Change, change and more change would be one good way to describe the past year at the Arkansas State Library. On March 15, 2010, the Arkansas State Library completed its move to its new home at 900 West Capitol Ave, Suite 100 in Little Rock and opened its door to the public for the first time in nearly four months.

The changes over the past year have included re-locating the Patent/Trademark Collection and making it accessible on the State Library’s online catalog for the first time. The creation of a new Patents and Trademark work space, now located on the second floor of the new facility, with a dedicated computer and printer for researching Patents/Trademarks and federal and state government information only is also a first. This computer/printer station also serves as the CASSIS work station and provides access to several federal government information DVDs as well. A new staffing schedule insures that the Patents/ Trademark Reference Desk have a reference librarian available to provide service Monday through Friday from 8 a.m. to 4:30 p.m.

I am happy to report that there have been no staff changes this year. The reference staff has continued to provide information and other services to Arkansas inventors including the Arkansas Inventor’s Network. The reference staff has gave patent/trademark presentations to interested persons and reference librarians at the University of Arkansas at Little Rock (UALR), at the Central Arkansas Library System, Main Branch and at the Arkansas Library Association’s Annual Meeting in Hot Springs, AR.

-- Michael Strickland