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EIGHTH ANNUAL REPORT SOUTH CAROLINA STATE LIBRARY BOARD July 1, 1950- June 30, 1951 w Printed Under the Direction of the State Budget and Control Board SOUTH CAROLINA STATE LIBRARY BOARD BOARD MEMBERS Chairman-Mr. James A. Rogers, Florence. Secretary-Mrs. Hagood Bostick, Columbia. Mr. William R. Feaster, Union. Mr. M.G. Patton, St. George. Mrs. Maude M. Rogers, Easley. HONORARY LIFE MEMBERS Miss Mary E. Frayser, Rock Hill. Miss Carrie 0. Sams, Gaffney. OFFICE: 1207 CALHOUN STREET, COLUMBIA 1, S. C. TELEPHONE: 7213 STAFF MEMBERS Librarian and Executive Secretary-Estellene P. Walker. Assistant Executive Secretary-Lois Barbare. Field Service Librarian-Mary Parham. Stenographer-Merle S. Byrd. Typist-May M. Ray. Clerk-Typist-Lily Wall Delle LETTER OF TRANSMITTAL from THE SOUTH CAROLINA STATE LIBRARY BOARD December 28, 1951 To His Excellency, the Honorable James F. Byrnes, Governor of South Carolina, and to the Honorable members of the Gen eral Assembly of South Carolina: Dear Sirs: We have the honor to transmit the report of the South Caro lina State Library Board for the fiscal year ending June 20, 1951. Herein are contained a report of the State Library Board's ac tivities for the past year and the annual statistical report for each public library in the State. Respectfully submitted, JAMES A. ROGERS, Chairman EIGHTH ANNUAL REPORT SOUTH CAROLINA STATE LIBRARY BOARD July 1, 1950- June 30, 1951 The South Carolina State Library Board was created by the State Legislature in 1929. It began its present operation in 1943 when it received its first appropriation. It is-administered by a Board of five citizens, appointed by the Governor upon the recommendation of the Superintendent of Education. A staff of six members, three of them professional librarians, carry out the program of the Board in extending and improving public library service in South Carolina. WHAT THE STATE LIBRARY BOARD DOES The State Library, Board is charged with the responsibility to "create public libraries over the entire State ... and to de vise and carry into effect methods by which libraries may be extended to the rural districts of the State." In carrying out this program, t]le State Board- Has developed an intelligent plan for economical and efficient public library service for all citizens of the State. Provides professional direction and advisory services to the public libraries of the State. Administers State Aid to County Libraries and Regional Li braries. Sets up standards of service for the guidance of the public libraries. Maintains Book Deposit Service to communities in counties without countywide library service and to State Institutions with no libraries or with inadequate libraries. 1¥' orks with the counties in planning either the establishment of rural library service or the improvement of existing service. Maintains an inter-library loan service which makes any public library book available to any public library patron in the State. Cooperates with other State agencies and organizations in ser vice programs. 1¥' orks to the betterment of the State, economically, socially and educationally, by providing materials to insure the State an informed public able to deal intelligently with the problems of today. 6 Landrum people flock around the Spartanburg County Library book;;,obile. The bookmobile carries 1800 books offering a wide choice of subject. WHAT THE BOARD HAS ACCOMPLISHED The Board's program of library extension and improvement based upon the larger unit of service-the county or regional library-has gained national recognition. Basically, the plan is one of the soundest in the country. Thirty-seven counties now have countywide library service and the thirty-eighth has recent ly appropriated money to establish this service. The Board is working closely with the counties in the H-Bomb area to estab lish or extend library service through cooperation with the Fed eral Government. Book Deposit service is given to communities in unserved areas and to eight State Institutions. In the eight years since the establishment of the Board, public library service has been extended to 288,435 more South Carolinians than previ ously had this service. Local support of public libraries has trip led and the book stock of public libraries has increased to 1,128,- 116. The annual circulation of books from the public libraries of the State was 4,809,871-1950-51. Statistics are a poor measure of a library's service to people of a State. The number of books cir ~ulated is minor to the information, education and recreation 7 provided through the county and regional library systems w:ith their branches and bookmobiles making books and reading readily available to all the people whether they live in towns, villages or remote rural areas. • STATE AID The program of State Aid to County and Regional Libraries begun in 1943 has been instrumental in the development of the system of county and regional libraries which now serve all but nine of the State's forty-six counties. The objective of the State Aid program has been from the beginning to stimulate the devel opment of large units of public library service with staff, equip ment and books adequate to render modern public library ser vice. In part the objective has been accomplished. Small, inade quate and poorly supported village, municipal and township libraries have joined together to form county library systems with a basis of support wide enough to furnish financial sup port more adequate to meet the costs of public library service. In two incidents county libraries have joined together to form regional libraries which have been able to give better service at lower cost to the people of the entire region. As far as accom plishing better organization for library service is concerned, the results of State Aid have been out of all proportion to the amount of State funds going into the program. On the other hand, library service which can be judged ':adequate" by any recog nized library standards has not been achieved. This is partially due to the insufficiency of the State Aid grant and to the fail ure of local appropriating bodies to make available sufficient funds to support more than minimum public library service. State Aid is in two forms: Regional Library Establishment Grants to encourage the voluntary combination of two or more counties for more effective library service; Regional Mainte nance Grants and State Aid Grants to County Libraries for book purchase and salaries of professional personnel. State Aid is only granted to county and regional libraries which meet certain minimum standards of service. County libraries which qualify for State Aid may receive up to $1,000 in State Aid annually on a matching basis. A cash allotinent is made di rectly to county libraries which are well established and in 8 charge of a trained ·librarian. The smaller county libraries in charge of non-professional personnel receive the same amount ($1,000) in books, and as an additional service, the State Library Board purchases and processes the books and ships them to the library completely ready for circulation. STATE AID REQUIREMENTS County Library Boards applying for State Aid agree to the following: I. To work toward the consolidation of all public libraries in the. county to form a strong county library system which will ensure better service for all. II. To work for increased support of the library and toward eventual tax support or to union with the adjoining county or counties if a tax levy in a single county would not provide adequate support. Vacation Reading Clubs keep the children reading during summer months. The Circus Reading Club of the Cherokee County Library, Gaffney. 9 III. To adopt·a budget with correct proportions between sala ries, books and maintenance. IV. To employ as soon as possible a trained librarian to direct the work of the library. V. To the systematic purchase of books from standard li brary lists. VI. To maintain or contract for service from a central library from which the system is administered which must: a. Be kept open 72 hours a week (population of 75,000 or over); 54 hours a week (population 40,000-75,000); 36 hours a week (population 15,000-40,000); 24 hours a week (population under 15,000). b. Provide adequate space for reading room, book pro cessing and book shelving. c. Provide sufficient equipment .and supplies. d. Maintain a basic reference collection and periodical subscriptions. ·VII. To develop an accepted plan (Bookmobiles, branches, stations, etc.) for the distribution and use of books throughout the county. VIII. To supply the State Library Board with such statistics and information as it may request. County libraries receiving State Aid by direct cash allotment, 1950-51: Aiken Horry Charleston Lancaster Cherokee Laurens Chester Newberry-Saluda Regional Colleton Library Darlington Orangeburg Dillon Richland Greenville Spartanburg Greenwood Sumter 10 County libraries receiving State Aid m Books equivalent of cash allotment: Abbeville Kershaw Allendale-Hampton-Jasper Lee Regional Library Lexington Anderson Marion Berkeley Marlboro Calhoun Oconee Fairfield Pickens Florence Union Georgetown York Regional Maintenance Grants of $500 per participating county were received by the Allendale-Hampton-Jasper Regional Li brary and by the Newberry-Saluda Regional Library. COMMUNITY BOOK DEPOSITS The Community Book Deposit Service of the State Library Board is bringing books to communities and State Institutions which otherwise have little library service or none at all. De posits of books, varying in size from 100 to 1000 volumes, are placed in the community or institution and are exchanged every three months for new collections. This service is under the per sonal supervision of a professional librarian from the staff of the State Library Board who visits the deposit station, talks with the custodian, and makes every effort to see that the books fit the needs of the community or institution.