Plans were made last year to merge the Bentonville History Museum into the Bentonville Library, but the timing is now uncertain due to a downturn in the city’s finances.
The nonprofit museum opened in 2023 in the historic train depot at 416 S Main St., coinciding with the 150th anniversary of Bentonville’s founding. It employs a full-time director and a part-time assistant.
There are several reasons the merger could make sense.
The library and museum sit across the street from each other. The city already owns the train depot building and leases it to the museum for a nominal fee.
Joining city government would give the museum access to dedicated staff for human resources, finance, facilities management, grant writing, and more.
The library, which already houses a dedicated space for the Northwest Arkansas Genealogical Society, would gain a large collection of historical artifacts that would complement its existing physical and digital history holdings.
In December 2024, city leaders signed a letter expressing their intent to take over the museum in 2026, “subject to the availability of funds necessary to support this endeavor.”
However, city departments are currently being asked to cut costs after an unprecedented level of sales tax rebates led to an $8.5 million budget shortfall.
Library Director Hadi Dudley told The Bentonville Bulletin the merger remains a “legitimate and positive thing to consider,” but she now believes it likely won’t happen until after 2026.
The letter of intent requires the museum to complete a full inventory of artifacts and their origins, with formal donor agreements in place for all items.
Museum Director Dana Doughty described that work as “laying the final foundation stones of the museum infrastructure” to ensure it is ready to join the city.
To prepare for a potential transition, museum and library staff consulted with the Rogers Historical Museum, a department of the Rogers city government that has operated since 1975.
“Our neighbor city has a longstanding, very professional history museum, and our team was able to benefit from their experience,” Dudley said. “A lot of useful information was shared with the history museum and our team to learn more about what it would take to become a city department, a bona fide museum that serves the community and preserves the history.”
While the merger has been delayed, the library and museum plan to keep working together with an eye toward a future transition.
“Even though we won't be technically a part of the library in 2026, we're still going to be collaborating on a lot of community events and programming,” Doughty said.
One upcoming example is an author talk in early October, when Mark Archuleta will discuss his new book on Henry Starr, who robbed a Bentonville bank in 1893.
