Howard Community College leaders Monday dedicated the school’s renovated library — the “new and improved hub” of the college, as Board of Trustees chairman James Truby called it.

The renovated library, named after the late state Sen. James Clark Jr., includes upgraded study space, technology and laboratories.

The renovations cost $19  million and took three years to complete.

The 40-year-old building, originally called the Learning Resources Center, was the first to be built at the college and, at that time, housed the entire college operation.

“No doubt about it, the world has changed since this building opened in 1970,” HCC President Kate Hetherington said, adding that cows once grazed on pastures visible from the library building. “As many of you know, it was a building sorely in need of a renovation.”

The roughly 75,000-square-foot building now includes a library with 18 study/work areas; 12 information technology classrooms of various sizes; laboratories for computers, engineering, anatomy and physiology, and information literacy; a wellness center; cultural arts center; international education office and more than 50 offices.

The renovation was completed in phases so that the library and other offices in the building could remain open.

At the Jan. 25 ribbon-cutting ceremony, County Executive Kenneth Ulman commented on the popularity and affordability of HCC, where roughly a quarter of county’s high school graduates enroll.

The college’s spring semester enrollment is 18 percent higher than the spring semester of 2009.

He also spoke of the college’s future and how it could play a role in the planned redevelopment of downtown Columbia.

“HCC is so close and to be able to tie HCC in — whether it be transportation or student housing — you’re such an important anchor institution in Howard County,” Ulman said.

In her brief remarks, Martha Clark, daughter of the library’s namesake, asked those in attendance to rededicate themselves to a spirit of service she said her father embodied.

In his remarks, Truby noted that the college is proud to house many of Clark’s historical, private and family papers in the library.

“We memorialize his contributions with bricks and sticks, but he lives on in our hearts,” Truby said.

The county contributed nearly $10.6 million to the renovation and the state  $8.5 million.

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