LITTLE ROCK NOTEBOOK: Visitors bureau promotes officials | Group endorses library millage reduction | Arkansas Tech student awarded library fellowship

2 people promoted at visitors bureau

The Little Rock Convention and Visitors Bureau has promoted two officials, according to a pair of news releases issued last week.

Kasey L. Summerville has been named vice president of marketing, communications and community engagement after previously serving as senior director of tax revenue since November 2017. Before that, she served as the Clark County assessor.

Additionally, Adam Berrios will serve as vice president of sales and services after working as the visitors bureau's director of sales since March 2021.

Group backs library in special election

The advocacy group Arkansas Community Organizations has endorsed the Central Arkansas Library System's request that voters reduce a local capital-improvement millage and refinance debt in a Tuesday special election in Little Rock.

"If it passes, property tax rates would be lower in Little Rock. The bond refinancing would create revenue for building improvements, a state of the art bookmobile and technology improvements," Arkansas Community Organizations said in a news release issued last week. "The library system in Little Rock has been a great resource for our neighborhoods. Let's show our support by voting FOR the [library system] proposal on the ballot."

If approved, the library system's capital-improvement millage rate in Little Rock would decline from 1.8 to 1.3 mills -- each mill represents the dollar amount in tax paid on every $1,000 of the tax-assessed value of a piece of property -- and officials expect the refinancing would generate more than $22 million.

Stricklin Fellowship goes to ATU student

Kimberly Green, an Arkansas Tech University student pursuing an M.A. thesis project, has been awarded the first Stricklin Fellowship from the Central Arkansas Library System, according to a library system news release issued Tuesday.

Green's thesis is titled "Their Struggles Continued: Contraband Camps of Civil War Arkansas."

In a statement included with the release, Green said she seeks to "probe documents for an understanding of how camps provided opportunities for African Americans to build community and define what freedom should mean," while also examining "sources for evidence relating to Black refugees' day-to-day challenges of survival in wartime."

The fellowship for up to $1,000 is named for former Butler Center for Arkansas Studies director David Stricklin, who recently stepped down.

Hampton appointed to board of library

The Little Rock Board of Directors during a meeting Tuesday approved a resolution to appoint Sybil Jordan Hampton to the Central Arkansas Library System's board of directors. Hampton will fill the remainder of the term of Marilynn Porter, which will expire at the end of 2023.

The resolution was approved as part of the consent agenda.

Directors support plan for South End

The Little Rock Board of Directors on Tuesday approved as part of its consent agenda a resolution of support for the South End Area Improvement Plan Revision, an update to an earlier South End Improvement Plan dating back to 2004.

The city's Planning Commission voted to endorse the plan in December.

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