The Gertrude Gilmer Odum Library is the library of Valdosta State University

Valdosta State University

Valdosta State University, also referred to as VSU, or Valdosta State, is an American public university and is one of the two regional universities in the University System of Georgia. Valdosta State is located on a campus at the heart of the city of Valdosta...

 in Valdosta, Georgia

Valdosta, Georgia

Valdosta is the county seat of Lowndes County, Georgia, United States. It is the principal city of the Valdosta Metropolitan Statistical Area. As of the 2010 Census, the city had a total population of 54,518. The Valdosta metropolitan area, according to the 2010 estimate, has a population of 139,588...

, USA

United States

The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...

. It is named after Gertrude Gilmer Odum, who was Professor Emerita of English.

History

Valdosta State College had been serviced by Powell Library since 1940 but at 25421 square feet (2,361.7 m²) the building had grown outdated and was too small to accommodate the expanding student population since the institution became co-educational in 1950.

Construction began in 1970 of a new 84551 square feet (7,855 m²) library. The new facility, located at the heart of the main campus, was dedicated in 1972. The library continued the themes of exterior stucco finish and red clay tile roof like other buildings of the main campus but broke from the tradition of Spanish mission style architecture and was built in a very modern style of the era.

In August 1990, the Georgia Board of Regents

Georgia Board of Regents

The Georgia Board of Regents oversees the University System of Georgia as part of the state government of Georgia in the United States. The University System of Georgia is composed of all state public institutions of higher education.-History:...

named the Library in honor of Gertrude Gilmer Odum, a major benefactor and Professor Emerita of English.

Expansion

In 2004, a four-story $14.2 million addition opened off the south side of the existing building. Adding 95000 square feet (8,825.8 m²) the new addition doubles the size of the library. Clearing of the site began August 2001 and was completed in November 2003. The new facility includes a 24-hour internet café, computer labs, Georgia Library Learning Online (GALILEO) technology center, reading rooms, expanded study space, 100-seat auditorium, new book stacks, media services, increased multimedia and digital editing capabilities and a new temperature controlled archives section. The addition maintains the Spanish Mission architecture with stucco exterior and clay tile roof. There is an exterior patio located on the south side of the building which faces One Mile Branch, a stream flowing through the VSU campus.

Materials

Odum Library also houses approximately 453,757 bound volumes, and nearly 3,000 current periodicals and newspapers and a microform collection of over a million units. The Odum Library is a Selective Depository of U.S. Government documents and maintains the Archives of Contemporary South Georgia History and a Southern History Collection.

External links

• Odum Library Blog
• Odum Library Facebook