The car was reversed into the front doors of the building
A car was "deliberately" driven into a library before it was set alight, the fire service has said.
The Ford Fiesta was reversed through the doors of East Tilbury Library, Essex, in the early hours of Friday.
The library was the home of the Bata Heritage Centre, external - a commemoration of the British Bata Shoe Co Ltd, which once employed 3,000 people in the town.
Heritage centre chairman Mike Tarbard said many "priceless" items in the collection had been destroyed.
He added: "It is devastating. We have lost everything in display cabinets.
"The bigger problem is the loss to the community of a meeting place and library and the use of computers."
The fire's cause was recorded as deliberate
The British Bata Shoe Co Ltd was a major employer for about 70 years, from the 1930s onwards.
Mr Tarbard said: "If it was not for the factory, this community would not have existed.
"It closed in the 2000s, but a library manager thought there was story to tell and started the centre."
Essex Police have begun an investigation into the incident
Donna Welsh, who lives near the library, said: "At about 04:30 the car reversed into the library and flames were whipping out all over the place.
"There were flames everywhere."
The fire service dealt with the blaze, which it said was deliberate, by about 05:30 GMT.
Thurrock councillor Sue MacPherson, portfolio holder for neighbourhoods, said she was liaising with police and the fire service over the immediate future of the library.
The library was the home of the Bata Heritage Centre
