Resolve to read more books!

Forget calorie counting, financial planning, and decluttering -- and give yourself a FUN resolution this year. Get your reading started off right with one (or more!) of these new novels, available starting today:

What the Night Knows by Dean Koontz
Khan by Conn Iggulden
The Radleys by Matt Haig
Dead Zero by Stephen Hunter
Secrets of the Grave by Tami Hoag
To Have and to Kill by Mary Jane Clark
In Too Deep by Jayne Ann Krentz
Naked Cruelty by Colleen McCullough
The Outlaws by W.E.B Griffin

Happy 2011! Here's to a year full of good books!

Counting America -- the 2010 census figures

The 2010 Census represented the most massive participation movement ever witnessed in our country. Approximately 74 percent of the households returned their census forms by mail; the remaining households were counted by census workers walking neighborhoods throughout the United States. The data collected by the Census Bureau are currently being processed and tabulated, with national and state population totals released by December 31, 2010.

The U.S. Census counts every resident in the United States. It is mandated by Article I, Section 2 of the Constitution and takes place every 10 years. The data collected by the decennial census determine the number of seats each state has in the U.S. House of Representatives and is also used to distribute billions in federal funds to local communities.

To see the numbers, check out the link below. Info at this link will automatically be updated as the 2010 figures are made available.

2010 Census Data - 2010 Census: ""

Cookie Contest!

The 3rd Annual 4H / Library Cookie Contest will be December 8 at the Abbeville Library! Plan now to bake up some favorites, join the fun -- and help us eat the goodies! Check back here for more details on entering as the day gets closer --

Happy Thanksgiving!

We wish everyone a Happy Thanksgiving and lots of fun for the holiday! Come in soon for all your cookbooks, cooking tips, and leisure reading, 'cause we'll be closed Thursday, Friday, Saturday, and Sunday, November 25 through November 28.

We'll reopen for regular hours on Monday, November 29.

In the meantime, come check out the "literary tastes" display at the Abbeville Library, or stop by one of the branches for a book or movie to enjoy after the big meal!

Gobble, gobble, gobble!

Vote for a good time!

Come one, come all to Election Day storytime at the Abbeville Library! November 2 at 4 pm.

The kids may be too young to vote, but they're sure to have a good time at our red, white, and blue storytime!

Governor proclaims Oct 17-23 Friends of the Library week

Governor's Proclamation

WHEREAS, libraries are an essential part of the fabric of communities throughout the state and they link us to one another and to the ideas and events of yesterday, helping us prepare for tomorrow, and serving as a sanctuary in which we are free to read, write, and dream about events and ideas of the past, present and future; and

WHEREAS, libraries have become powerful equalizing forces in society where every visitor is welcome and knowledge is free to all regardless of personal wealth or position; and

WHEREAS, Friends of the Library groups energize libraries by enhancing their services and capabilities in communities across the Palmetto State; and

WHEREAS, Friends of the Library volunteers give their time and talents to sponsor recreational and educational programs for children and adults and organize book sales and other events to raise funds to meet special library needs.

NOW, THEREFORE, I, Mark Sanford, Governor of the Great State of South Carolina, do hereby proclaim October 17-23, 2010, as

FRIENDS OF THE LIBRARY WEEK

throughout the state and encourage all South Carolinians to support their local libraries and to recognize the Friends of South Carolina Libraries and all local Friends groups for their dedication to the Palmetto State.


To join the Friends of the Abbeville Libraries, just stop by the circulation desk in Abbeville, Calhoun Falls, or Donalds. Memberships start at $10.00 -- what a great way to support our libraries!

Best American Short Stories

The Best American Short Stories 2010 features the work of two authors who have spoken at the Abbeville Library in the past few years. Check it out, and read the latest work by Marlin Barton and Ron Rash. Richard Russo, this year's editor, says the writers have offered us "the gift of what they'd crafted with such care, hoping we'll be pleased. And you will be."

Internet Safety Program @ the Abbeville Library

Join us on Monday, September 27th from 6-7:30 for this informative and engaging program.

Do you know how to spot a scam on the Internet? Do you know what social network sites your children or grandchildren are using, and how it can affect their future?

Don Cantrell of the SC Department of Education will give an overview of cyber communities and safey on the Internet. He provides a balanced look at how people are socializing and some of the positive and negative aspects of this growing culture. He will also talk about issues such as electronic identity theft, online advertisements, and cyber bullying.

Mr. Cantrell is the Director of the Office of Internal Technology at the SC Department of Education. During the past six years, he has traveled the state sharing information regarding Internet Safety and online information literacy through over 180 workshops, seminars, and keynotes.

Adults and teens are welcome to join us for this entertaining and informative program. Free and open to the public.

Love your librarian!

There are nearly 123,000 libraries nationwide, and librarians touch the lives of the people they serve every day. This award encourages library users like you to recognize the accomplishments of exceptional public, school, college, community college, or university librarians. Click here to nominate a librarian in your community

Up to ten winners will be selected this year and receive a $5,000 cash award, a plaque and $500 travel stipend to attend an awards reception in New York hosted by The New York Times. In addition, a plaque will be given to each award winner’s library.

The award is administered by the American Library Association with support from Carnegie Corporation of New York and The New York Times.

Happy Birthday, Abbeville Library!

The Abbeville Library

turns 100 on

September 1st!

Come join us

as we celebrate

100 years of library service

to the Abbeville community!

Drop-in at

The Abbeville Library

September 1, 2010

7:00 - 8:00 pm

Cake, punch, and a good time!

(Would we forget the kids? Of course not!

the children's party is September 8

at 4:00 for ages up to 12!)

Don't quit reading 'cause the print is too small!

We've just added new large print titles at each branch of the library system. So, whether you're in Abbeville, Calhoun Falls, or Donalds, you can take home some of these great volumes -- all in large print!

Cowboy for a Rainy Afternoon by Stephen Bly
Almost Perfect by Susan Mallery
Anna's Return by Marta Perry
Goodbye, Ms. Chips by Dorothy Cannell
Hush My Mouth by Cathy Pickens
Kelly's Chancy by Wanda Brunstetter
A Prisoner of Birth by Jeffrey Archer
and lots more!

Remember, just look for the blue dot on the spine to find all our large print titles

Ahoy, pirates!

The Abbeville Library was bursting with teen pirates last night, as the "make a wave" summer reading theme came to life. Here they are, searching the library for the clues to pirate treasure -- and the orange ice cream guaranteed to prevent scurvy!

Follow the clues . . .

Follow the clues and solve the case! Check out these new mysteries, now available:
It All Began in Monte Carlo by Elizabeth Adler
The Whisper by Carla Neggers
Stork Raving Mad by Donna Andrews
Ice Cold by Tess Gerritsen
Hand of Fate by Lis Wiehl
Betrayed by Robert K. Tanenbaum

Library System receives Grandfamily grant

We were so pleased to learn earlier this week that the Abbeville County Library System has been awarded a grant to provide grandparenting information in our community.

"The strategic intent of the GrandFamily Resource Centers, created by the South Carolina State Library in partnership with public libraries in South Carolina, is to create one location in a community where resources for grandparents who are raising their grandchildren can be housed.

Each year, more and more grandparents from all geographic areas, socio-economic and ethnic groups are becoming primary caregivers for their grandchildren. As the children's parents struggle with substance abuse, mental illness, incarceration, economic hardship, divorce, domestic violence, and other challenges, grandparents are providing a vital safety net to children."

We're pleased to be a part of this important initiative!

Welcome back, Carrie!

We'd like to issue a special Welcome Home to Carrie Koerber, who returns from maternity leave this week! The family is doing great, especially little Christian, who turns 8 weeks old today (almost ready for his first library card!). Carrie, it's good to have you back -- :-)

A morning of magic

Join us as magician John Tudor kicks off the 2010 Summer Reading Program! Sign-ups for the summer reading program begin after the show. This free event is Wednesday, June 9, at 10 am at the Abbeville Library. Come join the fun!

New fiction hits the shelves!

Vampire hunting? Check out the new Laurell K. Hamiliton book, Bullet

Political intrigue? Check out the new Steve Martini, The Rule of Nine

Feeling adventurous? Check out Clive Cussler's The Spy

A Lincoln Rhyme fan? Check out the new Jeffrey Deaver, The Burning Wire

Looking for an author you might not have tried? How about Charles Martin's The Mountain Between Us?

Look for these new titles, arriving today!

Wild about Guinea Pigs

Yesterday's storytime at the Donalds Library featured 16 children, three great books, a fun craft -- and one very friendly guinea pig! Missed it? Don't fret -- you've still got two more chances to join the fun --

Wild about Guinea Pigs will be held at the Abbeville Library this Thursday, May 20, at 11:30 and again at the Calhoun Falls Library at 4:00.

See you there!

Books on Trinity!

The Friends of the Libraries will be selling books on Trinity Street this Saturday during Spring Festival! Come on out, join the fun, and snag some great bargains!

It’s only books ’n’ shelves but I like it --

"SHHH! Keith Richards, the grizzled veteran of rock’n’roll excess, has confessed to a secret longing: to be a librarian. After decades spent partying in a haze of alcohol and drugs, Richards will tell in his forthcoming autobiography that he has been quietly nurturing his inner bookworm.

In his autobiography, Life, due to be published in October, Richards will reveal how, as a child growing up in the post-war-austerity of 1950s London, he found refuge in books before he discovered the blues.

He has declared: “When you are growing up there are two institutional places that affect you most powerfully: the church, which belongs to God, and the public library, which belongs to you. The public library is a great equaliser.”

Excerpted from the Times Online. For the full story:
It’s only books ’n’ shelves but I like it - Times Online

Battle of the Books

School Library Journal's Battle of the Kid's Books is on! Judged by children's writers like M.T. Anderson and Julius Lester, the books go head to head each week. Check it out!
School Library Journal's Battle of the Kids' Books

The Sweetness at the Bottom of the Pie

The Sweetness at the Bottom of the Pie has won the 2009 Dilys Award.

The Dilys is presented annually by the Independent Mystery Booksellers Association to the book its members most enjoyed hand-selling during the previous year, and is named for Dilys Winn, who founded America’s first specialty mystery book store.

About the book:

"Great literary crime detectives aren’t always born; they’re sometimes discovered, blindfolded and tied up in a dark closet by their nasty older sisters. Eleven-year-old Flavia de Luce’s bitter home life and vicious sibling war inspires her solitary diversions and “strange talents” tinkering with the chemistry set in the laboratory of their inherited Victorian house, plotting sleuth-like vengeance on Ophelia (17) and Daphne (13), and delving into the forbidden past of her taciturn, widowed father, Colonel de Luce. It comes as no surprise, then, that the material for her next scientific investigation will be the mysterious corpse that she uncovers in the cucumber patch.

Fearless and darkly imaginative, Flavia hurries to solve the murder and acquit her father of suspicion. Following the lead of its clever protagonist, Sweetness is entirely inventive, fast-paced, and quick-witted, with tongue-in-cheek humour that derides the macabre seriousness of subject.

Alan Bradley plants the story deep into the setting of 1950s England, with a portrait of an eccentric home life that is all too wickedly familiar. The story’s twists are supported by the time and place as well as the unusual interests of the characters which range from stamp-collecting to making poisons all of which are highly researched and ingeniously incorporated."

Check it out -- available from any branch of the Abbeville County Library System

Be Cool . . .

Book Giveaway this Saturday!

The Friends of the Abbeville Libraries will be hosting a BOOK GIVEAWAY this Saturday, March 6, from 10:00 to 1:00. Bring bags or boxes, and load 'em up with lots of great books, movies, and music. Cash donations are accepted but not required.

Don't miss it!

Teens take over the library

The third annual "I love my library" party in Abbeville was a great time!

Teen Event at the Calhoun Falls Library

Hey, Teens!
Join us on Monday, February 22nd at the Calhoun Falls Library!

We'll be hanging out, playing games, and having refreshments. 6 - 7 pm.

Bring your favorite board game, and join the fun!

People are talking . . .

What are people saying about the Abbeville County Library System? Check out some of our favorite new quotes below:

"I like coming to this library 'cause it's like I'm in my own living room."

"This library is so cool."

"I'm really impressed with this library. I used to come in here and it seemed old and run down with old books. Now, it's first class."

and my favorite:

"I came to the library just to tell you that I finally found a job. . . . I would not have found it without all of your help . . . so I am very grateful to the library!"

Come check us out -- we'd love to see you in our 'living room'! :-)