MANHATTAN, Kan. (KSNT) – Kansas State University’s Hale Library is back open to students and has a few new features after an accidental fire broke out in 2018.

“Well it’s been a journey,” said K-State Libraries Public Relations Officer Darchelle Martin. “We have said a few times that this is going to be a marathon, not a sprint, and that has certainly proved true, but it’s also been really exciting because we realized we had an opportunity to create something really wonderful for the K-State community and for our students and to see that come alive has been amazing.”

Fast forward to today and you will find a state of the art library complete with plenty of study space, classrooms, technology and even a coffee shop.

“Couple of things that students said they really wanted, they wanted study space with a lot of natural light, and these rooms provide that, they also wanted improved electricity, a lot of outlets so we added more outlets to this [Great Room] room,” Martin said.

Hale Library still has a few steps left ahead, from moving all of the library’s books back in, to completing furniture installation, but overall the building is ready to welcome students back.

“We hear from students all of the time that this building is a really important aspect of their success here at K-State,” Martin said. “They need this space to concentrate and now they have that and so much more as well.”

K-State has not released the total cost of renovations to the facility. You can learn more about the library by clicking here.