Meet the Beaufort District Collection Staff

Tuesday, April 8 is National Library Workers Day. Odds are you've read the news and are likely aware that all library, archives, and museum workers are in a rough patch. It's been a long year the past two weeks. (I borrowed that statement and adapted it for my purposes) Perhaps what's missing in this current environment is recognition that the folks who work in libraries, museums, and archives are people with whom you may have much in common. So - I've decided that the BDC should flesh ourselves out a bit for you. We are dedicated public servants but each of us is far more than the work we do for the residents and visitors of Beaufort County. Cassandra and Sydney will write their own introductions after mine.

I am Grace Cordial. My role is to manage all BDC workers, volunteers, operations, and projects. I have two Library Science degrees from the University of South Carolina, did graduate work at the University of North Carolina Chapel Hill in American history, and earned an undergraduate degree Summa Cum Laude in history from Newberry College. I am a certified archivist. I am a white 10th generation South Carolinian woman of Anglo and Western European descent in my sixth decade. I identify as working middle class. I am privileged to hold higher education degrees and was the first person of my extended family to go to college. I have worked for the Beaufort County Library system for over 26 years first as a Reference librarian and then as the manager of its special local history collection and archives unit.

Though I took the special libraries track when I was in Library School and was fortunate to intern in the Government Documents and Cataloging departments of USC's Thomas Cooper Library and at the South Carolina Department of Archives and History under Alexia Jones Helmsley (one of Beaufort's own), a lot of what I have learned - and use virtually every day at work -- came directly from Connecting to Collections webinars and local conferences held by the Palmetto Libraries, Archives, and Museums Council on Preservation and the South Carolina Archival Association. Sometimes educational opportunities from these organizations came about as a direct result of funding from the Institute for Museum and Library Services. Indeed, I have been teaching myself and training my assistants for years with C2C free webinars, including most recently Cassandra and Sydney.

Before I joined the Library staff in 1999, I was a restaurant and bar manager in a family business, mother of four, church organist, museum attendant, and a reliable and trustworthy babysitter in my hometown of Georgetown, SC. I was widowed in 2022 when my Irish born husband of 44 years lost his 17-year battle with lymphoma. I continued the tradition of my "Momma's hysterical tours" of important historical and religious sites with my own children - most of whom who now take their children to such places - so I must have done something right.

At present, I have a dozen grandchildren spread out from Virginia to Indiana to Sydney, Australia whom I don't get to see nearly as often as I would like. My sons are officers in the US military. One daughter works for the Department of Homeland Security while my other daughter is an IT project manager for an international bank and investment firm abroad. Three of my children have Master's degrees in their areas of expertise of computer science, project management, logistics, and international relations. I have sons-in-law and a daughter-in-law who appear to like me just fine. (At least they let me into their houses). I've heard tell that a second daughter-in-law is quite likely on the near horizon.

I have a sister and two nieces plus a large extended family mostly based in coastal South Carolina. My parents died in the 2010s. I was reared a Lutheran, graduated from a small Lutheran college, and attend St. Peter's Catholic Church.

I've traveled to Ireland and Northern Ireland on multiple occasions to see in-laws; stood on the spot where Anne Boleyn lost her head in the Tower of London; visited the Sistine Chapel - but not nearly for as long as I would have liked; and have seen parts of Australia three times so far. The most beautiful place that I have ever beheld is Glendalough National Park in Wicklow, Ireland. But I am going out to the Rocky Mountains soon so Glendalough's status may experience a setback. The jury is still out on that one.

I spent so much time in libraries growing up I figured someone should pay me for it. Walking alone the two blocks to the Georgetown County Library was my first taste of independence when I was a youngster. I became a librarian and archivist because I prefer working indoors, like books, churches, cemeteries and other old "stuff". I also like to understand why people make the decisions that they make. Documents help with that. I like what archaeologists do and discover, but I do not have the patience or inclination to be one. I could, however, probably work for a funeral home because death is simply another phase of life.

I like movies. My favorite movie is Forrest Gump - but mostly because of its great soundtrack. Come to think on it - In fact, I may like soundtracks more than the movies themselves. I watch It's a Wonderful Life each and every Christmas Eve. My favorite actor is Robert Duval - though Cillian Murphy just might overtake him. The Wind that Shakes the Barley is my favorite Murphy movie. And who isn't both fascinated and appalled by Tommy Shelby of Peaky Blinders?

And speaking of television, I was an early fan of the original Walking Dead series. The "Rick Grimes in the helicopter" part reminded me too much of the "Bobby Ewing in the shower" plot twist on Dallas that I sort of stopped watching TWD after that. My favorite TWD character is Daryl Dixon. (Hoopla, the Library's streaming service now includes his spin-off series. Yeah!). I am anxiously awaiting the conclusion of Outlander - though I find Claire quite annoying. I've read all the Bridgerton novels and watched the series on Netflix. (Season 3 is my favorite -so far). I am currently watching past episodes of The Good Doctor, and current episodes of NCIS Origins and Will Trent. My go-to-for-chilling-out-television-mini-series are Lonesome Dove and Band of Brothers.

My favorite books as an adult are Games of the Hangman by Victor O'Reilly (1991) and Guns of the South by Harry Turtledove (1992). My favorite books during my youth were Johnny Tremain by Esther Forbes (1943) and Ben and Me by Robert Lawson (1939). I like sweeping historical fiction and character driven historical-fantasy fiction. Accordingly, I've read all of the Saxon series about Uhtred of Bebbanburg (I am so "Team Uhtred"); all the published Game of Thrones books (X2) - favorite character Sansa Stark - but I, like many others, just hope that GRRM can finish the series before he dies. I thoroughly enjoyed John Jakes' American Bicentennial series when I was a teenager. I've particularly liked Mary Stewart's Merlin Trilogy and books by Leon Uris and Edward Rutherford among others at various points in my life. I have read all of the Harry Potter series by J.K. Rowling at least thrice - and seen the movies even more often. My favorite character is Neville Longbottom.

In spite of the above long list of fantasy and historical fiction, I prefer to read works of non-fiction in my spare time such as histories about diseases, World War II and how to prepare for a good retirement. I tend to read more for information than for escape into other worlds. Indeed, the works of Barbara Tuchman and the enthusiasm of my high school teacher Mrs. McKinney for all things American history ultimately led me to my career.

If I could eat dinner with any person living or dead, I would choose Benjamin Franklin. I've always found Ben Franklin fascinating as an historical figure and as a human being. And he is purported to have enjoyed the company of women at a time when many men saw the distaff as merely necessary means for reproductive purposes.

My aspirations are to set up my eventual successor for success by leaving the BDC in as good a shape as possible before I exit the building on my last shift; to get to know my grandchildren better - and to give them the opportunity to know me as a human being; and to see a bit more of this multi-cultured world before I leave it. On my bucket list for retirement: Prague; Nuremburg; the beaches at Normandy; New Zealand; Scotland and an around-the-world cruise - but I probably should take one of those shorter 8 - 15 days Viking cruises in Europe first - when stability returns to where my funds for fun are invested. I plan to keep on going as long as my health and money hold out.

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Hello everyone! I'm Cassandra Knoppel. I'm a Library Specialist here in the BDC and my day-to-day work is mostly archival processing. I have a dual undergraduate degree in Historic Preservation & Community Planning and Art & Architectural History from the College of Charleston (Class of '21!) and am currently pursuing my masters in Library and Information Science from the University of South Carolina. I was born and raised in Beaufort, South Carolina by two Northern transplants. I've worked for the Beaufort County Library for about a year-and-a-half and have loved every minute of it! I'm honored to work in my hometown and serve the needs of my beloved community. I've been a card-carrying member of this library since... well... whenever my mom first dragged me into this building to get a card as a kid, and I don't plan on giving it up anytime soon!

My love of history grew out of the experiences from my earliest years. When I was first born, my parents had a place in Ridgeland and my dad became a stay-at-home parent to my sister (who has Down Syndrome) and I. To keep us entertained in those before-school years, my dad drove us around to local historical sites and reenactments, sharing his passion for history with me. I remember watching PBS' Liberty Kids TV show and the Liberty! documentary series on VHS so often that I choreographed a short dance number to James Taylor's "Johnny Has Gone for a Soldier" and begged my dad to build me a fort like the ones I saw on TV. I guess I've always been a real nerd! Oh, bonus Fun Fact about me - my mother's family came to America from Italy through Boston and lived for a good long time in the North End. One of our great-great cousins lived in the Paul Revere House, which was a tenement house in the early 1900s, and would shave pieces of the wooden stairs to hawk to passers-by for extra income (my preservationist heart cringes at this, but I respect the grind of my ancestors). Some of my family also lived in the North End when I was a kid, so you can imagine little-me's delight at touring the Old North Church and reenacting Paul Revere's ride, too!

At present, I share a tiny bungalow with my fiancé, Chris, and our sweet-yet-stinky old labrador. Chris and I met in high school and made it through three years of long distance in college and nearly fours of living together now to still enjoy each other's company enough to get married this summer on our ten-year anniversary. Chris is a tile-layer setting up his own business, so we plan on sticking around Beaufort for the next few decades until retirement, when we hope to get another tiny bungalow in the mountains.

When I'm not working or attending my graduate classes, I love to spend time with my family and in-laws. Chris and I also spend a lot of time with his core group of friends from high school, having game nights, backyard barbecues, and hosting UFC Fight Night watch parties at our place. I love the beach - duh, who doesn't here? - and boat rides where I can sit and read while Chris fly-fishes. We're also big outdoorsy folk, going on daytrips for in-state hikes and sightseeing or primitive camping in the NC mountains any chance we get. I've also picked up embroidery as a hobby thanks to one of our most recent library programs. I say that I'd like to get back into yoga and pilates, but between school and work, I conveniently don't have the time.

Before I croak, I'd like to return to Ireland, Wales, and Italy, travel for the first time to Japan and St. Petersburg, and maybe backpack through Southeast Asia. The Okefenokee Swamp and Dollywood are on my closer-to-home travel bucket list - and one of them I'm planning on crossing off during my honeymoon. My goal in life is to be happy, live a good, productive life, and spend as much time as possible with the people who matter the most to me - and make those people happy, too!

Now for a quick list of favorites before I pass the mic to Sydney: My favorite food is my beloved grandmother's mac-and-cheese casserole, followed closely by any other mac-and-cheese casserole and fried chicken. My favorite musician is Charli XCX (she's been in my Spotify Top 5 for like, four years now), and I love hyperpop the most but will quite honestly listen to anything except for jazz and Taylor Swift (Sorry, Sydney!). I watch a lot of Love Island UK, anime, true crime documentaries, and old horror movies. I most recently gave my favorite movie as The Princess Bride under rapid-fire and unprompted questioning by Grace but would like to formally move to change that to either Titanic, The Perks of Being a Wallflower, or Velvet Goldmine (still officially undecided). I enjoy poetry, especially The Love Song of J. Alfred Prufrock and Evangeline. I'll read any play written by Tom Stoppard and return frequently to Arcadia (which prompted me to self-study thermodynamics for quite literally no reason). My favorite color is pink, craft supply is glitter, flavor is vanilla, mushroom is chanterelle, and tea is chai.

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Hello! My name is Sydney Whiteside, and I am the Library Assistant here in the BDC. I have only been working here for about five months now, but it feels like I have been here forever (in the best way!). As the BDC’s assistant, my main focus is working with researchers in the ready-reference section of our collection. When I am not working with patrons, you can find me indexing local history material, shelving/filing materials, prepping for programs, or working on miscellaneous projects such as displays, social media posts, or anything Grace or Cassandra may need an extra hand with. I have an associate's degree in communication with a concentration in human resources from American Military University. Since working directly with patrons is a large part of my position, my education paired with my experience in customer service proves to be extremely useful! 

I graduated high school in 2020 with so many plans for my future, but life has a way of intervening in all sorts of ways. One of the most significant happened when my boyfriend enlisted in the Marine Corps, a part of our plan, but military life is something you can never be fully prepared for. We did long distance for about a year while he completed his schooling. We got married almost four years ago, and I officially moved to Beaufort a few months after the wedding. After settling down and adopting our (now) 100-pound Saint Bernard/Lab mix, Watson, I was finally able to finish my Associate's degree. I plan to return to school in order to earn Bachelor's and Master's one day as I really really love school. 

I was born and raised in Harford County, Maryland. I grew up on a small farm where we cared for horses and one donkey named Jack (my grandmother waited until after I moved to get even more fun animals like chickens and goats... so not fair, but I love you anyways, DeeDee). I learned to ride horses from a very early age and even competed in shows. I started dancing at the age of three and continued to dance for the next ten years. I dabbled in tap, jazz, ballet, lyrical, hip-hop, and was even part of a competition team for five years. I also played lacrosse for about seven years (which I loved) and field hockey for about three years (which I did not love as much). As you can see, I was a very busy bee growing up. I could not have done any of it without my amazing mom (I know she is reading this, so I wanted to give her a shoutout. I love you!!!!).

I was heavily involved in music, primarily band, growing up. I played the flute and piccolo and was drum major in my high school’s marching band. It was actually where my husband and I met! We were the cutest, dorkiest band couple in the world. Music has always been important to me throughout my life. I believe it was what sparked my love for poetry. I love the rhythm and flow of poems and how expressive poets can be with their writing. I remember having a very worn copy of Alfred Tennyson’s “The Princess” as a child. When I was really young, I only enjoyed looking at the illustrations. Once I was a little bit older and began to pick up on the patterns of poetry, I fell in love. I would write my own short poems or “songs” and pair them with extremely out of tune guitar notes (sorry, mom). Every now and then I have thoughts that I would love to turn into poems, but for now I stick to reading them. I have really enjoyed the poetry section in the BDC. I have a few favorites, but I think my number one is Realities and Imaginations... a Poem by Robert Woodward Barnwell, Sr. 

When I am not working, I love to spend time with my family- aka my husband, Brandon, and our dog. We recently moved to Port Royal, and we have really fallen in love with it; I can see us being there for many years to come. We love to go on family walks, play board and video games together, and we have recently been on a big movie kick. We have been going back and forth picking from our favorite movies growing up. On my own, I love reading, hiking and crafting. For the past few months, I have been making trinkets out of air-dry clay. More recently, thanks to our programs with Jade Weaver and the Sea Island Quilters, I have been embroidering in my spare time. I genuinely love listening to all kinds of music, especially the Beatles and Taylor Swift (I know how to have fun, unlike Cassandra). I have a huge green thumb; my favorite plant has always been the string of pearls. Speaking of green, it is also my favorite color. And speaking of favorites, here are a few extremely random favorite things of mine: dragons, Lorelai Gilmore, Tim Burton movies, matcha, Lincolnshire Posy by Percy Grainger, and poutine.

Cassandra, Sydney and I hope you’ve enjoyed this glimpse into our personal biographies, interests, and aspirations.