February 27, 2009

Obama Speech Highlights How Libraries Serve Everyday Americans and Students

The American Library Association (ALA) and the South
Carolina Library Association (SCLA) lauds President Barack Obama for
noting how libraries assist Americans during the president’s recent
address to Congress.


 
     The president shared a
story about Ty’Sheoma Bethea, a young student from Dillon, South
Carolina, who went to her local public library to write a letter to
Congress to tell them how students today are committed to their
education and determined to change the world.

  
 “This anecdote not only shows how engaged the young people in our
country are, but it also sheds light on how important the library is to
these students,” ALA President Jim Rettig said.  Yolanda McCormick,
director of the Dillon County Library System, said, “I’m excited that
she mentioned the library. We’re a poor county and everyone comes here
to the library when they need to use a computer and the Internet.  It
makes me happy that we have these kinds of services available to the
public. I’m glad we were here when she needed us!”

  
 According to Jim Rettig, “The public library is the only source of
no-fee access to the Internet for 73 percent of communities and a place
where individuals like Ty’Sheoma can access computers and technology as
well as benefit from the trusted guidance of a librarian. I thank
President Obama for sharing Ty’Sheoma’s inspiring story. I hope it
encourages our nation’s governors to use stimulus money wisely to
ensure that every community has a local library – a library open ample
hours with a librarian to help every child like Ty’Sheoma who needs a
place to study or aspire.  Our libraries are important not only to our
youth, but also to adults; libraries are helping to rebuild the economy
through assistance with online job searching and resume development,
education on personal finances, and other services that respond to
today’s pressing needs.”

    SCLA president
Libby Young said that she was elated that President Obama highlighted
libraries in his address.  “It’s important that the general public
understand what kinds of resources are available at their local
libraries.  The fact that Ty’Sheoma was able to use her local library
speaks a lot to what wonderful resources are available even in an
underfunded county such as Dillon.”

    For
more information on how libraries are working to continue serving the
needs of their communities, especially during this time of economic
downturn, go to www.ala.org/economynews. For more information about the South Carolina Library Association, visit www.scla.org.  For more information about the Dillon County Library System, visit www.dillon.lib.sc.us.

February 20, 2009

Special Edition of the Lion's Roar features SC Author Sandra Johnson

This special edition of the Lion's Roar podcast featuring South Carolina author Sandra E. Johnson is now available online and on iTunes.


 
In this special edition, you
will hear from South Carolina author Sandra E. Johnson.  Sandra
discussed her book, Standing on Holy Ground: A Triumph over Hate Crime
in the Deep South. This book powerfully narrates the true story of how
two women-one white, the other black-risked their lives to lead an
interracial group of volunteers to rebuild a historic black church in
Dixiana, SC, that had been destroyed by hate crime. In addition to
receiving glowing reviews from O: The Oprah Magazine, USA Today,
Southern Living, and numerous other publications, the book received a
Christopher Award for Literature.

Sandra E. Johnson has also
written for Lake Murray-Columbia, Columbia Metropolitan, Family Motor
Coaching, and a number of other magazines. She frequently teaches
creative writing at Midlands Technical College and is currently at work
on a novel set in South Carolina's Lowcountry.

This lunchtime
program was presented on Thursday February 19th by the State Library's
South Carolina Center for the Book, the South Carolina affiliate of the
Library of Congress Center for the Book. The SC Center for the Book is
a cooperative project of the State Library, the University of South
Carolina School of Library and Information Science, and The Humanities
Council SC.

February 18, 2009

Technology and Creativity Conference in Myrtle Beach

I think Librarians would be very interested in this!  Pass it along!


Saturday April 25th, 2009 we will be holding the second annual CREATE
South conference
. It will be held at the Horry Georgetown Technical
College, Grand Strand Campus in lovely Myrtle Beach. It is a meeting
for those interested in blogging, podcasting, video, social networking
or any other form of self-expression. Serving the residents of the
Grand Strand and beyond, it is a venue to bring together like minded
people to network, to teach and to learn. If you would like to get
involved in these arenas but don't know how to start, this is the place
to be. With introductory presentations and hands-on detailed demos, the
beginners and the experts alike will have plenty to learn.

February 04, 2009

Newbery & Caldecott Award Winners

February 03, 2009

Want SC LIbrary News in a podcast every other week? Then get The Lion's Roar!

The Lion's Roar Library News Podcast for week of January 30 2009 Now Available
The Lion's Roar podcast for the week of January 16th, is now available online and on iTunes.
This edition's podcast includes: River of Words contest for K-12 students; Training opportunities at the South Carolina State Library; Declining state funding for U.S. public libraries in fiscal year 2009; Indian Land's new Del Webb Library; featured web site is the Partnership Among South Carolina's Academic Libraries, also known as PASCAL, located at www.pascalsc.org; South Carolina State Library announces a new hour-long online training session, "DISCUS and SchoolRooms: Your Educational Toolkit."
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February 01, 2009

Best Small Library

This is the library where I got my start! I began working here at 18 years old shelving children's books. It's so nice to see that it is the Best Small Library in America for 2009! Congratulations to Nancy and the gang at Union County Carnegie Library!

Best Small Library in America 2009: Union County Carnegie Library, SC—Carolina Dreaming

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