Did you know?

• • We can help with school assignments–just call and let us know the subject and the assignment.

• • We can provide multiple copies of titles students are required to read–please share your reading lists with us in advance.

• • We carry book award nominees and winners: Picture Book Awards, Children’s Book Awards, Newbery, Caldecott, Coretta Scott King and more.

• We do onsite library card signups on Parent/Teacher nights, Carnival Days at school, etc. Contact us so we can put it on our calendar.

Teacher Cards – Did you know that you can have both a personal and teacher’s library card? This applies to teachers that work in Berkeley County schools, whether or not you live in Berkeley County! Your teacher’s card permits you to check out up to thirty items (books, audio, DVDs, music) for thirty days. Of course, your personal card is for your enrichment and enjoyment.

Read the Books – Many schools in Berkeley County offer Accelerated Reader, Renaissance or or Scholastic Reading programs. Students earn points at school by reading from a list of selected books then taking tests about the book.

At the Berkeley County Library System web site, ReadtheBooks has made it possible for teachers, parents and children to find out if their school’s reading list titles are owned by the Berkeley County Library System. Click on the “Read the Books” tab on the library’s web site to locate and reserve a reading list title. Ask if your school participates in this program which is offered at no charge.

BCLS Subscription Databases

African American Heritage

Exclusively for African-American family history research, this unique resource includes vital, slave, free(d), court, and U.S. federal census records, as well as reference books, surname registry, and tools
to connect you to research experts. (BCLS subscription)

Ancestry® Library Edition

Discover your unique family history! This resource includes billions of records from around the world, including from U.S., U.K., and Canadian census and vital records, immigration and passport records, periodicals and books, photos, and more. (BCLS subscription) accessible only in a BCLS library

HW Wilson Web

Children’s Core Collection

A Selection Guide (Formerly Children’s Catalog)*
For collection development, readers’ advisory, curriculum support, and selection and purchasing, here is working data on fiction and nonfiction works, story collections, picture books and magazines recommended for readers from preschool through sixth grade. You’ll also appreciate listings from review sources, and other professional aids for children’s librarians and school media specialists. Entries provide complete bibliographic data, price, subject headings, a descriptive annotation, and evaluative quotations from a review when available.
Selected and recommended by specialists in library service to children, listed books encompass a wide variety of topics, including a new abundance of books on minorities, ecology, natural sciences, and natural history. Data on fairy tales and picture books has also been expanded. New to the 18th Edition are listings of recommended Web resources. (BCLS subscription)

Fiction Core Collection

Fiction Core Collection delivers information on thousands of works of fiction for adults, either written in or translated into English. Entries provide complete bibliographic data, price, a descriptive annotation, notes about related works, and evaluative quotations from a review when available. Use the information in collection development and maintenance; selection and purchasing; readers’ advisory; and general reference. (BCLS subscription)

HeritageQuest Online

You’ll find U.S. federal census records, family histories, published genealogies, historical books, Revolutionary War records, Freedman’s Bank records, and more to help you trace your American ancestors’ paths across history.(BCLS subscription)

Literature Research Center

Literature Criticism Online

Audience: For advanced middle school students through adults
Description: Imagine centuries of analysis – the scholarly and popular commentary from broadsheets, pamphlets, encyclopedias, books and periodicals. (BCLS subscription)

Proquest Civil War Era

ProQuest Civil War Era is a comprehensive primary source of materials that were previously unavailable digitally, covers a vast range of topics including the formative economic factors and other forces that led to the abolitionist movement, the 600,000 battle casualties, and the emancipation of nearly 4 million slaves. (BCLS subscription)