Georgetown County Public Library and McCormick County Public Library received J. Mitchell Graham Award honorable mentions from the South Carolina Association of Counties for innovative county-wide programs.
In the category for counties with populations between 50,000 and 150,000, Georgetown County won an Honorable Mention for its innovative Powerful Investment Education (PIE) program that helped more than 2,000 local citizens learn how to manage money more effectively.
According to SCAC President Joseph B. Dill, "The primary focus of the program has been on youth and children. Teens in the community have digitally recorded living histories of residents who lived through the Great Depression, and children have participated in several financial literacy public service announcements. Preschool children have learned basic money concepts through books and toys, and childcare providers have earned continuing education credit from the program's fiscal workshops. Funded by a grant from the Financial Industry Regulatory Authority, the PIE program was designed by the county library and has been widely embraced by the entire community."
In the category for counties with populations under 50,000, McCormick County won an Honorable Mention for converting an overgrown, vacant lot next to the county's new library into a playground in an effort to increase the number of children who use and have access to the public library and all that it offers.
"While the primary goal of the project was to increase the number of children who use and have access to the library, the project has also strengthened a sense of community for this county," Dill said. "The project began with a longtime resident's bequest to the library. That gift became the cornerstone of a grant from the national playground advocacy group KA-BOOM and mobilized more groups in the county to make financial contributions and citizens to actually build the facilities. The success of the program is reflected in the dramatic increase in new young library members, the expansion of the playground to include reading stations, and a planned future expansion to include facilities for older children."
For more information about these programs, please contact Dwight McInvaill, Director of the Georgetown County Library at 843-545-3304 dmcinvaill@gtcounty.org, or Paul Brown, Director of the McCormick County Library at 864-852-2821 mccormicklibrary@hotmail.com.
