The South Carolina State Library building at 1500 Senate Street was authorized by the South Carolina General Assembly in 1965. The building was financed with state funds and with a federal grant under the Library Services and Construction Act. Construction on the library, which was designed by architect John Califf of the firm of Geiger, Califf and Player, was begun in 1967 and completed in 1969.

The most distinctive features of this building are the two bronze lions that flank the front entrance. These statues were designed by sculptor A. Pelzer and manufactured by the firm of W. H. Mullins in Salem, Ohio. They originally stood at the Court Inn in Camden, South Carolina.  After the Inn closed in 1962, a private citizen in Camden acquired them. When they were offered for sale in the fall of 1965, the lions were purchased by South Carolina state government for use at the planned State Library building.

The lions were subsequently nicknamed Sol and Edgar, after two powerful state politicians, both from Barnwell County. Sol, the lion on the west side, was named for Solomon "Sol" Blatt (1895-1986), Speaker of the South Carolina House of Representatives for more than three decades. The lion on the east side was named for Edgar Brown (1888-1975), long-time President Pro Tempore of the South Carolina Senate.

The South Carolina State Library expanded into an additional building in July 2000. The building at 1430 Senate Street was acquired and renovated to house the Library for the Blind and Physically Handicapped, now Talking Book Services, which had been housed in a separate location from its parent agency. Originally designed for the South Carolina Department of Archives and History, this building was constructed in 1958-59 and enlarged in 1971. The State Library's Administrative and Library Development Departments are also now located at the 1430 Senate Street building.