Beaufort District Collection Connections Blog

Our sister cultural heritage organization, Coastal Discovery Museum at Honey Horn, is offering several recurring programs on animal life, including Lowcountry Reptiles and Amphibians over the summer. Tony Mills from the LowCountry Institute will get you up close and personal with live snakes, turtles, lizards, alligators and other “herps”. Fee. Reservations are required by calling 843-689-6767 ext 223.

Summer Reading is for adults, too. Our 2010 theme is "Make Waves." There will be weekly prizes and programs we hope that you'll find engaging. Be sure to take a look at our programs and events calendar for something to interest you.

High on our BDC list of engaging programs for teens and adults is the series of free sweetgrass basketry weaving workshops that we are co-sponsoring at various dates, locations, and times the final week of June.

We are always on the look-out for materials related to the history, culture and environment of the area once known as "Beaufort District."

Sometimes I hear about interesting materials. Sometimes generous people contact us out of the blue to offer us materials. This is what happened in the case of our first digital collection, Phosphate, Farms and Family: The Donner Collection. Luckily, it happened again late last year when a California based branch of a local family contacted us with their family treasure, a trove of diaries.

One never knows when tragedy will strike. On May 8th, it struck Columbia International University's G. Allen Fleece Library.

According to Columbia Fire Chief, Aubrey Jenkins, the G. Allen Fleece Library building on the Columbia International University campus in our capitol city and "nearly every book in the building was probably affected in some way by heat, smoke or fire damage." The damage to the Fleece Library and its collection is estimated at $2.5 million.

Genealogists can use oral history techniques to get clues to flesh out their living and dead relatives. Through oral histories, you can find out all sorts of things: how folks were related; what life was like during World War I; what color dress your grandmother liked best; who helped when your church was built or remodeled; what brought your sorority or club into being, etc. The key is to get the information from people with firsthand knowledge while they are still alive to tell the story.

The American Library Association will launch its first Preservation Week May 9–15, 2010.

I've just installed a little display about practical things you can do to preserve your family treasures -- using some of my own family treasures as both good examples of what to do and bad examples of what not to do. You can see the my family treasures in the Display case near the Beaufort Branch Library circulation desk (that's where you check out books, videos, and audio books.)