Friends of the library install human sundial, memorial garden

AIKEN — Once upon a time is taking on a new meaning at the Aiken County Public Library. A recent landscape enhancement project, funded by the Friends of the Aiken County Public Library, includes an analemmatic sundial that uses one’s shadow to tell time.

Both a public art feature and a hands-on learning experience for all ages, the sundial demonstrates the principles of astronomy and timekeeping that have guided civilizations for thousands of years. While the earliest physical sundials can be traced to Egypt circa 1500 BCE, the first human sundial, dating back to the early 1500s CE, was discovered at the Royal Monastery of Brou in Bourg-en-Bresse, France. Acting as the clock’s gnomon – the projecting piece of a sundial that casts a shadow to indicate time – guests simply stand on the current month marker and allow their shadow to indicate the time of day.

The sundial is part of a greater Friends-funded project that includes the beautification of the walkway from the playground to the library’s entrance, and the addition of the Kathy Petty Memorial Garden. A colorful array of butterfly bushes, purple coneflowers, and black-eyed Susans were planted in honor of Petty, an Aiken resident who bequeathed more than $1.6 million to the Friends of the Aiken County Public Library and the Aiken County Public Library upon her death in 2023.

The installation of the sundial and garden were the result of months of planning by the Friends of the Library Landscaping Committee, led by Committee Chair Mary Shultz. “This project is much more than city beautification,“ said Shultz. “Libraries shape lives through programs as well as spaces. The Friends of the Library are committed to creating welcoming and thought-provoking spaces both inside and out, and we invite the community to linger longer on their way in and out of the building and, of course, to try the new sundial.”

The Friends of the Library enlisted Cold Creek Nurseries to implement the new landscape design, which also created and gifted the human sundial to the Aiken County Public Library after designing a similar sundial on the Augusta Riverwalk.

The Friends of the Aiken County Public Library is a nonprofit, volunteer organization that supports the library’s programs and funds many of the library’s capital and operational needs to make the library accessible to all. Those interested in volunteering, becoming a Friend, or donating to the Friends of the Library should visit aikenlibraryfriends.org.