About me
Nate Coulter is a native of Nashville, Arkansas. He graduated from college and law school at Harvard University, then later earned a master's degree in library and information science from the University of Wisconsin at Milwaukee. After clerking for U.S. District Judge G. Thomas Eisele, and serving as assistant legal counsel to Governor Bill Clinton, he maintained a trial practice in Arkansas for over 25 years. He served for two years as the first Distinguished Practitioner in Residence of the University of Arkansas School of Law. In the spring of 2016, Coulter assumed the role of Executive Director of the Central Arkansas Library System, overseeing 15 branches serving approximately 11% of the state's population. His tenure has been defined by a shifting in CALS’s institutional culture to leverage community partnerships and more directly help residents fulfill their needs and potential through programmatic offerings and sharing of resources. One of Coulter’s signature projects has been to launch a strategic planning process, which solicited significant community input. The plan, approved by CALS’s Board of Trustees in May 2019, clarified the library’s mission, vision, core values, and strategic goals. The #1 goal of the plan was increasing service to constituents from under-resourced and underserved communities. (CALS is currently embarking on a second strategic planning process to update the plan that was adopted in 2019.)