Local History Programs, Sept. 29 - Oct. 8

Visit the Beaufort Branch Library, 311 Scott Street, 1st floor, to hear about Ribaut's Road with Beverly Eggert on Thursday, September 29 at 2 pm. Register at https://beauforthistorymuseum.wildapricot.org/event-2326859. It's free. This local history program is brought to you by the Beaufort History Museum and the Beaufort County Library.

Kick off October with a visit to the St. Helena Branch Library, on Saturday, October 1 at 1 pm for the "Spirit of Adventure" with author Rachel Haynie. The St. Helena Branch Library is located at 6355 Jonathan Francis Sr. Rd., St. Helena, SC 29920. This program is brought to you by the Beaufort District Collection.

Begin gathering your artifacts now to bring over the Beaufort District Collection to "Stump the Archaeologists" on Saturday, October 8 from 10:30 am to 1:30 pm. (Just understand that it is truly hard to stump Dr. Jon Leader and Dr. Eric Poplin!)This program is brought to you by the Beaufort District Collection and the Beaufort Chapter, Archaeological Society of South Carolina.

Reminder: Some parts of the Library system begin new hours on October 1st. Be sure to check your favorite branch's schedule for any changes. The Research Room will be open Mondays, Thursdays, and Fridays, 9 am to 5 pm beginning October 1st - just in time to be closed Wednesday, October 5th for Staff Development Day. Regular hours will resume on Thursday, October 6th.

Banned Books Week, September 25 - October 1

This post is cut-and-pasted from the Banned Books Week website: http://www.ala.org/bbooks/bannedbooksweek.


Banned Books Week is an annual event celebrating the freedom to read. Typically held during the last week of September, it highlights the value of free and open access to information. Banned Books Week brings together the entire book community; librarians, booksellers, publishers, journalists, teachers, and readers of all types, in shared support of the freedom to seek and to express ideas, even those some consider unorthodox or unpopular.

By focusing on efforts across the country to remove or restrict access to books, Banned Books Week draws national attention to the harms of censorship.

Check out the frequently challenged books section to explore the issues and controversies around book challenges and book banning. The books featured during Banned Books Week have all been targeted with removal or restrictions in libraries and schools. While books have been and continue to be banned, part of the Banned Books Week celebration is the fact that, in a majority of cases, the books have remained available. This happens only thanks to the efforts of librarians, teachers, students, and community members who stand up and speak out for the freedom to read.

The Top 10 Most Challenged Books for 2015 were:

1. Looking for Alaska, by John Green
   Reasons: Offensive language, sexually explicit, and unsuited for age group.
2. Fifty Shades of Grey, by E. L. James
   Reasons: Sexually explicit, unsuited to age group, and other (“poorly written,” “concerns that a group of teenagers will want to try it”).
3. I Am Jazz, by Jessica Herthel and Jazz Jennings
   Reasons: Inaccurate, homosexuality, sex education, religious viewpoint, and unsuited for age group.
4. Beyond Magenta: Transgender Teens Speak Out, by Susan Kuklin
   Reasons: Anti-family, offensive language, homosexuality, sex education, political viewpoint, religious viewpoint, unsuited for age group, and other (“wants to remove from collection to ward off complaints”).
5. The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night-Time, by Mark Haddon
   Reasons: Offensive language, religious viewpoint, unsuited for age group, and other (“profanity and atheism”).
6. The Holy Bible
   Reasons: Religious viewpoint.
7. Fun Home, by Alison Bechdel
   Reasons: Violence and other (“graphic images”).
8. Habibi, by Craig Thompson
   Reasons: Nudity, sexually explicit, and unsuited for age group.
9. Nasreen’s Secret School: A True Story from Afghanistan, by Jeanette Winter
   Reasons: Religious viewpoint, unsuited to age group, and violence.
10. Two Boys Kissing, by David Levithan
    Reasons: Homosexuality and other (“condones public displays of affection”).

Each title is available through our Library system and the SCLENDS consortium catalog.



Reminder #1: The Beaufort County Library system will be closed Wednesday, October 5th for Staff Development Day. Regular hours resume on Thursday October 6th.

Reminder #2: The Beaufort District Collection and the busiest branch libraries begin new hours of operation on October 1st. Please be sure to check the schedule for your favorite branch library.

New hours for the Beaufort District Collection are:

• Mondays 9 am to 5 pm
• Tuesdays by advance appointment only. Contact gracec@bcgov.net or call 843-255-6468 to schedule.
• Wednesdays by advance appointment only. Contact gracec@bcgov.net or call 843-255-6468 to schedule.
• Thursdays 9 am to 5 pm 
• Fridays 9 am to 5 pm (This is an extension of public service by 2 hours each Friday.)
• Saturdays and Sundays closed

Ribaut's Road - Sept. 29

Join us for the second program in the new Beaufort History Museum and Beaufort County Library local history series. 


Beverly Eggert will share the adventures of Jean Ribaut, Rene Laudonniere, and Jacques LeMoyne as they make their journey from France to the New World in 1562 and again in 1564. "Ribaut's Road" is complete with tales of Indian raids, mutiny, murder, starvation, kidnapping and political intrigue. This lecture will be held Thursday, September 29^th from 2:00 pm – 3:30 pm in the Beaufort Branch Meeting Room, 1^st floor, 311 Scott Street, Beaufort. Pre-register with the Beaufort History Museum  843-379-3079.

Heads up: The Library system will be closed Wednesday, October 5, 2016 for Staff Development Day. Regular hours resume Thursday, October 6th. BTW: Friday, October 7th we'll be open until 5 pm. 

Our new hours are: 

• Mondays, Thursdays, and Fridays, 9 am - 5 pm. 

• Tuesdays and Wednesdays remain by advance appointment only.    

October is Looking Fresh with Programs Too!

The Library’s special local history collection and archives highlights Archaeology Month and local folkways during October.

Event Name:  “Spirit of Exploration” with Rachel Haynie

Short Description of Event:  Author Rachel Haynie examines the drive to conquer the unknown that links the early French, Spanish and English explorers of this area to the inventor of the laser Charles Towne.  

Time and Date of Event: Saturday, October 1, 2016 at 1:00 pm  

Location of Event: BDC@ St. Helena Branch Library, 6355 Jonathan Francis Sr. Road, St. Helena Island, SC 29920

Price of Event: Free; Ages 12 - Adults

Contact info: Grace Cordial, 843-255-6468, gracec@bcgov.net  

Website:  beaufortcountylibrary.org

Event Name:  “What the Heck Is It?” Year 4

Short Description of Event:  Try to stump our renowned archaeologists, Dr. Jon Leader and Dr. Eric Poplin, with your unidentified artifacts. Co-sponsored by the Beaufort Chapter, ASSC.

Time and Date of Event: Saturday, October 8, 2016 at 10:30 am – 1:30 pm 

Location of Event: Beaufort District Collection, 2^nd floor, 311 Scott Street, Beaufort, SC 29902

Price of Event: Free; Ages 12 - Adults

Contact info: Grace Cordial, 843-255-6468, gracec@bcgov.net  

Website:  beaufortcountylibrary.org

Event Name:  “Lowcountry Voodoo A to Z” with Carole Longmeyer

Short Description of Event:  Local author Carole Marsh-Longmeyer offers an alphabetical enumeration of West African-influenced folkways to educate and entertain.

Time and Date of Event: Wednesday, October 26, 2016 at 11:00 am – Noon   

Location of Event: BDC@ Bluffton Branch, 120 Palmetto Way, Bluffton, SC 29910

Price of Event: Free; Ages 12 - Adults

Contact info: Grace Cordial, 843-255-6468, gracec@bcgov.net  

Website:  beaufortcountylibrary.org

Heads up: The Library system will be closed Wednesday, October 5, 2016 for staff training. Regular hours resume Thursday, October 6.

September Local History Programs That You Won't Want To Miss

Now that everyone has taken their vacations and the storm has passed, it's time to get back to the business of providing enlightening, illuminating and educational local history programs. In total, we have three free programs this month that we would love for you to attend.Two are the result of our new partnership for local history programs with the Beaufort History Museum; and one is in our on-going BDC@ The Branches Local History series.

Jason Ryan, Author

Tuesday, Sept. 13th - "Beaufort—500 Years in a Capsule" | 5:30 pm - 7:00 pm at the Beaufort History Museum in the Arsenal, 713 Craven Street, Beaufort.| Pre-register: Beaufort History Museum website 843-379-3079  

Wednesday, Sept. 14th - Jackpot with local author Jason Ryan | 5:30 pm - 6:30 pm | BDC@ Beaufort Branch, 311 Scott Street, 1st floor.

Thursday, September 29^{th --}"Ribaut's Road" with Beverly Eggert | 2:00 pm – 3:30 pm | Beaufort Branch Meeting Room, 1^st floor, 311 Scott Street, Beaufort. Pre-register: Beaufort History Museum website 843-379-3079  


We'd love to see you at each one!