Justin Vess

My name is Justin Vess. I learned to love riding a bike on our dirt driveway between chicken houses and hay fields in rural Yell county. I first experienced true independence as a teen while attending ASMS public residential high school in Hot springs as the last class of the afternoon was dismissed and we were unleashed to explore the traditional, walkable downtown on foot. There were so many adventures, miles of walking, and only a little mischief. I think I’ve been chasing that experience since. My early adult-hood in college in Russellville, Arkansas was much more dependent on driving a car. Although I did have many interesting adventures exploring the state by car during that time, I came to realize that living far away from work or school and driving everywhere I needed to go was not the way I wanted to live. I did make probing starts into commuting by bike or on foot to work, but it wasn’t until moving to Little Rock and experiencing various expensive car calamities that I truly made commuting by bike a large part of my day-to-day life. In fact, for several years while working at a bike shop and newspaper, both relatively close to downtown, I had been able to largely use a bicycle to commute to work and fulfill my other daily needs while I cycled through one unreliable used car after another that mostly gathered dust.

Today, I still feel quite comfortable as an experienced cyclist navigating many areas of the city to accomplish the necessities of life, but there are still other areas that are extremely hostile to people walking and biking, including one of the more dangerous intersections in the state for motorists, pedestrians, and bicyclists: Geyer Springs and Baseline Road. Ultimately, a big part of what has motivated me to speak up to try to improve Little Rock for walkers and bicyclists is the experience of working at the Dee Brown Library on Baseline. Not only for my own preference of biking to work (such a mental and physical health cheat code!) but seeing the obvious need for improvements for all the people I see on my way to work walking, biking, and bravely dashing across 40+ mph highways despite an environment that is largely hostile to them. Meanwhile, despite the significant financial burden of car ownership, I chose to buy a car largely because I believe if I were to bike through this intersection every day it would only be a matter of time before I was seriously injured. Obviously, not everyone has the same choices I do.

I currently work at CALS’ Dee Brown Library in Southwest Little Rock. People I meet are often curious about what I do on a daily basis as a librarian. I usually explain that I spend about half my time doing what most people would think of as library work - recommending books, teaching patrons how to utilize our resources, etc. - but I also spend a large portion of my time implementing “programs” for the public. Basically, cultural enrichment events where the public gets an opportunity to learn something, create something, or do something new or interesting. My typical focus is on kitchen and gardening topics, but I also host watercolor workshops, bicycle safety courses as a League Certified Instructor, a walking group, and am heavily involved in our monthly Central Arkansas Repair Cafe. I graduated from ATU in Russellville with a double-major in English Literature, Graphic design and a minor in Philosophy. In Little Rock, I have worked as a bike mechanic, bowling alley mechanic, newspaper layout artist, and now as a librarian. Back in the Russellville area, I worked for over 12 years at a small ad agency in various roles including tv commercial production, print production, and IT.