In 1996, the State Library partnered with the K-12 School Technology Initiative to provide Internet access to all K-12 public schools and public libraries. South Carolina was the first state to provide this depth of Internet access.

Building on the new network infrastructure, the State Library in 1998 launched a pilot program to provide all South Carolinians with equal access to an electronic library of essential information resources. The program was called DISCUS - South Carolina's Virtual Library. During the pilot phase, 103 institutions and public libraries, and three public school districts had access to four full-text periodical and reference databases. During a six month period, users retrieved over 460,000 full-text articles or abstracts. Today, DISCUS is available in all public libraries, public schools (K-12) and higer education institutions. In FY2007, users retrieved 7.6 million items from 22 electronic databases providing access to millions of full-text articles and abstracts.

In January 2008, DISCUS added 10 new databases to its growing collection. For a full list, visit http://www.scdiscus.org/.

South Carolina State Library: defining the intellectual landscape of South Carolina.