The South Caroliniana Library building was completed in 1840 as the central library building for South Carolina College (later the University of South Carolina). It was the first freestanding college library building in the United States, predating those of Harvard (1841), Yale (1846), and Princeton (1873). The structure contains design elements from several architects, most notably the South Carolina native and federal architect Robert Mills. A typical Mills architectural feature is the curved stairway leading to the second-floor reading room, which was closely modeled after the original Library of Congress. By 1850 the library\u2019s collections were considered among the best in the nation. After the Civil War the library\u2019s fortunes rose and fell through several decades of unsteady funding. Its collections continued to grow, however, necessitating the addition of two fireproof wings in 1927. Although the collections contained materials relating to South Carolina, there had been no concerted effort to acquire the state\u2019s historical documents until 1931, when the Caroliniana Committee was formed in order to develop the \u201cgreatest\u201d collection of South Carolina materials and prevent such collections from being placed in out-of-state repositories. The term \u201cCaroliniana\u201d means \u201cthings pertaining to Carolina.\u201d In 1937 the committee was replaced by the University South Caroliniana Society. In 1940 the university\u2019s general library collection was moved into a new facility at the head of the Horseshoe, McKissick Memorial Library, and the Caroliniana collections remained in the old library. Thus, after serving as the university library for one hundred years, the historic building became the South Caroliniana Library\u2013a repository for published and unpublished materials relating to the history, literature, and culture of South Carolina.<\/p>\n
Bryan, John Morrill. An Architectural History of the South Carolina College, 1801\u20131855. <\/em>Columbia: University of South Carolina Press, 1976.<\/p>\n Hollis, Daniel Walker. University of South Carolina. <\/em>2 vols. Columbia: University of South Carolina Press, 1951\u20131956.<\/p>\n South Caroliniana Library. A Guide to the Manuscript Collection of the South Caroliniana Library. <\/em>Columbia: South Caroliniana Library, University of South Carolina, 1982.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" The South Caroliniana Library building was completed in 1840 as the central library building for South Carolina College (later the University of South Carolina). It was the first freestanding college library building in the United States, predating those of Harvard (1841), Yale (1846), and Princeton (1873). The structure contains design elements from several architects, most […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"featured_media":-1,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","template":"","class_list":["post-14957","entry","type-entry","status-publish","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","ecms-a-z","ecms-education","ecms-encyclopedia","ecms-literature","ecms-midlands","ecms-richland-county","ecms-s"],"acf":[],"yoast_head":"\n