MANHATTAN — The renovated first floor of Hale Library at K-State opens Wednesday and the first visitors were impressed.

The Library was scheduled to opens at through Friday and will be closed over Labor Day weekend, Sat.-Mon.

The library will be open regular hours on September 3!

A fire in May 2018 damaged 85% of the library’s interior. The building was undergoing renovations when the fire started.

The first floor now features 14 collaboration rooms for student study spaces.

Eventually, the library will house an innovation lab and a second cafe. It also has a new sprinkler system.

Renovations on the rest of the library are expected to be complete by the end of 2020. The renovations were funded by $7 million in donations and $58 million from the university’s insurance policy.