KUAR | By Tess Vrbin / Arkansas Advocate
From the Arkansas Advocate:
After more than two hours of debate, an Arkansas Senate committee advanced a proposal on Tuesday to abolish the Arkansas State Library and its board, which disburses state funding to local public libraries.
Senate Bill 536 would transfer the agency’s and board’s powers, authorities, funds, contracts and employees to the Arkansas Department of Education. The State Library is already under the department’s umbrella but operates independently.
The bill would delete all mentions of the State Library from existing state statute and make “prohibit[ing] access to age-inappropriate materials to a person who is sixteen (16) years old or younger” a condition for public libraries to receive state funds from the education department.
Bill to abolish Arkansas State Library and its board advances despite librarians’ opposition
Tess Vrbin/Arkansas Advocate
Five Arkansans spoke against Senate Bill 536 before the Senate Committee on State Agencies and Governmental Affairs on Tuesday, April 1, 2025. From left: Misty Hawkins, regional director of the Arkansas River Valley Regional Library System; Allie Gosselink, director of the Calhoun County Library; Debbie Hall, grants manager for the Arkansas State Library; John McGraw,executive director of the Faulkner-Van Buren Regional Library; and Clare Graham, Mid-Arkansas Regional Library System director.