About Us

The team at the Carroll and Madison Library System administrative office (aka CAMALS) work in conjunction with the six unique member libraries in our region, including the Berryville Public Library, the Eureka Springs Carnegie Public Library, the Green Forest Library, the Madison County Public Library (located in Huntsville), the Kingston Community Library, and the St. Paul Public Library to facilitate the sharing of collections, services, and systems. Sharing these resources helps our small libraries save money and increase access for our communities; working together, we are able to achieve more! So what is it that we do exactly? Read on to find out!

Kris has catalogued over three million items in her more than twenty years working for CAMALS. With few exceptions, almost every print book, audiobook, DVD, kit, or ‘Thing’ you can borrow from any of our libraries has first crossed Kris’ desk where she assigns it a catalog record, a barcode and a call number (you can think of the call number like the item’s home address!) to each item. All of these elements come together to help library staff keep track of and retrieve the items, and for patrons to discover these items in the online catalog! In addition to her skills as a cataloguer, Kris also operates the interlibrary loan service for CAMALS – the service that connects our patrons to items not owned by one of our six libraries – through an international network of libraries that reciprocally loan and borrow items from one another on behalf of their patrons. Kris also makes weekly deliveries for the ‘intra-library’ sharing of collections between CAMALS member libraries, driving a 150 mile route with stops at each location in the two counties. In addition to all of that, Kris also manages CAMALS’ social media accounts!

Vicki applies the recycled (and recyclable!) plastic library book covers that protect library materials and helps them stand up to the wear and tear that comes with the territory of being an item shared among many. Vicki carefully places the many labels and stickers essential for identifying and tracking library materials, packages items being sent out and returned through interlibrary loan, and she makes weekly trips to the post office to send these items on their way. Vicki is also responsible for mending and repairing library items, from regluing book spines and securing loose pages to buffing out the scratches on DVDs and CDs – she is essential for ensuring the physical longevity of library collections.

2024 CAMALS Board of Directors

Pat Anderson, President

Peggy Lodewyks, Vice President

Tamitha Blocker, Treasurer

Anne Greene

Anita Engert

190 B Spring Street Eureka Springs AR 72632