Friends Groups Review Books 2020

The Friends of the Beaufort Library and the Friends of the Hilton Head Library have posted their book review sessions for 2020. Schedules: 2020 Books Sandwiched In and 2020 Book Breaks


You can watch Vicki Mix and Marilyn Harcharick of the Friends of the Beaufort Library discuss the upcoming BSI series on the County Channel:



                                                                                                                                                                        
A few of the books have a connection to local history in some manner.

This is the 33rd season for Books Sandwiched In and although all of the books are interesting, of particular note are:

Monday, February 3, 2020
The Tubman Command by Elizabeth Cobbs has gotten great reviews. I heard Dr. Cobbs speak about the book in 2019 when she presented at Tabernacle Baptist Church. Roland Gardner and former Superintendent of Education Herman Gaither will review the book. You can learn more about Harriet Tubman and the Combahee River Raid, 1862 on the BDC's WordPress blog.  Available in print, as audio book, and on Hoopla

Monday, February 17, 2020 
Minnow presented and written by James McTeer draws upon McTeer's deep lowcountry roots - in more ways than one. (The High Sheriff of the Lowcountry was his grandfather and his parents are well known in the community.) The book won the South Carolina First Novel Prize in 2015.  Available in print and on Hoopla.

Book Breaks at the Hilton Head Branch Library have been held for a number of years as well. On that schedule, the items with a local history connection are:

Wednesday, February 19, 2020
Letters and Diary of Laura M. Towne will be reviewed by Maria Benac, the St. Helena Branch Manager. Towne came to the lowcountry to help the newly freed enslaved and spent the rest of her life tending to them and running Penn School. You can read more about her on the BDC's WordPress blog. Available in print, Hathitrust and Internet Archive.

Wednesday, February 26, 2020
2019 was a banner year for memoirs of local interest. Daughter of the Dawn by Avary Hack Doubleday will be reviewed by Coastal Discovery Museum's Vice President of Programs/Exhibits Natalie Hefter.  Doubleday recounts her life as a white child living on Hilton Head Island in the 1950s before Sea Pines Plantation was transformed into a resort housing community. Available in print.  

As  the Chairwoman of the Beaufort County Library Board of Trustees, Dr. Anna Maria Tabernik, noted in her letter "Library Friends & Foundation Help the Library Grow" last month, each of the three Friends of the Library groups (Beaufort, Bluffton, and Hilton Head Island) and the Public Library Foundation of Beaufort County are "all-volunteer groups dedicated to supporting the work and supplementing the resources of the Library system." Supporting one or more of these groups helps support Beaufort County Library - and if not for them (and the Clover Club), the BDC would not have the new microfilm reader/printer.

A vast improvement and upgrade

If you're interested in attending the film related lecture on January 7, 2020, please register online. Registration will remain open until capacity of the First Presbyterian Fellowship Hall is reached. 

Pat Conroy Remembered - Twice

Beaufort's most famous writer, Pat Conroy, is featured at the Books Sandwiched In Series on Monday, February 4, 2019 at Noon at the USC-B Center for the Performing Arts located at 805 Bay Street in Beaufort. Books Sandwiched In is the popular free series of book talks presented by the Friends of the Beaufort Library. This program features Jonathan Haupt and a panel of noted authors including Cassandra King Conroy, Sallie Ann Robinson and Bernie Schein who will discuss their memories of Conroy. 

Remembering Ann Head is set for March 27, 2019 at 5:30pm in the Beaufort Branch Meeting Room. Nancy Thode will discuss her mother's rather unconventional life and life choices, her impact on Conroy, her involvement in local political affairs, and her untimely death at age 52. Registration for this event co-sponsored by the Beaufort District Collection and the Pat Conroy Literary Center opened January 16th and will close when capacity is reached. http://bit.ly/2Ddyda6.

Friends Groups Offer Book Talks Early in 2019

The Friends of the Beaufort Library 2019 Books Sandwiched In series begins January 7, 2019. Sessions are held in the USC Center for the Arts auditorium at 805 Carteret Street, Beaufort. Although only one book "qualifies" as a local history title, i.e. Our Prince of Scribes, the list includes some interesting titles. You'll also notice that three include presentations by the author: The New Grand Strategy by and presented to the group by author Mark Mykleby; Jonathan Haupt was an editor of Our Prince of Scribes, and he is on the panel presenting the book; and novelist John Warley shares his Bethesda's Child. (Our regular readers know that the BDC concentrates on works of non-fiction so we don't classify novels as part of our responsibilities.)

The Friends of the Hilton Head Library begin their Book Break series mid-January. The sessions are held on Wednesdays at Noon in the Hilton Head Library's Community Room. Refreshments provided by the Friends precede the program of the day.

Several of these scheduled talks have likely local history components: David Lauderdale; Beholding Nature, and Before the Bridge. 

January 16 - David Lauderdale, presenter
January 23 - Driving Miss Norma, presented by Janet Porter
January 30 - Sandcastle Girls, presented by Nevart Asadoorian
February 6 - Black Blue Bloods, presented by Neil Andrew
February 13 - The Shirt on His Back, presented by Dr. Virginia McKenzie
February 20 - Beholding Nature, presented by the author and photographer, Eric Horan
February 27 - Before the Bridge, presented by Collins Doughtie
March 6 - Sea Change: A Message of the Oceans presented by Michell Meissen
    
For additional details please read the Friends of the Hilton Head Island Library Winter Newsletter online. The schedule and blurbs are on page 3.

Make plans now to attend one, some or all of the book reviews to support the Friends who support us!

The Library system closes at 5 pm on Monday, December 31 and will remain closed on New Year's Day. Regular hours will resume Wednesday, January 2, 2019. Happy New Year to all!