Catch the Reading Bug!
Come kickoff the Summer Reading Program with us on
Friday, June 13th with storyteller, Fouche’ Sheppard. The kick-off party will begin at 10:00 AM followed by registration for the program. This year’s theme is “Catch the Reading Bug.”
Children can earn incentives for time spent reading this summer by signing up beginning June 13 at the Colleton County Memorial Library, Edisto Beach Library or our Bookmobile.
Sponsored by the library, the Friends of the Colleton County Memorial Library and by the Coastal Community Foundation of SC/Beaufort Fund, a series of entertaining summer programs with a focus on reading is planned.
See calendar link on library web page (www.colletonlibrary.org) for dates and times of programs.

Library Hours:
In response to blog request asking about our library hours, when using our home page from outside the library (www.colletonlibrary.org), a link to the library hours is listed on the left-hand side of screen, "Directory & Hours."

Dr. Charles Spencer/Book Talk - Book Signing

Tues., May 14 at 5 PM at Edisto Branch &

Wed., May 15 - 6 PM in Walterboro/library

Two highly anticipated volumes about the history of Edisto Island

Vol. 1 - Edisto Island: 1663 - 1860, Wild Eden to Cotton Aristocracy

Vol. 2 - Edisto Island: 1861 - 2006, Ruin, Recovery, and Rebirth

Author Charles Spencer chronicles Edisto's history, from the early days when English and Scottish planters and their African slaves settled the lush island paradise and established plantations that flourished until the Civil War in Volume 1 and in Volume 2 recounts the events of the Civil War, the struggles of Reconstruction, the effects of the new freedman class and the island's rebirth as a favorite vacation spot and modern community in the twentieth century. Each chapter offers an enjoyable excursion into the past and a detailed look at the remarkable history of Edisto.



Event Free & Open to the public

Booksigning with our Children's Librarian, Ms. Shiela ("Shiela Martina") who has written a children's book entitled HANNAH AND DEXTER: The First Meeting. 6 PM - Tuesday, April 15 at the library.

Black History Month

ON DISPLAY DURING FEBRUARY:
Local Artists,
ROBERT
WASHINGTON
&
MARY
YOUNGBLOOD

Noted author BETH WEBB HART to speak at Friends Annual Meeting on Tuesday, February 19 at 7 PM

BOOKSIGNING &
REFRESHMENTS
TO FOLLOW
THE PROGRAM

Beth Webb Hart, a South Carolina native, holds a B.A. in English Literature from Hollins College and an M.F.A. in Creative Writing from Sarah Lawrence College. Her first novel, Grace at Low Tide, was one of three finalists for the 2006 Christy Awards in the general/contemporary fiction category. She lectures on a variety of topics and has taught creative writing on the college and high school level where she received two national awards from Scholastic, Inc. Beth Webb lives with her husband, composer Edward Hart, and their daughter in Charleston, South Carolina where she serves as a writer-in-residence at Ashley Hall.


Beth Webb Hart will be speaking about her life as a writer, about her new novel with a Lowcountry setting, The Wedding Machine, and about her previous very successful works of fiction, Adelaide Piper and Grace at Low Tide.

About THE WEDDING MACHINE…..

Jasper, South Carolina have been run for years by four women respectfully dubbed The Wedding Machine. This summer the daughters and sons of these four women are each being "married off" (to some unlikely characters!) and the gears of the machine begin to grind to asurprising halt.


ABOUT HER NOVEL: GRACE AT LOW TIDE : Hart’s debut novel is a coming-of-age tale about God's terrifying, befuddling grace.
When a business venture goes sour, Charleston blue-bloods Billy and Dee DeLoach uproot their family and move into the caretaker’s cottage on what was once the family plantation estate on Edisto Island. And while the rest of her family falls to pieces, teenaged DeVeaux sustains them through her reluctant help and her stubborn hope.
Told in DeVeaux's wry, observant voice, Grace at Low Tide chronicles the adjustments, tensions, and tragedy that ultimately force the family to see God’s grace in the raw and untouched beauty of the Lowcountry island.
A haunting tale of stumbling faith, hard-won hope, white-knuckled love and a mysterious mercy.
ABOUT HER NOVEL: ADELAIDE PIPER:
The year is 1989 and dark currents lurk beneath the smooth surface of the snobbish Virginia campus where Adelaide Piper has come to study. Her poetic sensibility and idealism only irritate the socialites and cynics who notice her at all.
After a heartbreaking and violent loss of innocence, Adelaide must navigate between her genteel Southern upbringing and the gritty realities of a new generation. Only sheer determination, fueled by a spiritual awakening, will save her from drowning.
Ultimately Adelaide must return to the very ground she once cursed and to a deeper appreciation for her Southern heritage, however broken and imperfect it may be.
Beth Webb Hart, the author Publishers Weekly called a lovely, gifted writer, introduces us to a colorful cast of truly Southern charactersand to a complex heroine whose courage and determination inspire us. Her story testifies to the truth and beauty residing in the human spirit.


TUSKEGEE AIRMEN celebrated in film at Library:

Tuskegee Airmen
The Colleton Council Arts Council in partnership with the Colleton County Memorial Library and the Walterboro Chapter of the Tuskegee Airmen, Inc., will honor the Tuskegee Airmen with two special events in 2008. The Tuskegee Airmen were the first African American aviators sworn into United States military service during World War II.

The celebration begins with the screening of the film, Airmen and Adversity, a documentary filmed partially in Walterboro. The screening will be followed by a question and answer session led by Mr. Johnnie Thompson, President of the Walterboro chapter of Tuskegee Airmen, Inc. This event will be held at 5 PM, February 28, 2008, at Colleton County Memorial Library, and is free and open to the public. The screening will also be sponsored by Urban Exposure, Inc., a small production company recently relocated to the Lowcountry area.
The celebration continues on Saturday, March 1, 2008, with a highly anticipated performance by Tuskegee University’s Golden Voices Choir. World renowned for their awe-inspiring renditions of African American spirituals, the Golden Voices Choir will grace the stage of the Hampton Street Auditorium at 7:00 PM. Tickets purchased in advance are $10 for adults, $8 for students and seniors and are available at Bachelor Hill Antiques, Griffin Jewelers and Gallery Music. For further information or to reserve seating please call 549-1922, or send an email to jwo@lowcountry.com



Winter/Spring Events:
Children’s Department at the Library!

Daycare/Private School Outreach Story times
Wednesday Mornings
10:00 a.m.—Storytime
Ages 2 – 7 20 minutes (general public)
11:00 a.m. - Ages 3 – 5:30 minutes (LCCA—Head Start )

Youth Volunteer Program (Jan.—Dec. 2008)

Local Colleton youths ages 12 – 18 may volunteer monthly for gift card. Must volunteer 25 or more hours per month to be eligible for the gift card. Must sign-up with Ms. Shiela or Mrs. Millie in the Children’s Department

Annual Poetry Contest (Mar. 3 – Apr. 4, 2008) Children ages 5 – 12 may participate. Poem must be original and 12 lines or less about “MY FAVORITE PLACE TO VISIT.” Child’s name should not appear on poem itself—only title of poem & assigned number. Application should include: Child’s name, age, phone number, parent’s name, & school Awards Day:
April 24, 2008
(Thursday at 5:00 pm)

2008 - New Reading & Discussion Series: Let's Talk About It!
REMEMBER EVERYTHING: THE IMPORTANCE OF HERITAGE IN SOUTH CAROLINA LITERATURE

A new reading and discussion book series entitled “Remember Everything: The Importance of Heritage in South Carolina Literature” will be held at the Colleton County Memorial Library beginning in January 2008. Copies of the books for the series may be picked up at the circulation desk in the library. The program is free and open to the public and is sponsored by the Colleton County Memorial Library and is funded in part by the South Carolina Humanities Council, a state program of the National Endowment for the Humanities; inspiring, engaging and enriching South Carolinians with programs on literature, history, culture and heritage.

Dates, titles, and scholars for the series are:

Monday, January 14 at 6 p.m. – Rich in Love by Josephine Humphreys, Scholar: Dr. Rosemary Reisman, retired college professor.

Monday, January 28 at 6 p.m. – Down by the Riverside by Charles Joyner, Scholar: Janis Blocker, Colleton County educator

Tuesday, February 12 at 6 p.m. - Secret & Sacred: The Diaries of James Henry Hammond, edited by Carol Bleser, Scholar: Dr. Ron Cox, Associate Professor of History, Assoc. Dean for Academic & Student Affairs, USC/Lancaster

Monday, February 26 at 6:00 p.m. – The Great Santini by Pat Conroy, Scholar: Dr. Ellen Malphrus, Assoc. Professor, USC/Beaufort

Monday, March 10 at 6:00 p.m. – Red Hills and Cotton by Ben Robertson, Scholar: Dot Jackson, award winning author and relative of Ben Robertson

NEW "LET'S TALK ABOUT IT" Reading & Discussion Series

A new reading and discussion series entitled "Remember Everything: The Importance of Heritage in South Carolina Literature" will run from January - March 2008. More information coming soon!