Preserving the past, building the future

“The cooling, soothing Ozarks invite you,” coos an early-20th-century promotional pamphlet. “Pure air blows. Pure water flows.”

Tourist brochures provide an enlightening window into how Eureka Springs has seen and transformed itself throughout the years.

You can take a peek at these gems of history at the Eureka Springs Carnegie Library. You can’t check them out, but going through them takes only a few entertaining minutes.

And what better setting for that than a gem of Eureka Springs history itself? Turn-of-the-century steel tycoon Andrew Carnegie funded nearly 1,700 such libraries across the country. Fewer than half are still in use.

The library, opened in 1912, is an architectural landmark in a city where that’s a high bar. The majestic stairways at its base were actually built earlier. They were originally the grand entrance of a mountain path to the Crescent Hotel.

This summer, however, the library lost a bit of its luster. Its lone elevator stopped working in June. That’s a hassle for library staff when heavy deliveries arrive, and a heartbreak for those regular patrons who require it.

The cost to fix it could run as high as $130,000. The library doesn’t have that kind of dough on hand, so it’s holding a fundraiser.

Between now and October 15, donations have double the impact thanks to $65,000 in matching grants. You can help beat that deadline at the library’s website.

From preserving historic materials to resisting censorship, the library is a part of Eureka Springs’ soul. I have no doubt the community will step up to protect that.