Limestone Looks To Hit Library Challenge Goal By Year's End

Limestone College is approximately $664,000 away from the reality of a new $6 million state-of-the-art library being built on its main campus in Gaffney.

The local liberal arts college has raised just over $1,336,000 million since April of this year when Limestone Trustee William Brown issued a challenge to the school to raise $2 million by December 31, 2014, in order to receive an additional $1 million contribution for the library from the Betsy M. Campbell Foundation. Limestone officials tabbed the fund-raising effort as the “Knowledge Is Power” Challenge. Prior to the challenge, Limestone had raised $3 million toward the library’s construction.

With just over two months remaining before the deadline, Limestone officials are hopeful that the goal can be reached and construction on the facility can begin in the near future.

“Including what we need to raise and the $1 million gift that will come with that, we are about $1.7 million away from our dream of a new library for our students and our surrounding community,” said Limestone College President Dr. Walt Griffin. “The ‘Knowledge Is Power’ Challenge will go a long way in making that dream come true. We are working extremely hard to raise the final $664,000 needed to meet the challenge.”

Limestone’s “Today’s Needs…Tomorrow’s Dreams” capital campaign, now underway, seeks to raise a total of $12 million, including $6 million for the new library, $4.8 million for athletics improvements, and $1.2 million for the “Limestone Fund.” To date, over $8.5 million has been pledged to the capital campaign.

The library will be constructed in a now vacant area between Montgomery Hall and the Carroll Fine Arts Building. The new facility will replace the A.J. Eastwood Library, built in 1966, that currently has no study rooms and is so tightly crammed that thousands of books are stored in a facility in downtown Gaffney.

"The new facility will triple our seating capacity, and we will be able to expand the college archives,” Dr. Griffin noted. “With 10 study rooms and many more amenities, the new library will offer valuable working spaces for our students, provide a one-of-a-kind vehicle for continued excellence in academia, and foster the College community.”

The new library will allow other campus programs to expand into the A.J. Eastwood building, relieving some space issues on other parts of campus, Dr. Griffin added. With a record 1,185 students now on campus, Limestone is experiencing unprecedented growth.

Kelly Curtis, Limestone’s Vice President for Institutional Advancement, is the Director of the Capital Campaign, and she’s seen the momentum growing in recent weeks as the finish line gets closer.

“This new library is going to be the academic hub on campus, while being a major asset to the Gaffney and Cherokee County communities as well,” she said. “Contributions toward the library are not donations; they are investments in the future of the College and our students, and our community. We are excited about the progress we’ve made to meet this challenge, but there’s still a lot of work to do.”

She explained that pledges for the new library will count now toward the “Knowledge Is Power” campaign, but can be paid over as much as a five-year period. Naming rights opportunities are also available throughout the library at various giving levels.

Curtis added that Limestone’s “Pave The Way” brick initiative, as part of the fund-raising effort to meet the library challenge, is going extremely well. Students, parents, faculty and staff, alumni, and friends of Limestone College can purchase personalized bricks that will pave the entranceway into the library.

Playing to Limestone’s history and founding year, the individual bricks are $118.45 each, and available for a limited time only. “These bricks in the library walkway are the least expensive naming-rights opportunity ever on the Limestone College campus,” Curtis explained.

To make a gift to the “Knowledge Is Power” Challenge, or to buy a “Pave The Way” brick, visit www.Limestone.edu/giving. For more information on naming rights opportunities or other aspects of the library challenge, call the Office of Institutional Advancement at (864) 488-4602.