About the ASI

The Arkansas Studies Institute (ASI) is a joint project of the Central Arkansas Library System (CALS) and the University of Arkansas at Little Rock (UALR). The Institute is housed in three buildings located in Little Rock's River Market District and is adjacent to the Main Library. The Institute is the state's largest free-standing facility dedicated to the study of Arkansas. Here students, scholars, and anyone interested in Arkansas history can gather to learn more about the people, places, and events that shaped the state's past and guide its future.

The expanded research resources include the papers of seven Arkansas governors, as well several hundred additional collections. The ASI is also home to the Butler Center's Encyclopedia of Arkansas History & Culture, a rich online source of information about the state.

Joining the Butler Center and UALR Special Collections are the Clinton School of Public Service, the Arkansas Humanities Council, and the business offices of The Oxford American magazine.

We invite you to explore Arkansas's history and culture in this wonderful new facility.

Three Centuries of Architecture

CALS has been actively involved in revitalizing the River Market District. Both the Main library and the Cox Center on the campus were rehabilitated, and development of the Arkansas Studies Institute continues that tradition by renovating two historic buildings on President Clinton Avenue:

• Porbeck & Bowman Building (1882)
  This building was owned by William Probst and Max Hilb, two German immigrants who owned a wholesale grocery and liquor distributorship. The original building included a two-story upper floor that was home to the Concordia Association, a Jewish social club.
• Geyer & Adams Building (1914)
  John E. Geyer and John Dudley Adams operated a wholesale grocery distributorship at this location. In 1914, they replaced an older building with this structure, designed by Charles Thompson.

In addition to the Porbeck & Bowman and Geyer & Adams buildings, the institute includes the new Manuscript and Rare Book Repository. This structure is connected to the Geyer & Adams building by a three-story glass atrium, and it houses a state-of-the-art manuscript and rare book storage facility with approximately 40,000 books and 10,000 linear feet of manuscripts.