Where can I park to visit the South Caroliniana Library?
Answer
USC Parking
A visitor's parking permit is available from USC Parking for $10 per day. This will allow you to park in most surface lots on campus except in parking spaces marked as reserved, including parking in the C1 Faculty and Staff lot at 1400 Pendleton Street, next to the back garden of the South Caroliniana Library, and the C2 Faculty and Staff lot at 901 Sumter Street, north of the James F. Byrnes building and across Sumter Street from South Caroliniana Library.
Without a visitor's parking permit, the C1 and C2 Faculty and Staff lots are restricted to University of South Carolina faculty and staff with a C, H or RT permit until 3 p.m. on weekdays. But all faculty and staff permit holders can park there after 3 p.m. And all faculty, staff, and student permit holders can park there on Saturdays.
University parking is also available to visitors in the Pendleton Street Garage. The visitors' entrance to the garage is on the west side of the 1000 block of Pickens Street, at the northeast corner of the garage. Visitors' parking is at five-hour meters on levels 1a, 1b, and 2a for up to $1 per hour, depending on payment method. Parking meter cards valid for one full day at any USC meter are available for $5 at the Parking and Transportation Services office on the ground level at the southeast corner of the Pendleton Street Garage. Payment at USC meters is not monitored on Saturday. Note, meters on the street are not University meters, but are maintained by the City of Columbia.
For more information on University parking, visit Parking and Transportation Services.
City of Columbia parking
Parking monitored by the City of Columbia is available on surrounding streets at two-hour green meters and five-hour blue meters for 25 cents per 20 minutes, or with the Passport Parking app using your smart phone as explained here. Time may not be added to the meters beyond their maximum. Two-hour green meters are on Marion, on Senate between Sumter and Marion, and on the north side of College. Five-hour blue meters are on the south side of College, on Sumter between Greene and Pendleton, on Pendleton between Sumter and Bull, and on Senate between Marion and Bull. The city offers an interactive map that shows green and blue lines for the different types of meters. To center the map on South Caroliniana Library, search for 910 Sumter St.
Privately-maintained public parking
Vista Parking maintains a parking lot on the block behind South Caroliniana Library at 1311 Pendleton Street at the corner with Sumter Street with both monthly and hourly rates using your smart phone.
Preferred Parking maintains parking lots at 1212 Pendleton Street and 1320 Senate Street with both monthly and hourly rates using your smart phone.
Other parking
There is a state employee parking lot at the corner of Pendleton and Marion. The signage indicates that parking is "restricted to state employees by law / 6:00 A.M. - 6:00 P.M. Mon - Fri / no public parking." Many patrons report parking here on Saturdays without consequence; but given the ambiguity in the signage, we advise proceeding at your own risk.
Parking for people who have a disability
Persons with valid parking placards or license plates for people with disabilities may park in any street metered spaces maintained by the City of Columbia without feeding the meter and without time restrictions.
To park in accessible spaces marked as USC permit-only parking lots or garages, a USC permit, in conjunction with a state issued-placard is required. State-issued placards or plates alone are not valid to park in these spaces.
The visitor parking spaces in the Pendleton Street Garage include accessible parking spaces that may be used by those with state-issued placards or plates. These spaces are not marked as USC-permit only, but may require payment. However, please note there is an approximately 0.4 mile distance between the garage and South Caroliniana Library building.
The C1 Faculty and Staff lot at 1400 Pendleton Street has accessible spaces next to the back garden of the South Caroliniana Library that may be used with a valid USC parking permit in conjunction with a state-issued placard. As mentioned above, a $10 per day visitor's parking permit will allow you to park in most surface lots on campus in most spaces, except those marked as reserved. This includes parking the C1 Faculty and Staff lot at 1400 Pendleton Street, next to the back garden of the South Caroliniana Library.