Library Makes Bold Statement in Pine Bluff

So Much More Than Just Books on Shelves!

Floor-to-ceiling windows provide natural light on all three levels as well as views of downtown in every direction. Much of the library's book inventory is housed on the street level, along with a large community room and administrative offices.

Books for younger readers, including the Ann Lightsey Children's Library, are housed on the second level. There's also a set of steps and seating tiers dubbed the "story steps" that lead up to a teen loft where young people can hang out, listen to music, play video games, study, read, and relax.

Young makers have their own creative space where they can explore activities from creating slime to experimenting with robotics.

This facility offers all the amenities one would expect in a modern library, such as a computer lab and comfortable reading areas, and some features that are found only in a cutting-edge library of the 2020s.

For instance, you’ll find a pair of studios outfitted with the latest recording equipment, including a sound mixer, a keyboard, using Apple Logic Pro X as the mixing software. There's also a state-of-the-art video editing studio.

These studios are available for use by anyone in the community. All you need is a flash drive which you use to bring in your virtual instruments or loops, and then to save your finished masterpiece, be it a podcast, video production, oral history, or music video.

Another unexpected resource is the teaching kitchen, fully equipped with an induction range and convection oven, two refrigerators, two microwaves, three prep tables, a dishwasher, and all  the necessary pots, pans, and utensils budding chefs will use as they learn how to create mouth-watering feasts.

The Pine Bluff/Jefferson County Library System’s main branch is located at 600 South Main Street and is open Monday – Thursday, 9:00AM-6:00PM, Fridays, 9:00AM-4:30PM and Saturdays, 9:00AM-2:00PM.

At first glance, you might reasonably assume an alien spaceship landed on the corner of Sixth Avenue and Main Street in downtown Pine Bluff. But in fact, it is the recently opened main branch of the Pine Bluff-Jefferson County Library System. Rendered in steel, glass, anodized aluminum and planes of matte yellow ochre, this angular structure appears able to take flight at any moment. And maybe that’s an appropriate allusion to the flghts of imagination that will take place within.