Melanie Huggins is the executive director of Richland Library in Columbia, SC, which received the 2017 National Medal for Museum and Library Service, the nation’s highest honor. 

Huggins was named a 2018 Woman of Distinction by the Girl Scouts of South Carolina - Mountains to Midlands for her lasting impact in the community, and was an honoree of Columbia Regional Business Report’s 2018 Women of Influence. She recently received the 2018 Stephen G. Morrison Visionary Award from One Columbia for Arts and History. She has been included on Columbia Business Monthly’s list of the 50 Most Influential People for the past three years. Her work is influenced by her belief that libraries are uniquely positioned to make communities more livable, resilient, and inclusive.

Huggins is a recognized leader and speaker in the library profession having held trustee positions with both the Urban Libraries Council and the Public Library Association. In 2012, she was named South Carolina Outstanding Librarian by the South Carolina Library Association. She is a Liberty Fellow, member of the Aspen Global Leadership Network; a member of the Spring 2018 class of Furman University’s Riley Diversity Leaders Institute; Chair of the TogetherSC Board; President of the University of South Carolina’s University Associates Board; City Center Partnership Board Member.

She is also a devoted mom to Adeline, Lila, and Shepard and enjoys concert outings with her husband, J.C.