History of the Library: The Palace Era
By Cody Berry
On January 13, 1959, the Gann Memorial Library board adopted plans to change the library’s status from city to county. The change would have required approval by voters in the 1960 General Election. By the early 1960s, the library was outgrowing the Gann Building. The library’s circulation of books reached 63,976. By that time, the library contained 17,167 books.1 In 1963, the library board began a drive to secure funding under the direction of Arthur B. Holiman. They soon were given the title to the old Palace Theater building by the City Council, the Board of Commissioners, and the Kiwanis Club, who had run it as the “Panther Den.”2
By December 1964, the Gann Memorial Library was receiving income from a one mill tax on city property, a gift of $1,200 per year and $3,000 per year from the Quorum Court. The Palace Theater building was deeded to a non-profit called the Saline County Library Association whose directors were members of the library board at the time. The first Saline County Library Board was appointed in 1966 by the County Judge. Five members were from the Gann Memorial Library Board, and five were from the county library board.3
The library held an open house event at the Palace Theater building in November 1966. On November 8, 1966, a proposed one-mill tax, presumably from the County, was defeated. The newly named Saline County Public Library opened to the public on January 23, 1967.4 A one-mill county library tax was passed in November 1972.5 The library continued to grow over the next few decades until changes came from the most unlikely of causes.
In July 1998, the ceiling collapsed after pigeons had been roosting in the building for years. That combined with rain blowing in had weighted down the ceiling tiles to the point that they began falling over the children’s department. The library was closed, and Director Julie Hart urged citizens to approve the construction of a new library which they did.6 Eventually, new lands were donated and new buildings constructed in which the library would enter a new era. Stay tuned to learn how the library moved into the new millennium.
Citations:
1 Steve Perdue, A History of The Saline County Library, 2012, p. 7; “Changed Planned in Library Here,” Benton Courier, January 15, 1959, p. 1
2 Ibid, p. 8; Letter to Mrs. Karl Neal, Executive Secretary of the Arkansas Library Commission, December 7, 1964.
3 Ibid, p. 8; Letter to Mrs. Karl Neal, December 7, 1964, and Letter by Arthur Holiman, October 29, 1966.
4 Ibid, p. 9
5 Ibid, p. 11
6 Steve Perdue, A History of the Saline County Library, 2012, p. 17; “Library ceiling falls,” Benton Courier, July 7, 1998, p. 1; “Benton Library Closes,” Benton Courier, July 8, 1998, p. 1