No one could have predicted that, on Sept. 27, Spring Creek in Hot Springs would burst through the back door of the library.
Flood waters shoved all of the mobile furnishings into the hallway, creating a dam that raised the water level to shoulder height, effectively destroying the entire children and young adult portion of the library. The dam reduced the pressure of the flowing water, which preserved the two front windows of the library, as the water forced the two entrance doors open. Furnishings and books floated away in the flood waters that ravaged Hot Springs.
As the center of the downtown block, this local community hub has only been in its present location since 2016, when the Friends of the Hot Springs Library purchased the building to ensure that the Town of Hot Springs would always have a permanent location after years of moving from one leased location to another.
The Friends raised more than $350,000 throughout six years to purchase the building and then took out a loan for the remaining $197,000, of which Madison County made the loan payments while the Friends continued to fundraise to reduce the principal of the loan. The loan was paid off in June 2021, and a month later, the building was gifted to Madison County by the Friends of the Library.
The Madison County Public Library system was named the 2018 Best Small Library in America by Library Journal in large part due to the dedication of the Hot Springs community in support of its library, which exemplified the overall county's support of its beloved library system.
The Hot Springs Library is one of two libraries on the Appalachian Trail. It serves thousands of residents, tourists and trail hikers each year, providing much needed internet access and public computers to these visitors.
Faced with the extensive damage to the branch, the library was fortunate to have flood insurance, which will assist with the majority of the building damage and remediation. Coverage for the contents, which was inherited from the Friends' original policy, will primarily cover the furnishings, but additional funds will be needed to cover the cost of the entire collection of damaged books.
Madison County Public Library System Director Kim Bellofatto and the Friends of the Hot Springs Library group are working on grants and alternative funding options to cover this shortfall.
Donations have come into the Friends website, which has a dedicated item for library flood relief. With so much damage in the region, they are trying to look at funding sources outside of the area to avoid competing for funds needed by other impacted groups.
The library system has been advising residents who were affected by the natural disaster that there will be no fees or replacement charges for lost or damaged materials due to the hurricane. The libraries ask that they contact the system to advise of the loss so that they have a record of it for insurance.
Communication between Bellofatto and the Madison County Board of Commissioners has reassured her that the county sees the restoration of the library as an important priority along with the other county buildings that need to be restored.
She wants to assure residents that the library will be back in its current location. The current lack of work on the site is not a lack of commitment to its restoration.
"The insurance process is slow, and approvals take time," Bellofatto said. "But the Hot Springs Library 2.0 version will be as beautiful as it was and even better than before."
For more information, visit the Friends of the Hot Springs Library website: https://www.friendsofhotspringslibrary.org/.