Library in Fayetteville

The Story of the Library in Fayetteville

The Fayetteville Public Library traces its roots to 1916, when it opened in the basement of the Washington County Courthouse. Its current downtown home, designed by Meyer, Scherer and Rockcastle of Minneapolis, opened in October 2004 as an 88,000-square-foot building and became the first building in Arkansas to register with the U.S. Green Building Council, later earning LEED Silver certification.

In 2005 Library Journal named the Fayetteville Public Library its national Library of the Year. Following a 2013 expansion master plan, the library completed a major addition in 2021 that more than doubled its size to roughly 170,500 square feet, adding event and innovation centers, a teaching kitchen and dedicated spaces for children and teens.

About Public Libraries in Fayetteville

Fayetteville is served by the independent Fayetteville Public Library, whose Blair Library at 401 W. Mountain Street is the city's central public library. A separate agency, the Washington County Public Library System, is headquartered in Fayetteville but operates its public branches in surrounding towns such as Elkins, Farmington, Greenland, Lincoln, Prairie Grove, Springdale, West Fork and Winslow. A free Fayetteville Public Library card is available to anyone who lives, works, owns property or attends school in the area and unlocks books, eBooks, audiobooks, streaming media, public computers and the statewide Traveler databases.

Traveler is Arkansas's statewide digital library, paid for by the Arkansas State Library and free to every resident with no registration required. It provides remote access to subscription databases for research, news, magazines, e-books, genealogy, health, business and K–12 student resources.

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