Almost the entire 67,000-volume collection of the 70-year-old Hot Spring County Library in Malvern, Arkansas, was destroyed when a fire caused by lightning totaled the building at 1:15 a.m. April 27.
Library Director Mary Cheatham told the Arkansas Democrat-Gazette the fire "consumed more than we can replace," including "the biggest collection of Hot Spring County material in the state of Arkansas." As the Mid-Arkansas Regional Library, HSCL serves as headquarters for libraries in three other counties.
According to the newspaper, the fire also burned such irretrievable art and artifacts as an original John Audubon print, four hand-colored Audubon lithographs, and a porcelain bird collection.
The board held a meeting the day of the catastrophe and determined to seek a temporary downtown location. "If the building is big enough," Cheatham told the reporter, "we hope to carry on" until a new facility is built.
Posted May 4, 1998.