Lots has changed in the years the Berryville Library has been in our current building. We expect lots will change in the years the library will be housed in the new building we are hoping to break ground on soon. That’s why we think it is so important as we move towards this bigger, better future to remember our roots. To that end, we have created the Berryville Library Legacy Project, which lets donors highlight a piece of local history of their choice by selecting photographs to be displayed on the end of a shelving unit at the new library. We also remain committed to helping create a sense of place through our collection, so we are going to highlight our Arkansas section this year. Each month, we’ll look at some of the different books and resources in that collection that feature unique parts of the history and culture of Berryville, Carroll County, the Ozarks, and Arkansas. There’s lots to explore about this place we call home! For May, we’re looking at travel guides.
If you want to conduct your own driving adventure across Arkansas, you can’t beat Patti DeLano’s Arkansas Off The Beaten Path. It breaks the state into regions and then profiles sites, attractions, and destinations that often fly under the radar, so it is a great resource whether you’re planning a road trip to new-to-you locations or just want some ideas for places close to home you may have overlooked.
We also have some older classics, such as Bryan Hendricks’s Arkansas: A Guide to Backcountry Travel and Adventure, which is a wonderful guide to the many natural wonders of The Natural State. You can also brush up on your local history as you travel with Alan C. Paulson’s Roadside History of Arkansas.
If you’d rather stay home and read about others’ travels–who doesn’t love a little staycation?–then we have you covered there too.
Rex Nelson’s Southern Fried: Going Whole Hog in a State of Wonder channels his long-time Arkansas Democrat-Gazette travel column into a book. He’s been venturing across the state since he was a child, taking business trips with his dad, and he still loves nothing more than wandering our back roads and visiting small towns.
Meanwhile, Todd Parnell’s The Buffalo, Ben, and Me is a more focused travel memoir, concentrating on the fateful float trip he took on the Buffalo River in 1995 with his then-middle-school-aged son Ben. At the time, Parnell was a banker feeling stagnant in his life, and Ben was floundering in school, struggling with a learning disability and poor self-esteem. The Parnells’ trip, covering 125 miles from Ponca to the White River, had its share of challenges but also brought the two together and inspired a lasting love of ecology and a passion for protecting Ozark waterways in both of them.
You can also check out our many Tim Ernst Arkansas hiking guides, which we profiled last year.
Are you a frequenter of our Arkansas section? Did you even know we had an Arkansas section? What’s your favorite resource on traveling in Arkansas? What’s your favorite Arkansas location? Tell us in the comments! As always, please follow this link to our online library catalog for more information on any of our items or to place them on hold.
Berryville Book Buzz 