Free for All: The Public Library \;tel ls the story of the quiet revolutionaries who made a simple idea happen. F rom the pioneering women behind the &ldquo\;Free Library Movement&rdquo\; to today's librarians who service the public despite working in a contenti ous age of closures and book bans\, meet those who created a civic institu tion where everything is free and the doors are open to all. \;
\n< p>Important Information: \;\nDoors open at 5:00pm\, and the fil m will begin at 6:00pm. \;Audience members are encouraged to arrive ea rly to enter to win library-themed prizes\, participate in a photo booth\, and shop a pop-up CALS Used Book Sale. April 1 is Library Giving Day\, a national one-day event to encourage people to support their local library system. The screening is free and open to the public. \;
\nFree Parking: \;
\nWe&rsquo\;re pleased to offer complimentary parkin g for all attendees. Parking is free in the library parking lot (across fr om the Main Library on Rock Street) or you can bring your ticket from the parking deck (next to the Main Library on Rock Street) inside the theater\ , and our staff will validate it for you.
\nAbout the Panelists:&nbs p\;
\nJudy Calhoun \;was the Director for the Southeast Arkansas Regional Library\, a five-county\, nine-branch system. She began her libr ary career 30 years ago in a small town where she was the library manager for 14 years\, 11 of those as a solo librarian. She has served as Presiden t of the Arkansas Library Association and President of the Association for Rural &\; Small Libraries. \; \;
\nNate Coulter \;pr acticed and taught law for more than 25 years before becoming the Executiv e Director of the Central Arkansas Library System (CALS) in 2016. CALS is a 15-branch system serving about 11% of the state&rsquo\;s population\, pr imarily in Little Rock. Under Coulter&rsquo\;s guidance\, CALS won substan tial voter approval in a pair of 2021 and 2022 millage elections that secu red the financial foundation of the library and enabled a $30M renovation of the Main Library. During Coulter&rsquo\;s tenure\, CALS won the prestig ious Jerry Kline Community Impact Prize (2021) and secured a federal court injunction (2023) blocking implementation of Arkansas&rsquo\; book ban la w. \; \;
\nAdam Webb \;is the Executive Director of the Garland County Library and has been working in public libraries for the l ast 18 years. He holds a Master&rsquo\;s Degree in Library and Information Sciences from the University of North Texas and is a Certified Public Lib rary Administrator. He is the President-Elect of the Arkansas Library Asso ciation and is a liaison to the American Library Association&rsquo\;s Comm ittee on Legislation. Alongside CALS Executive Director Nate Coulter\, Web b is a named plaintiff in the lawsuit challenging Arkansas&rsquo\; book ba n law. \;
\nKarama Neal \;(moderator) is principal for the N eal Firm\, LLC: Consulting and Mediation for Those on a Mission (www.nealf irm.co) and serves on the boards of the Central Arkansas Library System an d the Housing Assistance Council. In 2021\, she received a Presidential ap pointment to serve as administrator of the Rural Business-Cooperative Serv ice\, an agency of the Rural Development mission area at the U.S. Departme nt of Agriculture. Prior to that\, she was President of Southern Bancorp C ommunity Partners\, a CDFI loan fund and financial development organizatio n promoting economic mobility in rural Arkansas and Mississippi through de velopment lending\, public policy advocacy\, and asset building programs.& nbsp\;
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