The South Caroliniana Library will reopen to university students and the public beginning on Friday, Oct. 6.
The library, which has been closed for renovations since 2017, was completely renovated in the $10 million project which upgraded utilities and added new study spaces for students, according to a university press release.
The library will house rotating and permanent exhibits that will be refreshed every five years, providing historical resources and a quiet space on-campus for students, faculty and outside researchers.
The architectural renovations mirror the look of the library when it was originally built in the 1800s.
"It has been restored to the best of our ability to much of its original work in 1830. So the paint choices, the wood floors upstairs, things have been brought back as closely as possible to what we believe was its original look when it first opened,” University Libraries Dean David Banush said.
On the first floor, there are exhibits that pertain to the history of the university and the Johnston Room, which houses exhibits about the history of USC and South Carolina's natural history.
The South Caroliniana Library is home to many special collections of historic documents, some of which are on display. The library is reopening on Oct. 6, 2023 after the historic space was remodeled.
“We have an extensive collection of a wide variety of materials, ranging from colonial to modern times that document not just the rich and famous and the powerful, but the marginalized, the everyday citizens of the state,” University Archivist Elizabeth West said.
Much of the second floor of the library is devoted to the reading room which houses exhibits about South Carolina — ranging from the mid 1600s through the space race in the 1960s. The floor is also a quiet study space for students and researchers alike, according to Graham Duncan, head of collections and curator of manuscripts for the South Caroliniana Library.
“It was modeled on the second Library of Congress, which burned in the 1850s," Duncan said. "That was the library that had the Jefferson library in it. This is designed by Robert Mills. Everything has been completely restored to 1840, 1850."
Also on the second floor is the Kendall Room, a multi-purpose room. The space can be used as a classroom, extra study area for students on a first-come first-serve basis or as a rotating gallery for the university’s vast portrait and art collection.
Students can make an appointment through the South Caroliniana’s library webpage to access the manuscripts and other works within the university archives.
West said that the library staff is excited for the reopening and encourages students, faculty and staff to come and visit the library.
“It is an emotional moment to finally come back in and open up our doors again to the public and invite everyone to come in to see the renovations, to know the library and our collections as we have over the years," West said. "We really hope that people will just come and visit the library."
The library will be open Tuesday to Saturday from 9 a.m. to 4 p.m. starting on Oct. 6.