The Notable State Documents Awards Program recognizes outstanding state publications produced during the calendar year. Categories include physical or digital monographs (individual publications), serials, and websites. We will review nominations and select the final candidates for judging.

As we begin planning for this year's competition and program, we remind state agencies to please submit nominations by December 31, 2021.

If the retirement bug is buzzing, but you don't quite know how to capture it, the featured state document for August may be just the solution. Often, farm transfer decisions can be complicated, but they don’t have to be with help from the Business Transfer Guide, Senior Generation. This workbook from the Clemson University Cooperative takes you through the farm transfer process step-by-step at your own pace.

The Research Institute for Public Libraries workshop scheduled for September 21 and 22 is postponed. Our goal is to reschedule this training for spring 2022. Please keep an eye on our email newsletters and social media accounts for information on a future training. Thank you for your interest. 

The South Carolina State Library will participate in September 11, 2001: The Day That Changed the World, a downloadable educational exhibition that presents the history of 9/11, its origins, and its ongoing implications through the personal stories of those who witnessed and survived the attacks. Told across 14 posters, this exhibition includes archival photographs and images of artifacts from the Museum’s permanent collection.

We did not realize that sediment could be serene until it was time to select the featured state document for July 2021 and saw the cover of DHEC’s Watershed Plan for Sediment in the South Saluda River. This plan helps identify causes and sources of water quality impairments, assess them, and develop a plan to address them. Colorful graphics and images, and a detailed breadth of information make this plan easy to navigate and follow. 

We cannot begin a new school year without celebrating our 2020/2021 Letters About Literature contest winners. The young writers composed letters to their favorite authors; they are prime examples of the creativity that flourishes throughout South Carolina. Congratulations to these students, their teachers, and their families.

     Lauren Boylston - Bluffton

     Mady Green - Okatie

The June 2021 list of new South Carolina state documents is available. Scaling the list to feature just one publication proved difficult, with so many informative, colorful, and creative documents available.

You never know where state documents might pop up. Our Digital Projects Coordinator found this 1930s annual report in an antique shop in Columbia. It is from the Division of Maternal and Child Health, part of the South Carolina State Board of Health. The State Board of Health operated from 1878-1972 before becoming what we know today as the SC Department of Health and Environmental Control (DHEC).

Our emergency preparedness toolkit is available; we sent it to all South Carolina public library directors last week. The kit guides staff in preparing for, reacting during, and responding to almost any disaster or emergency. 

This kit helps library staff develop or deepen relationships with external agencies to collaborate when emergencies happen effectively. The blank spaces let you customize the kit to your library’s specific building information and community and emergency contacts.