Valdosta State College had been serviced by Powell Library since 1940 but at 25,421 square feet (2,361.7 m2) the building had grown outdated and was too small to accommodate the expanding student population since the institution became co-educational in 1950.

In August 1990, the Georgia Board of Regents named the Library in honor of Gertrude Gilmer Odum, a major benefactor and Professor Emerita of English.

The new facility includes an internet café, computer labs, Georgia Library Learning Online (GALILEO) technology center, reading rooms, expanded study space, 100-seat auditorium, new book stacks, media services, increased multimedia and digital editing capabilities and a new temperature controlled archives section.

There is an exterior patio located on the south side of the building which faces One Mile Branch, a stream flowing through the VSU campus.

Odum Library also houses approximately 549,683 bound volumes, and nearly 3,000 current periodicals and newspapers and a microform collection of over a million units.