The South Carolina State Library and TumbleBooks Inc. are pleased to announce that the Library is now offering its citizens unlimited and unrestricted access to TumbleBookLibrary. TumbleBookLibrary is an online collection of animated, talking picture books, reading comprehension quizzes, read-along chapter books, and educational resources used by over 20,000 schools and libraries in 100 countries around the world.

This year’s conference theme is "Libraries Make It Happen!" The focus is on the power of libraries to change lives.  This year’s Conference is your opportunity to share your ideas, techniques, and stories of how you and your library create opportunities for exploration, innovation, and transformation in the communities you serve with your colleagues.

If you are wondering if you should do a poster session at this year’s conference, we have several good reasons below why you should!

The 11th Annual Literacy Leaders Awards will be presented by the USC School of Library and Information Science (SLIS) at 5:00 p.m. on September 8, 2017 at the South Carolina State Library, 1500 Senate Street, Columbia.  The awards go to individuals and/or groups that have had a statewide impact on literacy in South Carolina. Their contributions include:

The South Carolina State Library is pleased to offer two popular grants research and proposal writing classes: 

Were you impacted by the catastrophic flooding that hit the South Carolina Midlands in October 2015 or Hurricane Matthew last November? Three University of South Carolina School of Library and Information Science faculty — Dr. Feili Tu-Keefner, Dr. Jingjing Liu and Dr. Darin Freeburg — are conducting research to examine the role played by public libraries and how community members accessed information during these natural disasters.

They are specifically interested in knowing perceptions about the following:

Register online for our next Tech Tuesday free training session on how to use Google Apps (forms, docs, slides, photos, sheets, classroom, virtual reality). Trainer:  Matt Guzzi, SC State Library Software Systems Administrator. Please bring your own device. There will be time for Q&A. Date: Tuesday, August 22, 2017. Time:12:00PM - 1:00PM.

During the month of August, we are featuring a special fun and interactive solar eclipse exhibit. Visitors can add stars to a wall as a way to “create their own constellation.” The installation shows the approximate locations of major stars and the four planets in our solar system that will become visible during the 2 minutes and 36 seconds of total darkness during the eclipse in Columbia. The library is also showcasing books from its rare book collection as well as eclipse-related artwork and objects.

The Oconee County Public Library has hired a new library director. "The board of trustees is very happy to announce Blair Hinson as our new director. We received applications from all over the country, and our selection committee worked diligently to find the candidate who would best develop and guide our library system into the future,” stated Alisa Suddeth, Chairman of the Board. She went on to say, “ The trustees are committed to our great staff and to our patrons, and we look forward to Mr. Hinson's leadership.”