Blog Entries

The children’s summer reading program encourages reading for pleasure and is designed to minimize summer learning loss. The objective of the summer reading program is to keep kids actively engaged in reading while encouraging family involvement at the same time. Preschool children who are too young to read independently can also participate. Because the best way to raise a reader is to read to a child, they will receive credit for the books read to them.  The theme this year is A Universe of Stories, so get ready for a universe of fun!

Let your mother know how much she means to you with a handmade Mother's Day Card from May 1 - May 11.  Stop by the Dallas Street Branch Library and use your creativity to make your own personalized card for Mom!  This drop-in do-it-yourself craft activity is open to all ages during regular library hours.  All materials are provided at this free program. 

The Association of American Publishers launched the first Get Caught Reading Month in 1999, to encourage a love of reading at all ages.  This nationwide campaign is now managed by Every Child a Reader and supported by the Lois Lenski Covey Foundation.  Ads and posters portray famous actors, authors, athletes, singers, and even well-known book characters taking up the cause to get “caught reading” a book.

In May, the staff at the Miller Branch wants to catch you reading!  A display in the library entrance shows off some of our customers who were "busted" reading insi...

Have you ever tried to pick up one of the letters on the sidewalk in front of the Main Library?  You are not alone!  Many of our library visitors, both young and old, attempt to pick them up when they spy them on the ground.  The bronze letters spell out the title of the sculpture in the fountain "T-R-A-N-S-E-N-D-U-R-A-N-C-E" beginning with the "T" at the fountain and ending with the "E" in front of the building.  The sculptor, Douglass Warnock, entitled his work Transendurance, a compound word inspired by the two qualities he thought best exemplified the strugg...

Kanopy showcases more than 30,000 of the world’s best films, including award-winning documentaries, rare and hard-to-find titles, film festival favorites, indie and classic films, and world cinema with collections from Kino Lorber, MusicBox Films, Samuel Goldwyn,The Orchard, The Great Courses, PBS and thousands of independent filmmakers.  Kanopy provides access to films of unique social and cultural value; films that are often difficult or impossible to access elsewhere, and programming that features diversity, with a wide array of foreign language films and films on race, and current ...

The Miller Branch Library recently hosted a special storytime event on the evening of March 26th.  Children were encouraged to wear pajamas and bring a beloved stuffed animal to cuddle with while they enjoyed the storytime, which featured monster stories, monster songs, and a pajama craft. 

After storytime, children answered a questionnaire about their stuffed friends and "checked them in" to the library for the night.  Once the library closed for the evening, the stuffed animals settled down for a rest...  Or did they...?

Photograp...

Get ready for the release of Marvel’s Avengers: Endgame with our DIY Superhero Art activity at the Dallas Street Branch Library.  This drop-in Do-It-Yourself activity will allow you to use your creativity to create your own superhero art using optional stencils or tracing paper.  Superhero graphic art coloring will also be available.  Make your own superhero comic strip if you feel like it!  This activity will be available April 22 - 27 and is open to all ages.

Every April we celebrate National Poetry Month, which was started by the Academy of American Poets in 1996. 

National Poetry Month aims to encourage people to read poems, increase the attention paid to poetry by the media, and encourage support for poets and poetry. For more information about the Academy of American Poets’ celebration, visit their website.

Keep reading to find out how you can celebrate National Poetry Month at the library. 

This April at the Main Library&nbs...

April is National Poetry Month!  It is the largest literary celebration in the world and is celebrated by readers, students, teachers, librarians, booksellers, publishers, bloggers, and, of course, poets (poets.org). Poetry holds an important place in our culture and our lives. Poetry has a special place in our children’s lives as well.  Some of the first poems babies hear are Mother Goose rhymes such as Patty Cake, This Little Piggy and Mary Had a Little Lamb.  The rhythm, rhyme, and parental interaction are all bricks in the foundation of early literacy skill...

Spring is coming in hot and bringing some hot new releases.   Check out our most anticipated new releases hitting the YA section.

Back at it after her mega-hit The Hate U Give, Angie Thomas released On the Come Up in February, and we couldn’t wait to get our hands (and eyes) on it.

Sixteen-year-old Bri wants to be one of the greatest rappers of all time. It’s hard to get your come up, though, when you’re labeled “trouble” at school and your fridge at home is empty after your mom loses her job. But Bri’s success is all that stands between her family and homele...

What happens at the library after the lights go out?  Bring your favorite stuffed animal to the library for our annual Pajama Storytime & Stuffed Animal Sleepover and maybe you will find out!  Kids of all ages and their families are invited to the Miller Branch Library on Tuesday, March 26th at 5:30 PM for a very special bedtime storytime.  Children are encouraged to wear pajamas and bring a favorite stuffed animal friend.  After everyone enjoys some bedtime stories, songs, and a craft, the stuffed animals will then have the opportunity to stay at the library for a s...

Join us at the Main Library during spring break week, March 18 – 21, for a variety of fun FREE programs and events! Rain or shine, we will be having a great time at the library.

Lego Club – Monday, March 18, 5 – 6 PM

Kids, Tweens, and Teens are invited to this awesome program to design, create, and build unique creations with the LEGO Club!  LEGO Club is free and all supplies are provided – just bring your imagination! 

I Spy @ the Library! - Tuesday, March 19, 9 AM – 9 PM

What can you spy with your eye?  Grab your magnifying glass ...

Airplanes are flying at the Dallas Branch Library for Teen Tech Week!  Join us for our Paper Airplane Challenge for kids and teens on Friday, March 8, from 3:30 – 4:30 PM. Stop by afterschool and use your design skills to make your own paper airplane and compete with your friends to see which will fly the longest distance.  Gift cards will be awarded to 1st, 2nd, and 3rd place winners. Kids and Teens of all ages are invited to participate in this free afterschool program in celebration of Teen Tech Week.

Celebrate National Library Week with YOUR library April 7 – 13, 2019!  “Libraries = Strong Communities” is this year’s theme, and the Fort Smith Public Library is the “Community Front Porch.” We hope you’ll stop by and see us this week to check out a book or movie, use a computer, read a magazine, participate in storytime, join us for The Book Lover’s Club, use one of our meeting rooms, or just say hello to your friends behind the desk.

First sponsored in 1958, National Library Week is a national observance sponsored by the American Library Association (ALA) and libraries acr...

Have you visited Dewey’s Café lately?  Stop by to enjoy one of our daily sandwich specials; we offer new specials every quarter.  Current offerings for summer include:

Monday – Chicken Cheddar Ciabatta Melt
Tuesday – Southwest Chicken Wrap
Wednesday – Philly Cheese Steak Sandwich
Thursday – Italian Grinder Sandwich
Friday – PB & J on a Croissant

All sandwich specials are $6.50 (except Friday, which is $5.50) and include your choice of chips, pickle, cookie, or an apple.  Substitute a side salad for $1.75. 

We ...