Library

http://faylib.org/