When Garland County Library Director John Wells began working at the library 30 years ago today, it was located on Woodbine Street and had a small staff and outdated materials.
In the three decades that followed, the library moved to a new, modern location on Malvern Avenue and, under Wells' direction, has been catapulted into the modern era.
The library's board of directors began searching for a new location in 1991-92. The required funds were raised after voters approved a half-cent sales tax for one year beginning Dec. 31, 1992, and expiring on Nov. 30, 1993. The funds generated were to be used for constructing a new 35,000-square-foot building to house new materials, and for the renovation of the old Woodbine building to house Garland County government offices.
Construction of the new library began in early May 1994, and the grand opening was held on Oct. 15, 1995. By that time, the library had 60,000 items and 17,000 patrons. The items were computerized and the patrons were issued new plastic library cards with personal bar codes.
Fast forward to 2016, when the library had a total of 410,806 visitors for the year and another 41,804 were visited by staff at community outreach events.
"(Wells) has really brought the library into the modern library era as far as services that we offer. I started working here 10 years ago and we had just a handful of public internet computers and an outdated circulation system that we used that couldn't do a lot of the things that people want nowadays," said Adam Webb, the library's assistant director.
"When he came on 30 years ago there was a very small staff, funding wasn't great, and he ran all those campaigns to get the library funded to where we could do all of that, get us into a modern facility where we can provide the services that we do," Webb said.
Wells had a hand in starting different library and children's programs and bringing in outside concerts and plays for patrons to enjoy.
"He throws in ideas (for programs), but he lets us all throw in ideas. And if we fail, we fail. He's very supportive like that; you never know until you try," said Karen Covey, the library's circulation supervisor. "He will do anything for you. He's very family oriented; he understands, which is unusual in this day and time. If you've got to leave, you've got to leave. He will try to help you -- he's helped some of us move before. He's a kind guy, but he's a boss too."
The library has grown and thrived in the last 30 years under Wells' guidance. His work was recognized by the Arkansas Library Association in 2011 when he was awarded the Distinguished Service Award.
Wells' service to the community does not end at the library; he has also served as the board chair for the Hot Springs Family YMCA, been on the Arkansas Humanities Council board, and served on the Rotary Club of Hot Springs National Park board.
"Before I started here, I worked a lot of jobs, so I had a good indication of what bosses either are like or should be like," Webb said. "There's a reason why so many people stay here for as long as they do. That's really telling as far as his leadership goes. He's caring when he needs to be, he's open minded, willing to try anything. He's kind of a goofy guy but serious when it's needed. Hands down the best boss I've ever had."
Local on 03/17/2017