Centre Market

I slogged through the rain Saturday afternoon to come here Nic Butler's program on the 200th anniversary of the Centre Market. From our calendar of events

"On August 1, 2007 Charleston will celebrate the 200th anniversary of the opening of the “Centre Market” on Market Street. Dr. Nicholas Butler, Special Collections manager at the Charleston County Public Library, will present an illustrated lecture on the colorful history of Charleston’s “Centre Market,” including a discussion of the colonial marketplaces that preceded the present site."

It's a fascinating topic and the program was a big success. Many people braved the weather, a true testimony to both Nic and to the lure of Charleston history. Nic will repeat the program on Aug. 28th at 7:00 p.m., so you'll have another chance to hear it.

You might also want to look at today's paper for the final part of the series on the market in The Post and Courier. I hear that there will be cake at the Market on Wednesday.
Thanks to Nic for bringing this important anniversary to the forefront of everyone's attention--including the City of Charleston.

I've been so inconsistent lately in making regular post that I know I've probably lost some readers. So here's a little check for me.

I have a giveaway: free bowling- one game for up to 10 people at AMF. Expires 9/3/07. First person who comments on this gets the coupon. Any takers?

Big Read update

We're making such progress on The Big Read planning and it's getting truly exciting. We have 18 book discussions planned, at libraries, bookstores, town halls and community centers. We've booked rooms to show Their Eyes Were Watching God (with the lovely Halle Berry) and Daughters of the Dust. We have musical performances, one-woman theater pieces and more. Events will run from Sept 9th until Oct 14th.

And, truly exciting here, Tuesday afternoon we got 11 images from Jonathan Green so we could chose one for use in our Big Read artwork. What riches and what a hard choice! All Jonathan asks for is credit! We're more than happy to do that.

We still have things to do, needless to say, and very soon we'll be sending out a list of what we need your help with. In the meantime, get the book or movie, sit down and enjoy yourself and get ready to help spread the word. We have partners from across the county and want it to grow even more. If you know a book group, suggest that they read it during Sept. or Oct. and let us know. If you know a teacher, or two, that might teach the book or Zora Neale Hurston's connections to the Harlem Renaissance, for example, ask them to participate. Feel like you need to know more before you can do that? I'm hoping this might help. I'm going to start sending out a weekly update, via the blog and to all staff, but please contact me if you want or need more information. It's a community program, not just a library program, so we need your good community contacts and outreach.

This is me, lately, although you'd think that if I was at my computer, I'd be blogging! Work is proceeding a dizzying pace on The Big Read. I keep calling my voice mail at work, while I'm at home, leaving messages to myself to follow up on things, to record thoughts, brainstorms, etc.

And, your Web 2.0 committee has been busy. You'll be hearing from us very soon with some exciting news.

I know I've said it before, but I'll make an attempt to be more present here. I mean, what's the point of a blog for us if nothing new gets posted? Don't forget--posts can be things you send me too. I'd love to hear how your summer is going, what great SR stories and successes you have. BTW, I hear that Dawn Wacek did a great job yesterday on Channel 5's Talkback session about the Harry Potter phenomenon. Kudos, Dawn!

Summer reading abounds

Many of you were gracious enough to send me photos of your Summer Reading events. I'm still in the process of adding them to the Stafflines Flickr account and then moving them to the 2007 Summer Reading Programs group, but I wanted to share a couple of them here.
Keep sending them!

I'm back...

Survived the first day back, even though the fire alarm went off twice this afternoon. I'm attaching a vacation shot. Why not send me one of yours? Now, later this summer, whenever. I'd love to include some more personal staff news here.

mountain refuge

I'm taking some r&r this week, in the NC mountains. No computer (I'm in a coffee shop), almost no cell phone reception. It's so beautiful and restoring that I'm having fantasies of living here. Lots of local arts--pottery, fabric, glass, and the communities really support and promote their artists.
Gorgeous views abound and we've been hiking and driving the back roads. Home again soon, but it's been grand.