Last year, students at Mississippi Valley State University studied in a temporary library housed in the Academic Skills building.
Since August, they have been able to work in the completely renovated and remodeled James Herbert White Library.
School officials, alumni, students and community leaders gathered Wednesday morning to officially rededicate the building.
“Today we stand in front of a state-of-the-art facility — a place where our students can enrich their knowledge with some of the best academic tools available,” said William Bynum, president of MVSU.
The newly refurbished library allows the school to serve student needs better, especially with upgraded technology.
The approximately $13 million project added a computer lab, an electronic classroom, group and individual study rooms, a social work reading room and space for a coffee shop.
It also made the building handicap accessible and addressed other issues with it, including a leaky roof and aging operational systems.
The library building stands at the heart of the university’s campus, both geographically and symbolically, said Mantra Henderson, the school’s director of library services.
The library renovation is one of a number of construction projects at the school in recent years. They have included new business education and science buildings and two residence halls.
Jean Cadney, president-elect of the Greenwood-Leflore County Chamber of Commerce, said she noticed the new and recently renovated buildings — and meticulously manicured lawns — as she drove onto campus.
“This campus looks absolutely gorgeous,” she said. “What this says to me is that Mississippi Valley State has a vision of replicating its successes.”
Tommy Verdell, director of facilities management at Valley, said a complete renovation of the Harrison Physical Education and Recreation Complex is up next.
The school will be taking bids for the project in November.
“We’ve got quite a bit left to do, but you can begin to see the potential of the university when you visit the campus,” Verdell said. “We’ve made a lot of improvement in the last 10 years.”
• Contact Bryn Stole at 581-7235 or bstole@gwcommonwealth.com.
