South Carolina State University broke ground Friday morning on a new library in Orangeburg, a 50,000-square-foot building rising on the site of the former Bradham and Manning residence halls. The project will replace the decades-old Miller F. Whittaker Library and give the campus a home for the Dr. Emily England Clyburn Honors College.
University officials marked the occasion with a ceremonial groundbreaking, and according to WCIV, the new facility is designed to serve both students and the wider Orangeburg community. SC State President Alexander Conyers said the library is expected to be a central hub for learning and research, the station reported. The project's price tag has been described differently across sources: WCIV and WACH both put the cost at $30.3 million, while South Carolina State University's own announcement of its 2024-25 budget allocation listed $30 million, funded through $25 million in nonrecurring state funds and $5 million from reserves, and an earlier report from The Times and Democrat referenced a $31 million facility.
A Library Named for a Campus Love Story
The honors college inside the new building is named for Dr. Emily England Clyburn, a South Carolina State alum and the late wife of U.S. Rep. Jim Clyburn. Per the university's groundbreaking remarks relayed by WCIV, Jim Clyburn said he and Emily met on the South Carolina State campus and were married for 58 years before she died in 2019 after a battle with diabetes. Dr. Windy Ann Mack Stevenson, interim dean of the Dr. Emily England Clyburn Honors College, said the university is preparing to open a door in Emily Clyburn's honor, the station reported.
Jada Gittings, SC State's Miss Honors College, said she hopes the new space will grow the honors program's visibility and participation, according to the same report. The honors college's placement inside the new library signals a push to raise the program's profile alongside the broader academic upgrade.
Replacing a 1968 Campus Fixture
The new building will replace the Miller F. Whittaker Library, which opened in 1968, according to a university announcement about the 2024-25 budget allocation posted on scsu.edu. That same announcement said the new library would elevate the academic experiences of students as well as members of the Orangeburg community who use its services. The planned facility includes spaces for gathering, project and study studios, and advanced computer laboratories for research, per the university's description.
Evoke Studios was selected to provide design services for the project, and Phase I approval was received on April 8, 2025, according to a construction update posted on scsu.edu. The existing Whittaker Library has already received additions, with further expansion planned, The Times and Democrat has reported separately.
Part of a Larger Campus Overhaul
The library is one piece of a multimillion-dollar construction program at SC State that aims to bring campus facilities up to modern standards, funded by state and federal dollars, according to WCIV. The university's own construction update described the library and a separate Student Center project as among several transformational capital projects underway across campus, supported by state and federal investment. SC State's 2024-25 budget announcement noted that the library project was the latest in a series of capital projects the state has approved for the university over the last three budget cycles, totaling about $124 million on the main campus.
Construction on the new library is scheduled for completion in 2028, according to WCIV. University officials have not detailed a more precise opening date or released updates on construction progress beyond Friday's groundbreaking.
