The year 2025 promises to be a historic one for the Berryville Public library and, by extension, for the town of Berryville. Groundbreaking on the new library should happen sometime in the first half of the year, so the library should be finished either at the very end of the year or, more likely, in early 2026. Preparation for the new building has made us at the Berryville Library nostalgic and reflective, not just about the library’s history but also about the town’s history. Other seminal moments in Berryville Library history occurred in 1938 and 1978, so we’ll be looking back this year on what Berryville was like then, as well as what it is like now, as we also look to the future.
Continue reading “Celebrate Berryville: March”Tag: local history
Celebrate Berryville: February
The year 2025 promises to be a historic one for the Berryville Public library and, by extension, for the town of Berryville. Groundbreaking on the new library should happen sometime soon, so the library should be finished in early 2026. Preparation for the new building has made us at the Berryville Library nostalgic and reflective, not just about the library’s history but also about the town’s history. Other seminal moments in Berryville Library history occurred in 1938 and 1978, so we’ll be looking back this year on what Berryville was like then, as well as what it is like now, as we also look to the future.
Continue reading “Celebrate Berryville: February”Celebrate Berryville: January
The year 2025 promises to be a historic one for the Berryville Public library and, by extension, for the town of Berryville. Groundbreaking on the new library should happen sometime in the first quarter of the year, so the library should be finished either at the very end of the year or, more likely, in early 2026. Preparation for the new building has made us at the Berryville Library nostalgic and reflective, not just about the library’s history but also about the town’s history. Other seminal moments in Berryville Library history occurred in 1938 and 1978, so we’ll be looking back this year on what Berryville was like then, as well as what it is like now, as we also look to the future.
Continue reading “Celebrate Berryville: January”Local Roots: December
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 December, we’re looking at our collection of local interest journals and magazines.
Continue reading “Local Roots: December”Local Roots: November
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 November, in honor of Family History Month, we’re looking at local history.
Continue reading “Local Roots: November”Sean Fitzgibbon’s What Follows Is True
The Crescent Hotel is one of the most famous attractions in Eureka Springs, so it is also one of the most famous attractions in Carroll County. It has a long history and not just as a hotel. For a few infamous years in the 1930s, it was also a quack cancer hospital run by the infamous Norman Baker, who fleeced desperate patients and their families out of money.
Sean Fitzgibbon’s stunning graphic novel What Follows Is True: Crescent Hotel documents Baker’s rise and fall and his time at the Crescent while also contextualizing the story within the backdrop of the hotel and town’s more general history and the author’s time researching it all.
Continue reading “Sean Fitzgibbon’s What Follows Is True”Local Roots: February
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 February, we’re looking at history.
Continue reading “Local Roots: February”Molly May’s Witnesses for the Lamb (2021)
The arrival of new books at the library is always a matter of interest to me. Partially because I consider it research for this blog but also partially because I’m nosy and just want to see what’s new that I might like! A few weeks ago, Mary-Esther pulled this one aside and asked me if I’d heard about it or the crime in question. I hadn’t, but I was intrigued. Thanks to Mary-Esther for the excellent suggestion! This is a fascinating book about a bizarre crime that happened virtually next door to us forty years ago.
Continue reading “Molly May’s Witnesses for the Lamb (2021)”Book Buzz: Literary Science Fiction, A Genteel but Murderous Groundhog Day, Regional Ozark Literature
Every month, we’re profiling new-ish releases that are getting critical and commercial buzz. For July, we’re looking at a haunting story about families and scientific experimentation gone awry, a madcap mystery set on a British estate, and an anthology collection of local literature.
Nita Gould’s Remembering Ella (2018)
One of the more infamous crimes in our local area is the gruesome 1912 murder of Ella Barham in rural Boone County, which is just next door to us here in Berryville. I must confess, I had never actually heard of the crime until I read this book. Author Nita Gould has family ties to the case–Ella is a cousin, though one who died long before Gould was born. As Gould quickly learned when she started researching the case, local oral tradition of the case is unreliable and contradictory, so she instead turned to the extensive news coverage of the crime and court files to detail the murder of the vivacious eighteen-year-old and the subsequent arrest and trial of one of her neighbors. Thank you to Julie for ordering this book for me!
Berryville Book Buzz 