Some of What We Accomplished in March

The Beaufort District Collection (BDC) had a busy March with materials processing, community engagement activities and a BDC@ Bluffton Branch archaeology program, co-sponsored with the Beaufort Chapter, Archaeological Society of South Carolina.

Ashley continues to work on the Arnsberger Postcard Collection, preparing it for submission to the Lowcountry Digital Library this week. It's been an intensive process making high resolution scans of more than 200 postcards, capturing metadata, creating tags and subject headings. We hope that you enjoy the end results beginning National Postcard Week in May. 

Among the goals we set for this unit during 2016 was to interact more often with more segments of our community. Thus, the BDC continues to enter into collaborations with community groups.

•  The BDC represented the Library system on the Beaufort History Museum’s Living History Civil War Encampment weekend planning committee and at the event on Saturday.  Staff talked with 160 people and handed out 100 brochures about Civil War materials and Library services. 

• We highlighted the family history resources of the BDC for 10 members of the Charleston Genealogy Society on March 16, first during a behind-the-scenes tour and for some, during a family history research session.

• Senior staff attended the private “Virtue, Liberty, Science: A Legacy of Education in Beaufort County: History and Reflections on the Occasion of the Investiture of Dr. Al M. Panu” lecture and reception the evening of March 16. 

• On March 23, 30 Landmark Conference attendees got to enjoy a broad subset of our treasures in a special behind-the-scenes tour. Staff was pleased to be invited to the Landmark Conference banquet on March 24 during which they heard Dr. Brent Morris’s presentation on historical interpretations of Reconstruction through the past century and to interact with other stewards of cultural heritage collections.

Such community engagement activities allow BDC staff to interact with other professionals, customers, and the public, to assess the Library’s perception in the community, solicit input, and provide fertile ground for new ideas for service delivery to form. 

As you may remember from previous posts, the BDC is the only Beaufort County Library public service unit that has to provide services and programs at other Library unit locations. We have to provide at least one program per year per location - though at some of the locations we do more (depending on meeting room availability, speaker preferences, and turn-out at previous programs and trainings at a particular location).

On March 22, LAMAR Institute archaeologists, Dan and Rita Elliott, screened a documentary film and gave the Battle of Purysburg Final Report at Bluffton Branch to 26 interested people. This well-attended program was co-sponsored by the Beaufort Chapter, Archaeological Society of South Carolina.We hope to return to Bluffton Branch with a quite different local history program over the summer.

Best of Luck to You, Charmaine

Charmaine is relocating to North Carolina with her husband. I shall indeed miss her daily cheerfulness, reliability, patient assistance to researchers, and calm demeanor which greatly contributed to the daily operation and public appreciation of this Library unit. It's been a good (almost) 6 years. 

Best of luck to you and Tyson as you pursue your life's goals in another locale.

BDC.BCL is now on Facebook

www.facebook.com/BDC.BCL

Libraries are all about using social media tools to understand what our communities want from us and to share what it is that libraries provide for our communities.  We want to start a conversation about the local history services offered through the Beaufort District Collection.   So, in addition to my other duties, I've taken on creating and maintaining a BDC.BCL Facebook page.

Some of the Facebook posts will be quite similar to content posted in Connections; some of the posts will be unique to the media upon which it is hosted in cyberspace.  Sometimes the content may overlap between the media. 

All I will promise that every day I am in the office I will post a Facebook entry of some sort relating to our library offerings of local history, culture, genealogy, archaeology, and the environment; activities around the County relevant to our scope; or on matters of advocacy for cultural heritage institutions, libraries, and archives.    

Please "Like" us when you visit http://www.facebook.com/BDC.BCL.  Feel free to ask a question about our library services or programs.  I'll do my best to respond quickly to your inquiry.

We Made the Paper!

Longtime Island Packet columnist, David Lauderdale, visited the new Research Room yesterday -- and lived to write about it in yesterday's paper. Read "Library Gives Beaufort history the respect it deserves."

The relocation of the Beaufort District Collection into a more appropriately-sized space was truly a collaboration of government, organizations, and private monies. Thanks again to anyone who did any thing to help bring the project to fruition.

We're Open for Business

The Grand Re-Opening last evening was a resounding success. The folks who braved the rain (and the parking kiosk) seemed to have a great time getting introduced to our new Research Room. I heard appropriate "oohs" and "aahhs" about the smooth operation of the compact shelving array, too.

Special thanks go to Beloved BDC docents, Hugh Folk, Harriet Rahm, and Laura Lewis for helping Charmaine and me conduct the tours.

We opened for business upstairs in our new quarters at 10 this morning. Drop by and do a little research. The Research Room is usually open Mondays through Fridays, 10 am until 5 pm. (The caveats are holidays, weather closures, or staff shortages). Better yet, sign up for one of the "Behind-the-Scenes" BDC Tours on offer to celebrate "Archives Month." Contact Charmaine for remaining availability.

BDC Featured in "Quintessentially Lowcountry" on Saturday

Just in case you missed it, Kate Cerve, the Education reporter for the Beaufort Gazette/Island Packet, highlighted the Beaufort District Collection on Saturday. Click here for the full article.

IMNSHO the best part: Each of the persons interviewed had their own interpretation of what constitutes a "treasure" from the collection. A historical treasure is not in its monetary value (which can be considerable or negligible depending on the individual item), it is in the value of the information that can be gleaned from it in order to satisfy a customer's question.

Isn't that indeed what a good library should offer: Quality resources that help satisfy a customer's question? (The answer is "Yes!" in case you need prompting.)

PS: For those of you who might be wondering how Ms. Cerve knew whom to interview: I asked for volunteers willing to talk with her -- and had them contact Ms. Cerve directly. In other words, they more or less selected themselves. I am, however, very pleased by the number of customers, docents and library staff who apparently agreed to talk with her. There may have been (or not) others who were not cited in the text of the article.

Just for the record: Libraries take our customer's right to privacy very seriously. Beaufort County Library Board of Trustees has endorsed the Library Bill of Rights. For a discussion regarding library customer privacy issues from the American Library Association, click here.

Sweetgrass Baskets Program at Penn Center Apr. 15th

The Beaufort County Historical Society, in collaboration with Penn Center on St. Helena Island, will present a program featuring Dale Rosengarten of the College of Charleston, and Mt. Pleasant sweetgrass basket maker, Nakia Wigfall, at High Noon (12 pm) on April 15th.

The slide lecture and demonstration, to be held at Penn Center, will highlight the living heritage of sweetgrass baskets and publicize a landmark exhibition, Grass Roots: African Origins of an American Art, on display in Columbia at the University of South Carolina’s McKissick Museum, until May 8, 2010.

A light lunch will be available at 11:30 for $10. RSVP to BCHS President, Pamela Ovens sail@singlestar.us or call 843-785-2767.

If this presentation whets your appetite to learn more about "Sweetgrass Baskets," you have additional opportunities to learn more:

1) Historic Beaufort Foundation -- On April 26th “The Sweetgrass Basket Community: The Baskets, The People, The Landscape” will be presented by Clemson University professor of landscape architecture Cari Goetcheus. Goetcheus and two College of Charleston professors conducted a study of the sweetgrass basket makers outside the Charleston city limits, including along Route 17 in Mount Pleasant, to shed more light “on the Lowcountry basket community, the process of living, gathering, sewing and selling,” said Goetcheus. Contact Maxine F. Lutz at 379-3331 for more information, fees and reservations. Seating is limited.

2) The BDC is co-sponsoring sweetgrass basket making demonstrations as part of the Children's Summer Reading Program during June and July. Free. Specific dates TBA.

3) We have a Sweetgrass Baskets article by Dennis Adams, Information Services Coordinator, on our Library website. Reading this article will provide solid background information about the place of sweetgrass basketry in Gullah culture.

Just in case you want to check out other online content that we provide: The third blue tab "Local History" on our Library homepage has other local history and nature articles accessible through the drop down box. Explore this segment of the "Virtual BDC" from your home or office computer at your convenience.

Some BDC holdings missing from SCLENDS catalog

Unfortunately, some BDC holdings have not yet transferred over into the combined SCLENDS catalog. They will be added to the SCLENDS catalog soon -- we just don't know what date yet. While the ILS team is working day and night with Equinox to get everything sorted out as quickly as possible:

If you can't find what you are looking for on topics of local history, culture, and environment within the SCLENDS catalog (i.e., those topics that fall within the responsibilities of this department), just give us a call at 470-6525 or e-mail me at gracec@bcgov.net with your specific questions regarding BDC and local history holdings.


Please note:
If you have questions about the SCLENDS catalog, your library account, or other parts of the Beaufort County Library, here is the contact information for Library staff who can provide the best service to you on these matters.

Questions about the Beaufort County Library website are best directed to Halle Eisenman, webmistress.

Questions about your library account are best answered by your local branch library circulation staff. Contact information for the branch libraries is on the Beaufort County Library's website.

Questions about how to use the SCLENDS library catalog are best answered by your local branch library Reference staff. Contact information for the branch libraries is on the Beaufort County Library's website.

BCL Going Live on SC LENDS Today!

Things are changing at Beaufort County Library -- and we hope that you like the new look and feel of our web presence.

Today BCL joins with the SC State Library and Union County Library, (recently named the "Best Small Library in America") in a combined online catalog. We are the beta test for the SC LENDS consortium. By creating a combined online catalog to share resources, we hope to be able to stretch your tax dollar. We hope to have all the wrinkles we discover in SC LENDS ironed out before adding new consortium members in October.

Keep your fingers crossed that the catalog will come up without any hitches. Library staff has put a great deal of work into improving your access to library resources but we won't know for sure how it turns out until after we go live. So, please, we ask for your patience and forbearance as we learn the ins-and-outs of the new system software.

Marketing and Development Coordinator, Sandra Saad, wrote an article about SC LENDS for the Island Packet that will give you further information about how things will be changing. The South Carolina State Library has posted "Fast Facts" if you want to learn more about how this consortium will benefit you.

Charmaine Seabrook joins the BDC!

Charmaine Seabrook has joined the staff of the Beaufort District Collection. Hurray!

The County's Hiring Freeze allows current employees to transfer between departments if the departments can agree that a transfer is in the best interests of all parties.

As you may have read in the newspaper, the financial crisis has seriously hampered the real estate market, which has in turn lessened the work load of the Beaufort County Register of Deeds Office. On the other hand, the Beaufort County Library has experienced a 25% increase of customers. When my former Preservation Associate relocated, the BDC took a 50% reduction in personnel. (It has been a very tough 2 months for me since Amber left). The Division heads, the department heads, and Charmaine and I agreed that it would be a very good thing for Charmaine to use her considerable skills in the Library's "Forever Collection." Thus, Charmaine has transferred from the Beaufort County Register of Deeds office to the Library effective March 23rd. 2nd Hurray!

Most of Charmaine's time over the course of the next several months will be spent learning about preservation of photographic archives as we work the SC SHRAB re-grant for the Lucille Hasell Culp Collection, and helping me ready the BDC for the long awaited relocation to the 2nd floor of the Library facility at 311 Scott Street. Perhaps her biggest challenge will be getting used to working with me and how I do what I do and why I do what it is we do, etc. -- God help her!

I look forward having her working with me as we strive to be the best local history and special reference collection in the Southeastern United States. When you visit, be sure to say hello.

BCL contributed the Donner to ALA's Digital Library of the Week!

The South Carolina Digital Library is Digital Library of the Week on ALA's web site!

Staff in the BDC prepared our first digital collection, Phosphate, Farms, and Family: The Donner Collection, as the BCL contribution to the SC Digital Library. The only public libraries asked to participate in the SC Digital Library thus far have been Beaufort County Library and Greenville County Library System. We're proud to have been asked to help in this statewide collaborative venture.

"Phosphate, Farms, and Family: The Donner Collection" is mentioned frequently in this blog. During December, we asked for help identifying the people by the Christmas tree at the Hall's Island Farm. We didn't get any yet, but we're still hoping that someone will recognize these black folks who were most likely servants for Conrad and Leonhard Donner.

We hope that you take advantage of our virtual BDC by visiting the South Carolina Digital Library. There are number of wonderful collections posted about a variety of topics, housed by a number of institutions -- all accessible, 24/7/365 from your home or office via the Internet.

Resources for the HBF/ EMBARQ Historic Preservation Essay Scholarship

A $1000 scholarship could come in really handy when you head off to college next fall.

The Beaufort District Collection has compiled lists of library and online resources about the suggested nominees for the HBF/EMBARQ Historic Preservation Essay Scholarship 2008 contest. We have research resources already posted for the people with Beaufort County connections to start you thinking about whom to choose as the subject of your essay. Use these bibliographies to research your winning entry!

Rules about the contest are posted on the Historic Beaufort Foundation website.

For questions about the contest, please call Joy Kircher, Membership Programs and Special Events Coordinator, at (843) 379-3331 for any questions or e-mail her at jkircher@historicbeaufort.org.

For information about Library resources or researching a potential nominee not on this list, please call us at 470-6525, e-mail gracec@bcgov.net, or drop by the BDC, Mondays through Fridays, 10 am until 5 pm. --gmc

Progress in our New Space Upstairs

The contractors have been hard at work. Watch the progress through digital photographs taken by Dennis Adams, the Information Services Coordinator.

"You Never Know What You’ll Find While Cleaning"

As we prepare to begin renovation work on the 2nd floor of the Scott Street Library building, storage areas have to be cleared out. The Friends of Beaufort County Library discovered what appears to have once been the makings of a bulletin board from 1996 (perhaps 1997) about the Friends activities and opportunities for membership in the organization while helping prepare a piece of their book sorting space for renovation as a storage area of the new BDC. Among the highlights discovered by the Friends Book Sorting crew was the following notice:

Acquisition of Civil War Photographs by Jeff Berg, SC Resources Librarian

“The Library is pleased to announce the recent acquisition for the South Carolina Room [that’s what the Beaufort District Collection used to be called!] of a collection of Civil War period photographs of the Beaufort area. This acquisition was made possible by the generous support of the Friends of the Beaufort County Library for $3000.00, the Beaufort Historical Society for $1000.00 and the Mary Sams Memorial Fund for $2000.00.

Thanks are also due to Dr. Stephen Wise, Director of the Parris Island Museum. Dr. Wise was first offered the set by Stephen J. Edwards of Charlotte, Vermont. Although they did not fit within the collection development plan for the Museum, Dr. Wise felt it was important that they become part of a local collection. He was instrumental in negotiating the sale of the collection, and has continued to assist in identification of the photographs.

The collection consists of 106 stereograph images dating from 1864-65. Most of the photographs were taken by Sam Cooley and his assistants. Mr. Cooley was a photographer for the Union Army and operated a studio in Beaufort during the war. This new acquisition makes a significant contribution to our existing Civil War photograph collection.

Included in the set are images of downtown Beaufort, Old Fort and Retreat Plantations, St. Helena, Morris and Folly Islands, and a few images of Jacksonville and St. Augustine, Florida. It includes many noteworthy photographs, such as views of the Freedmen and their homes, the Chapel of Ease before it burned in a forest fire, and Civil War fortifications.”

•A number of our Civil War era images have been digitized for access by school groups and scholars. Drop by to see the digitized images!

The Beaufort District Collection is a division of the Beaufort County Library, a department of Beaufort County Government of South Carolina.

Thank You!

The Beaufort County Library and the Beaufort District Collection would like to thank the following for their generous donations to this historically significant collection:

Dennis Adams
Hillary Barnwell
Elizabeth Caldwell
Ervena Faulkner
Molly Gray
Scott Grooms
Frances Haselden
Lolita Huckaby
Heyward R. Inabinett
Elizabeth King
Island Writers' Network
Doug MacLeod
Candace Mast
Delores Nevils
Marietta Pulliam
Jacques F. Sohn
Billy Toomer
Bubba Von Harten

Thank you for your donations and support!

The Beaufort District Collection is a division of the Beaufort County Library, a department of Beaufort County Government of South Carolina.

“You Never Know What You’ll Find While Cleaning”

As we prepare to begin renovation work on the 2nd floor of the Scott Street Library building, storage areas have to be cleared out. The Friends of Beaufort County Library discovered what appears to have once been the makings of a bulletin board from 1996 (perhaps 1997) about the Friends activities and opportunities for membership in the organization. Among the highlights was the following notice:

Acquisition of Civil War Photographs by Jeff Berg, SC Resources Librarian

“The Library is pleased to announce the recent acquisition for the South Carolina Room [that’s what the Beaufort District Collection used to be called!] of a collection of Civil War period photographs of the Beaufort area. This acquisition was made possible by the generous support of the Friends of the Beaufort County Library for $3000.00, the Beaufort Historical Society for $1000.00 and the Mary Sams Memorial Fund for $2000.00.
Thanks are also due to Dr. Stephen Wise, Director of the Parris Island Museum. Dr. Wise was first offered the set by Stephen J. Edwards of Charlotte, Vermont. Although they did not fit within the collection development plan for the Museum, Dr. Wise felt it was important that they become part of a local collection. He was instrumental in negotiating the sale of the collection, and has continued to assist in identification of the photographs.
The collection consists of 106 stereograph images dating from 1864-65. Most of the photographs were taken by Sam Cooley and his assistants. Mr. Cooley was a photographer for the Union Army and operated a studio in Beaufort during the war. This new acquisition makes a significant contribution to our existing Civil War photograph collection.
Included in the set are images of downtown Beaufort, Old Fort and Retreat Plantations, St. Helena, Morris and Folly Islands, and a few images of Jacksonville and St. Augustine, Florida. It includes many noteworthy photographs, such as views of the Freedmen and their homes, the Chapel of Ease before it burned in a forest fire, and Civil War fortifications.”

Comments from the current Beaufort District Collection manager, Grace Cordial:
• The 16 items found (14 clippings and 2 photographs) have been placed in the “forever” vertical file about the “Friends of the Beaufort County Library” folder in the Beaufort District Collection. Drop by to review the contents and relive the history of your group since 1979.
• We still rely upon gifts from the Beaufort County Historical Society, memorial funds, and the Friends of the Library to help fund special purchases and projects. This year contributions from the Friends and the Beaufort County Historical Society are helping us to match SHRAB grant funds for the arrangement and description work necessary to prepare the Lucille Hasell Culp Collection for use by the public.
• A number of our Civil War era images have been digitized for access by school groups and scholars. The Friends of the Library group bought the digitization equipment necessary to make the images available inside the Beaufort District Collection.
• The Friends of the Beaufort County Library bought the hurricane shutters for the BDC. Let’s hope that we do not have to use them this year! But, oh, it is ever so much better to have the hurricane shutters and not need them, than to need the hurricane shutters and not have them!

Thank you, Friends of the Beaufort County Library, for all your help throughout the years and librarians in charge. We appreciate your support in preserving the history of this wonderful place we all call home. – Grace Cordial

The Beaufort District Collection is a division of the Beaufort County Library, a department of Beaufort County Government of South Carolina.

"4 and No More!" Call before you bring a group!

The BDC welcomes all visitors and researchers over the age of 12 years. We're glad to have you come use our resources and expertise. However, please be aware that we are operating under severe space constraints this summer. We want to help you explore all the wonderful documents and materials we take care of here. Yet there is little elbow room left to sit down or stretch out materials in front of you. We will do our best to be creative and come up with a mutually beneficial solution to the severe space constraints but there are no guarantees that we will be able to accommodate groups larger than 4 people. As always, the BDC staff will do our best to help you.

If you are part of a group call (843) 255-6468 to make advance arrangements.
If you hear of a group of folks planning to come to use the BDC (e.g., a class, summer institute group, a busload of tourists, etc.), please advise them to call us at (843) 255-6468 to make advance arrangements.
If you want the litany of reasons why this researcher limitation is in place until the relocation of the BDC to the 2nd floor in the Beaufort Branch Library building, call us at (843) 255-6468.

We’re open for business – we just can’t get too much of it at the same time.
The Beaufort District Collection is a division of the Beaufort County Library, a department of Beaufort County Government of South Carolina.

Last updated by Kristi Marshall on April 9, 2020.