Public libraries in South Carolina continue to explore community outreach options with a variety of activities for all ages. Here are examples of programs three library systems are sponsoring.
* The Oconee County Public Library planned a number of events through the fall at all branches. This month, OCPL is hosting “Write from the Front” at Walhalla, Oct. 1-30. The interactive exhibit, on loan from the South Carolina Confederate Relic Room and Military Museum in Columbia, chronicles e-mails, photographs and other items from South Carolina military personnel serving in Iraq, Afghanistan and Bosnia.
The fall series began with Library Card Sign-up Month events in September. Libraries in Salem, Seneca, Walhalla and Westminster featured the “Let’s Talk About It” book discussion series, the AARP Safe Driver Program, preschool story hour, and book signings with local authors Winnie V. Williams and Dot Jackson. The OCPL, in partnership with The September, also presented “An Evening with Nancy Basket: Storyteller, Teacher and Artist.” Nancy Basket is a Walhalla resident and businesswoman and is commissioned as an artist-in-residence for South Carolina schools.
* Brenda Parker, the children’s librarian at the Lancaster County Library, has resumed the weekly Kids Book Club for elementary schoolchildren ages 7-12 in both the headquarters and the Kershaw branch. The club is held during the school year and includes stories, games, movies, crafts, and other activities. Parker makes the program unique by employing a team approach that encourages attendance.
At the beginning of the school year, each child attending is assigned to either the blue team or the read team. Each has about the same number of children. When they come to the weekly programs, they write the number of pages they have read on a chart for their “team.” Each page is worth a point. The team with the most points each week or at the end of a session gets some small reward. New children are added to one of the teams. Parker has found that by having the children record pages, it levels the playing field. They can read anything so each child can read something on his or her level and still make a contribution to the total team score. This reduces the temptation to read shorter books just to get more points. Parker tries to split the children up by not only age, but also reading level so that the groups are fairly well-balanced.
The system fosters a friendly team environment and allows children to read at their own level. According to Parker, the team approach is best suited to smaller libraries with a fairly consistent attendance rate.
* The York County Library will hold the 12th annual Patchwork Tales Storytelling Festival from March 1-3, 2007, in Rock Hill. Hosted by the York County Library and sponsored by The Herald, Comporium Communications, and the Friends of the York County Library, all performances are free. There will be storytelling and music for the whole family. For details, visit www.patchworktales.org.
If your county library system has a program you’d like featured on the South Carolina State Library’s “Library Watch,” please send information to Heather Nye, Public Relations Coordinator, South Carolina State Library, hnye@statelibrary.sc.gov.
