KELLAMS: This is Ozarks at Large.
All this month, the Springdale Public Library is hosting a special fundraiser in conjunction with National Library Card Sign-Up Month. The Springdale Public Library Foundation is offering a match, and money raised will be used to bring authors into the library to talk with the public about their work.
This week, Anne Gresham, the library's Director, and Laurie Marshall, President of the Springdale Public Library Foundation Board, came to the Carver Center for Public Radio to tell us more about the fundraiser. I first asked Anne Gresham what a typical day at the Springdale Public Library sounds like.
GRESHAM: Probably doesn't sound like what you might think a library sounds like. It would probably be a little bit louder. You would hear more conversation. You would hear the toddler crowd coming in for storytime at 10:30 a.m. You would hear a group of teenagers in a school group having a tour with our young adult librarian. You would hear book carts going by. You would also hear the sounds of construction, which I do apologize for, but it's not going to last too much longer.
KELLAMS: All right. Let's talk about the fundraiser then. What does this entail?
MARSHALL: For every donation that we receive in September, the foundation for the library is going to match up to $5,000. And the goal of the fundraiser is to bring in a series of authors in 2026. When patrons ask us for more programming, bringing in authors for readings and workshops is always at the top of their list.
KELLAMS: So to do that, you're looking to create an author fund.
MARSHALL: We are. We just loaded our brand-new foundation page to the website, and we are already accepting donations. We've had a few over the last 24 hours. We're really excited. We're hoping folks in the community see the value in what we're doing at the Springdale Public Library, and they want to jump in.
KELLAMS: You're just starting the fundraiser. Have you allowed yourself to think about who, or maybe what kind of authors?
GRESHAM: We are planning to schedule these for 2026, and the scope of our programming will be dependent on what kind of funds come in. We would like to focus on local and Arkansas writers, at least initially, because I think there's so much talent and so much creativity in our region that we could really bring a spotlight on.
MARSHALL: Springdale Public Library is restricted a little bit by our size and the space that we're sitting in in Murphy Park in Springdale, and probably also by just funds. One of the things we really like to think about in the foundation is how we can set ourselves apart. Fayetteville does a great job with bringing in world-acclaimed authors. Bentonville has done the same. Springdale is really proud of being able to carve out a little niche that's more local, more community-based. That's probably where we're going to focus on.
KELAMS: How do people make a contribution?
GRESHAM: You can make a contribution in person at the library. We have a cash donation box. There are QR codes posted on that donation box if you prefer to pay with your phone—with Apple Pay or Venmo or whatever is most convenient for you.
MARHSALL:We will take it any way you’ve got it.
GRESHAM: You can also visit the foundation's website at https://www.springdalelibraryfoundation.org/ and make a donation that way. That can be set up as a one-time donation, which would be matched by the foundation, or you could set up a monthly contribution if you wanted your support to be more ongoing.
KELLAMS: Let me ask you a question you didn’t expect, but where did you grow up? I've got a reason behind this.
GRESHAM: I grew up in Harrison, Arkansas, but I was also a library kid, and so I grew up in Narnia and Middle Earth and Prydain and all of these imagined lands at the same time.
KELLAMS: So you're a Golden Goblin.
MARSHALL: I was born in Fayetteville and grew up in Arkansas and Texas and back in Arkansas.
KELLAMS: The reason I bring this up—I grew up near Mountain Home. So you and I are from the same area.
GRESHAM: Oh, okay.
KELLAMS: We were football rivals. Very intensely so.
GRESHAM: Yes. And Harrison almost always won, I have to admit.
KELLAMS: The reason I brought it up is because I grew up in rural Arkansas. Not even in Mountain Home. I didn't see and hear from someone who had written a book until I got to college. And I wonder if you think about the value of someone who is 17 or older, getting to hear from people who've written the book that you've read and enjoyed?
GRESHAM: Absolutely. I don't think that can be overstated. I think there is so much power in meeting creators, whether they are graphic novelists or illustrators or writers or short story writers or poets. There is so much value in human ability to produce art, and it's very easy to miss out on that, especially if you've grown up in a context where that was not part of daily conversations in your household. That doesn't mean that you might not wander into the library and hear the person speak who changes your life.
MARSHALL: I have to agree. I write now and I consider myself a writer, but I never had the idea of being a writer. I wrote when I was young all the time, but it never occurred to me that was a job you could have. And the breadth of different kinds of writing—I never understood that was a thing. Seeing someone sit in front of you and say, “This is a thing I created, and you could also create something like this,” you can't put a number on that. That's amazing.
KELLAMS: Where can people go to either find out more about the library or make a contribution?
GRESHAM: For more about the library, if you visit https://springdalelibrary.org/, you will find resources to last you for months, if not years. We have all of our online resources there, our library catalog, and information about our many programs and events.
If you are interested in contributing to the Library Foundation, visit https://www.springdalelibraryfoundation.org/. There’s more information about that organization, as well as instructions for contributing.
KELLAMS: And if you want to get a card?
GRESHAM: Please come and talk to us. We would be happy to see you. Anyone who lives, works, goes to school, or owns property in Washington County or within the city limits of Springdale—because a portion of the city is in Benton County—is eligible for a free card with us. We would need to see a photo ID, and if your ID has your current address on it, that's all you'll need. Otherwise, if you could bring in a utility bill or a bank statement, anything that has your name and mailing address, we would love to get you set up with a free card.
KELLAMS: Thank you both for coming in.
MARSHALL: Thanks.
GRESHAM: Thank you.
KELLAMS: Anne Gresham is the director of the Springdale Public Library. Lori Marshall is the president of the Springdale Public Library Foundation Board. And for the record, Springdale Library says last year it hosted more than 750 free programs for the community.
Ozarks at Large transcripts are created on a rush deadline. Copy editors utilize AI tools to review work. KUAF does not publish content created by AI. Please reach out to kuafinfo@uark.edu to report an issue. The audio version is the authoritative record of KUAF programming.
