Smokey Bear Day

A black and white photo of two young girls with a Smokey Bear doll

August 9, 2022 marks Smokey Bear's 78th birthday!

The Smokey Bear doll featured in this photo is part of our collection; libraries used it for the Summer Reading Club in the 1950s. The Ad Council and Forest Service commissioned artist Albert Staehle to create the fictional character to help prevent forest fires.

Smokey's popularity remains strong, and so does the effort to protect America's land. Check out the resources below from our collection to learn more about South Carolina forests and watch this video for an up close and personal look at Smokey Bear.

Forestry Resources in our Digital Collection

Upcoming Event

Cover of Pond Fishing with Papa by Mike Watts.

Speaker at the Center: Author Mike Watts

June 5, 2025, 3:00 PM

Please join us for our next Speaker at the Center talk with Mike Watts, author of "Pond Fishing with Papa" and "Riverbank Memories." on Thursday, June the 5th, at 3:00pm at the State Library. Mike Watts lives outside Greenville, SC, and is a publisher, freelance writer, author of two books, and the publisher of riversandfeathers.com, an online fly fishing magazine.