It’s no secret that the University of South Carolina is steeped in history. Students can barely walk across campus without encountering a building that has a story.
A prime example of this is the South Caroliniana Library, which, at 175 years old, is the oldest freestanding academic library in the country.
Tuesday evening, the library hosted an event with a twofold purpose: To celebrate the 175th anniversary and to publicize the plans for long-needed renovations to the building. Renovations will predominantly focus on a fire suppression system, improved storage areas and a visitor-friendly foyer and collection display.
In 1840, Robert Mills, the architect behind the Washington Monument, created the preliminary design of the building and assisted in modifications that made it fit the university’s budget. It served as the university’s only library for 100 years until USC President J. Rion McKissick had it converted into a place to collect documents about the history, culture and literature of South Carolina.
Dean of Libraries Tom McNally made a few remarks to the small crowd of USC alumni and benefactors who attended the event. He jokingly explained the bare walls and empty shelves, which are usually filled with historic collections. The building has very little in the way of a fire detection or prevention system, which will be rectified in the renovations.
“I remember the day I explained the (fire hazard) situation to President Pastides,” McNally said. “He said … you’re going to have to move everything out of the building until [it] can be renovated.”
Curator of Manuscripts Nathan Saunders went into more detail about the renovations. He mentioned alternatives to sprinklers that would do less damage to the collections, such as a system that uses gas instead of water to put the fire out.
Until renovations are complete, the collections will be stored at Thomas Cooper Library or in facilities elsewhere in Columbia. Henry Fulmer, Director of the South Caroliniana Library, said the library already used external storage before the collections were removed from the library itself.
In 1927, two wings were added on either side of the original building to increase storage space, but they were ill-suited to the types of collections the library often acquires. These will be replaced by high-density storage in which the shelves can be moved until they are tightly, efficiently spaced.
Although some aspects of the building will be modernized, the renovations will maintain the historical spirit of the library. The Reading Room, which Mills designed as a replica of the reading room from the Second Library of Congress, will be restored to its former beauty and dignity. As the core of the library, the renovations will mimic the style of the Reading Room, Saunders said.
Fulmer estimates that the project will take between three and five years to complete, including a year and a half from now until renovations actually begin, followed by up two years of construction.
“The university is anxious (to begin) because of this being a building that is regularly used by students and researchers from many other parts of the world,” Fulmer said.
While the library already has an impressive collection of historic documents, including written, visual and audio, the staff are always looking to acquire additions. The collections cover a wide variety of formats and topics, including maps, business records and personal manuscripts that were never officially published.
“We get new material all the time,” Saunders said. “We collect anything that has to do with the history and culture of the state of South Carolina, and historical significance is sort of in the eye of the beholder.”
The South Caroliniana Library is an invaluable resource that contains innumerable pieces of South Carolina history. The University South Caroliniana Society is a private non-profit dedicated exclusively to assist in the library’s acquisition of historic materials.
Although Fulmer has been director for only two years, he has worked with the library since 1981 when he was a graduate student at USC. Like most of its staff, both past and present, he has a remarkable appreciation and affection for the library.
“It’s something honestly that I more or less fell into,” Fulmer said. “But it was immediately a second home.”