The Black Caucus of the American Library Association, Inc. (BCALA) and BiblioBoard announce winners of the 2016 Self-Publishing EBook Award. Following the model of the current BCALA Literary Awards, the new award honors the best self-published EBooks in fiction and poetry by an African American author in the U.S. The recipients will receive the awards during the 2016 Annual Conference of the American Library Association in Orlando, FL.

Join us on Wednesday, March 2, from noon to 1:00 p.m. for Speaker @ the Center, featuring South Carolina author Carla Damron. The Stone Necklace, published by Story River Books,braids together the stories of a grieving widow, a struggling nurse, a young mother, and a troubled homeless man, reminding us of the empowering and surprising ways our lives touch one another and how, together, we can recover from even the greatest of losses. 

Download this month's issue of More - the newsletter for South Carolina's libraries.  Interested in looking at previous issues? Check out our online collection.

Join us at the Deckle Edge Literary Arts Festival on Sunday, February 21, at 3:00 p.m. for the launch of Indie SC.  This informative session, held at the Columbia Museum of Art, is free and open to the public.

Join us on Thursday, February 25, from noon to 1:00 p.m. for Speaker @ the Center, featuring author Eric Morris. Jacob Jump, the dark and meticulously crafted first novel from Eric Morris, follows a weeklong ill-fated boating trip down the Savannah River from Augusta, Georgia, to the lighthouse at Tybee Island. Chance and danger trump planning and intention at every turn, and the pull of the historic river and of fate itself propels Morris's characters with unrelenting force.

Join us at the Deckle Edge Literary Arts Festival on Saturday, February 20, at 12:30 for an hour with author Megan Shepherd.  This session is free and open to the public and will be held at the Agape Conference Center, 1620 Main Street, Columbia, SC.

Registration is now open for the Powering Up: Inclusive Services Summit.  This daylong summit will provide a learning experience to prepare attendees for planning and implementing services for differently-able library customers. Attendees will explore new developments in assistive technology, adaptive materials and resources, and techniques for assisting and interacting with people having any of a broad range of conditions that make the utilization of library resources and services challenging.

FREE AND OPEN TO THE PUBLIC NO PRE-REGISTRATION NECESSARY

Mark your calendars! The South Carolina Assistive Technology Program Expo is returning for another exciting year! Come see what's new in assistive technology and listen to free presentations by great speakers. Keep checking this page for more details!

Are you a flood survivor with a disability living in one of the following SC Counties? Bamberg, Berkeley, Calhoun, Charleston, Clarendon, Colleton, Darlington, Dorchester, Fairfield, Florence, Georgetown, Greenville, Greenwood, Horry, Kershaw, Lee, Lexington, Marion, Newberry, Orangeburg, Richland, Spartanburg, Sumter, and Williamsburg - If so, The University of South Carolina needs your input regarding your experiences during the 2015 “1,000 Year” flood in South Carolina.

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

Grants Research: Finding a Funder for Your Nonprofit Organization.  This class helps individuals working with nonprofit organizations locate information on grants available from private foundations and corporations using the South Carolina State Library’s electronic and print resources.  Sessions run from 9:30 a.m. to noon and are offered on two different dates: