September is Library Card Sign Up Month

Beaufort County Library has been observing National Library Card Sign-Up Month for quite some years now. We love to celebrate the most valuable card of all – your library card! New to the area? Drop by one of the branch libraries to apply for a card. Lost your old card?  Drop by to get a new one. Are you a child or a teen? Stop by your branch's youth's desk to see what they have planned to celebrate this special month, and enter into their special prize give away! Winners will be contacted October 1st.

The observance was launched in 1987 to meet the challenge of then Secretary of Education William J. Bennett who said: "Let's have a national campaign...every child should obtain a library card - and use it." Since then, thousands of public and school libraries join each fall in a national effort to ensure every child does just that.

Library cards are generally free to those living in the library's service area. In most cases, borrowing privileges are granted on the spot. Some libraries may require some form of identification, proof of residency or the signature of a guardian.

How to Get Your Beaufort County Library Card:

Library cards are free to the following groups:

• Beaufort County residents who present proof of current residency in Beaufort County.
• Military personnel who present military ID and proof of current address.
• Non-residents who own property in Beaufort County and show proof of paid property tax and home address.
• Students who are non-residents may show a current student ID and proof of a Beaufort County mailing address.
• Faculty and staff of any Beaufort County school may show an employee ID badge and proof of address.
• County employees may show an employee ID and proof of address.
• Residents with no physical address may provide a letter of sponsorship on official letterhead from a recognized non-profit organization

You may visit any branch library location to get a library card. (To print out the form ahead of time, click here for English, click here for Spanish.)
You may use your card at any Beaufort County Library location.
You may borrow materials from any of the consortial libraries of SC LENDS, the University of South Carolina at Beaufort Library and the Technical College of the Lowcountry Learning Resources Center, subject to their policies and procedures.