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Hartsville, S.C. — Coker College will dedicate the $10 million Charles W. and Joan S. Coker Library-Information Technology Center Project at 11 a.m. on Thursday, October 25. The project consists of the new library, surrounding gardens and streetscape, and a new campus entrance.

Remarks at the dedication will be made by James Dawson, president of the college; Harris DeLoach, Sonoco CEO; Charles Sullivan, Sonoco executive and chairman of the college’s board of trustees; Michael Holt, mayor of Hartsville; and Charles Coker, retired chairman of Sonoco’s board. Faculty and student representatives will also speak.

Following the ribbon cutting, Coker College friends, faculty, staff, students and alumni will form a human chain through campus to pass books from the James Lide Coker III Memorial Library to the new facility. In 1963, a human chain passed books from the old college library to the James Lide Coker III Memorial Library.

When it officially opens in January 2008, the Charles W. and Joan S. Coker Library-Information Technology Center will be the hub of academic life at the college by providing unparalleled access to learning and teaching resources by merging the traditional library with the educational potential of the Internet and emerging technology.

Named in honor of industrialist and philanthropist Charles Coker and his spouse, civic leader Joan Sasser Coker, the 40,000-square foot, two-story facility will house an expanded library collection of books, periodicals, musical recordings, videos, DVDs, and CDs. Technological  features in the center include high-speed wireless Internet access and network, Internet-ready workstations, and two computer centers.

The new facility also houses an atrium lounge, the college’s board room, several reading and group study rooms, a faculty research room, college archives, and a cafe. It was designed by Daniel Cook and Associates of Ogden, Utah, and was built by M.B. Kahn Construction of Columbia, S.C.

Extensive landscaping compliments the Charles W. and Joan S. Coker Library-Information Technology Center. New named gardens will surround the Center and the adjacent College Administration Building, and a new campus entrance has been built at the intersection of East College Avenue and Fourth Street. The college has planted 24 nutall oaks along College Avenue inside the new entrance. Additionally, a portion of Campus Drive has been closed at Home Avenue to make access to the Center and the Administration Building safe for pedestrians.

In 2008, Coker College celebrates 100 years of providing state-of-the-art facilities that, like the Charles W. and Joan S. Coker Library-Information Technology Center, help foster an exceptional living and learning environment.

October 22, 2007