Young African American male side by side with a black and white photo of his ancestor

Genealogy Workshop at Goose Creek Library

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Free Movies Under the Stars Returns to Moncks Corner Recreation Complex this Spring

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Moncks Corner, SC – The Berkeley County Library System and the town of Moncks Corner are pleased to partner once again to host another round of free outdoor movies at the town of Moncks Corner’s regional recreation complex.

The Town and the Library first partnered in the spring of 2016 to test the program in at the Town’s new Regional Recreation Complex, which had just opened a few weeks prior to the first movie event. The first event drew close to 800 people and cemented the program as a value to the community.

“The partnership with the Berkley County Library to make the movie nights possible is a perfect example of what can be done when local governments work together for the benefit of the constituents they share. Events like these are what bring us together as a community and our recreation complex works so well for them because of its location and design.” Moncks Corner Mayor Lockliear comments.

“The partnership of the two organizations has worked beautifully with the Library assisting with the equipment, set up, and licensing of the movie, and the Town assisting with the venue, staff support, and promotion; however it is with great appreciation to the community sponsors who have stepped up to help fund these events, that has really made this program a possibility” said Berkeley County Library’s Marketing Coordinator, Kristen Lanier. “We don’t have to look far or hard to find a local business to help fund these events. We often have them calling us wanting to participate. They are so excited to give back to the community. I love it.”

The spring movies begin with Disney Pixar’s “Finding Dory” on Friday, March 31 sponsored by Atlantis Heating & Air.

The second movie is Disney’s “Moana” on Friday, April 28th sponsored by Moncks Corner’s newest restaurant, DIG 17A, who will be serving as the food vendor for the event to introduce some of their favorite menu items to the community.

The last of the movies is Illumination’s “SING” on Friday, May 19th sponsored by Berkeley Community Mental Health Center in recognition of May as Mental Health Month.

All movies are free! Just bring a lawn chair or blanket and come enjoy a family-friendly movie at no cost. Gates will open at 7 pm and the movie will begin promptly at dark. We kindly request you not to bring in outside food or drinks. There will be food trucks and movie concessions available for purchase.

In case of bad weather:

Last spring’s events were often rescheduled due to weather. For this reason, all the movies this year are scheduled for a Friday, with that Saturday reserved for the rain date. Follow the Town of Moncks Corner’s or the Library’s Facebook accounts for updates if you have any concerns about weather cancellations. Notices will be posted no later than 3 pm on the date of the events.

2017 South Carolina Book Awards Announced

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Greenville, SC, March 24, 2016: The 2017 South Carolina Book Award Winners were announced this Friday to attendees of the 42nd Annual South Carolina Association of School Librarians conference held at the Hyatt Regency Greenville.

The students of South Carolina have chosen:

 Picture Book Award: Rags: Hero Dog of WWI: A True Story by Margot Theis Raven, published by Sleeping Bear Press

 Children’s Book Award: El Deafo by CeCe Bell, published by Harry N. Abrams

 Junior Book Award: The Swap by Megan Shull, published by Katherine Tegen Books

 Young Adult Book Award: The Red Queen by Victoria Aveyard, published by HarperTeen

Since 1976 when sixteen schools participated, the book award program has been expanded to include more than 500 schools and more than 60,000 students participating in the program. The South Carolina Book Award Program includes a vetting process for each of the four levels of books. Committees composed of school librarians, public librarians, teachers, parents, and students read hundreds of books to create a list of 20 books for each level. Students who have read a minimum of three books for each of the YABA or JBA levels and a minimum of five books for the PBA or CBA levels vote in February for the book they feel is the best.

The winning authors are honored at the association’s annual conference held each March. The South Carolina Book Award Program was honored for its impact on literacy by the South Carolina Center for Children’s Books and Literacy at the University of South Carolina in 2012, when the program was named a Literacy Leader. The South Carolina Association of School Librarians provides an advocacy voice for the school library profession, working to provide decision makers with information that reinforces the impact of school library programs as significant factors in students’ academic achievements.

Calling all Knitters! Help us provide prayer shawls to local nursing homes

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About Knittin’ in the Corner:

When Knittin’ in the Corner was started four years ago, we had no idea it would take off like it has. Every week 20-25 dedicated individuals gather at the Moncks Corner Library to
knit, chat and have fun. The group has blossomed into an open community program, drawing men, women, and children, all of various skill levels, who want to knit or crochet. This group also loves giving back to the community and during various times of the year, they will work together to donate to different organizations. At Christmas time we donated 64 hats and 5 headbands to the Berkeley Citizens.

Want to help?

Currently, we are working on prayer shawls to be donated to local nursing homes at Christmas time. We would like to challenge other knitting/crochet groups to join us in this mission and do the same.

~Patricia DeMenna

If interested please email mcknitters@gmail.com

See all Knitting and Sewing Clubs @BCLS:

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Gene Brunson, BCLS Library Director

Berkeley County Library System Welcomes New Director Gene Brunson

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We are excited to say that after a nationwide search, the next director for BCLS is one of our own. Please join us in welcoming Gene Brunson as the new director of BCLS. Gene has served BCLS as

Gene Brunson, BCLS Library Director

Gene Brunson, BCLS Library Director

the Technology Director for more than 22 years. His extensive background in the library industry started when he was a freshman at the College of Charleston working as an intern for Charleston County Library where he worked for the next four years in various departments of the library and served as a regional manager for Charleston County Library System under his mentor, Cynthia Hurd, one of the Emanuel AME victims.

He has also worked in the school library at MUSC and in the medical library at USC School of Medicine while he earned his Masters of Library Science and Information from USC. In his introduction to County Council members on Jan. 9th, BCLS board chair Patricia Richards explained the unanimous vote for Brunson.“Gene was a fabulous fit for the position as director because … he not only handled all the technology but he touched virtually every aspect of the library,” Richards said.

From cataloging, to shelving, to reference, and working on the bookmobile, he has done it all. Under his leadership, BCLS will continue to move forward, setting the standards for the “library of tomorrow.” When Brunson took office in January he wasted no time assessing the critical needs of BCLS, which included meeting with department heads of county administration. He also began looking for new opportunities to expand and add library services to new and vastly growing communities. In his first meeting with BCLS’s leadership team, which consist of all the library branch managers and department heads, he asked each of them to describe their idea of their “library of tomorrow.”

Leadership members took turns writing down their thoughts and then placed them into a box. Brunson then gathered the box and ceremoniously “threw” the box out the door, thus encouraging his team to work together and to think “outside the box” or realize “there is no box” at all. The ideas generated by this exercise will be revisited as a team, with all BCLS staff members, other library systems statewide and throughout the nation, as well as with community members and county administration in an effort to take the BCLS and Berkeley County to the next level of library services.