Benedictine student looks forward to Independence Hall library opening

Benedictine College has scheduled the grand opening of its new Independence Hall library for Saturday, July 4, from 9 a.m. to noon, and one student’s choice helps explain why the building matters far beyond campus. Mariana Timler, who turned down Notre Dame to attend Benedictine, is now looking forward to the library’s opening as the final stages of construction come together in Atchison.

The college has said the building is designed to resemble Independence Hall in Philadelphia and will include a replica of the Assembly Room where the Declaration of Independence was debated and signed, along with a replica of the Liberty Bell. Benedictine is tying the opening to the 250th anniversary of the signing of the Declaration of Independence and to its “250 for 250” scholarship initiative, which aims to add 250 scholarships for students during the college’s Year of the Scholarship.

Project materials describe the library as about 58,000 to 59,000 square feet, with space that will roughly triple current study areas on campus. Construction partners say it will hold more than 250,000 books and periodicals and add classrooms, seminar and conference space, a coffee shop, the Center for Constitutional Liberty, and the history and political science departments. The building was designed by James McCrery of McCrery Architects, and recent local coverage reported that the central bell tower and copper dome have already been installed.

The opening is being folded into a larger community celebration in Atchison. America 250 in Atchison will include a public tour of the new library on July 4, along with a patriotic parade through downtown, family activities, food trucks, and fireworks over the Missouri River. That puts Benedictine’s latest project squarely in the middle of the city’s Independence Day plans, turning the library into a stop for residents and visitors as well as students.

For Benedictine, Timler’s story gives a face to the college’s pitch. The new library is being framed not just as a study hall, but as a place that reflects the school’s faith, formation, and intellectual identity, and a place students will use every day. In Atchison, where campus life and town life overlap closely, the July 4 debut is shaping up as both a college milestone and a downtown event.