Photographic displays on such topics as the universe, life during the Atomic Age, the Beatles’ arrival in America and an Arkansas political cartoonist’s works are among planned exhibits for 2014 at North Little Rock’s William F. Laman Public Library System.

The library’s main branch, 2801 Orange St., has already scheduled six displays for its Exhibit Hall.

Three others have confirmed dates - with two other local exhibits in the works - for the system’s new Argenta branch gallery area that will be part of the renovated former downtown post office, 420 Main St. The new, $3.5 million library is set to open in March to replace the branch at 506 Main St.

All exhibits will be free and open to the public during library hours. The library’s current exhibit, “Lionels at Laman,” a handson display of model trains, runs through Tuesday.

With two sites available in 2014, the library system will offer different-sized exhibits, said Jeff Baskin, the library’s executive director, although themes will be similar. The main library’s museum-quality Exhibit Hall has 1,313 square feet while the Argenta branch gallery is estimated to be around 1,000 square feet, according to library data.

Library exhibits are categorized by size and chosen to match the available display space, Baskin said.

“It’s going to be essentially the same mix of exhibits,” Baskin said. “They will not be the same ones, obviously. It’s [the Argenta gallery] a smaller exhibit space. We’ll be choosing from different exhibits that will actually fit that space.”

Among the larger exhibits confirmed for the main branch is a Smithsonian National Museum of Natural History photographic display of “The Evolving Universe” that includes 27 full-color photographs, 11 illustrated text panels and a video presentation.

The photographs show “the awe-inspiring beauty of the cosmos as seen through high-powered terrestrial and orbitingtelescopes,” according to the Smithsonian’s description. The exhibit will run Jan. 25-April 6.

“Getting something from the Smithsonian is not easy,” said Dan Noble, the library’s public relations manager. “This enables visitors to see the cosmos from high-powered telescopes. It really is an amazing exhibit. We’re real happy to have that one.”LIVING WITH ATOMIC THREAT

From June 16-Aug. 11, the main library will exhibit “Alert Today, Alive Tomorrow: Living with the Atomic Bomb,” an exhibition that explores how Americans went through their daily lives under the constant threat of atomic warfare.

The exhibit covers 1945-1965, from the year the first atomic bombs were dropped on Hiroshima and Nagasaki, Japan, through the beginnings of the Cold War with the Soviet Union and the U.S. response in the years after the Soviets launched Sputnik into space in October 1957.

The exhibition provides an overview of life during the period when the Soviets acquired atomic capabilities.The exhibit examines how Americans received “atomic messages” that had citizens always on alert. Viewers will explore how the federal pamphlets, radio announcements and newspapers provided a steady stream of warnings to American families.

“The thematic phases go through how families faced that threat at home, at school, at the movies,” Noble said. “I think it will be one of the neatest exhibits we have.”

The first exhibit of 2014 will be “George Fisher: The Presidents,” part of the Arkansas Arts Center’s collection of works by the editorial cartoonist whose cartoons and caricatures of Arkansas politicians are part of state political folklore. Fisher worked from 1976-1991 for the former Arkansas Gazette and later for the Arkansas Times until his death in December 2003.

The exhibit, which will run from Saturday through Jan. 19, will display 30 drawings demonstrating Fisher’s “unapologetic depictions of the Nixon, Carter, Ford, Reagan, Bush and Clinton administrations” approached with “the swagger afforded a Washington outsider,” according to an exhibit description.

The opening of the Fisherexhibit will feature Arkansas Democrat-Gazette editorial cartoonist John Deering, who will discuss Fisher’s works, Baskin said. The opening will coincide with the announcement of the annual $10,000 Laman Library Writers Fellowship award recipient. The fellowship assists Arkansas authors in the writing and publishing of their work.

ARGENTA’S OPENING

The Argenta branch’s initial exhibits don’t have announced dates but will display historical images of North Little Rock’s Argenta district and the 50th anniversary of the Beatles’ arrival in the United States on Feb. 7, 1964, Baskin said.

The Beatles exhibit will be part of a larger one that will be displayed throughout North Little Rock’s downtown, Baskin said. The historical Argenta photographic display will provide a perspective of the city’s Main Street and Argenta neighborhoods, Baskin said.

Among the three traveling exhibits at the Argenta branch are: “Quiltmakers in Contemporary America,” an exhibition highlighting a range of quilting styles and techniques, July 5-Aug. 26; and “Grand Ole Opry,” Nov. 10-Jan. 7, 2015, a collection ofrare, behind-the-scenes photographs from 1952-1960 that document the popular radio and television show and the growth of country music during that period.

Images in the Grand Ole Opry collection will include a photo of Arkansas native Johnny Cash signing autographs backstage at the Opry.

Construction to renovate the former post office building will be complete in mid-January, Baskin said. The library is scheduled to open around March 1, allowing time to install 25 highspeed public computers, its furnishings and to transfer books and materials from the main library and the current Argenta branch.

The former post office building, built in 1931 and listed on the National Register of Historic Places, is being renovated based on blueprints discovered after its purchase late last year from the U.S. Postal Service. The post office closed June 15, 2012.

The renovated building is to provide about 15,000 square feet of library space, including an auditorium, a children’s library and a railroad history collection. The current Argenta branch has about 2,500 square feet.

Northwest Arkansas, Pages 7 on 12/30/2013