[Scla-list] Director of Georgetown County Library Recognized Nationally

Fri Dec 4 07:13:15 MST 2009

Director of Georgetown County Library Recognized Nationally 

Columbia, S.C. - South Carolina's first winner of the "I Love My
Librarian Award" presented annually by the Carnegie Corporation of New
York and by the New York Times to only 10 librarians nationally is
Georgetown County Library Director Dwight McInvaill.

Learning of the honor, McInvaill said, "I do not consider myself to be
particularly loveable.  But I am dedicated to making life better for our
citizens.  We are living in a period of great technological and social
change.  Libraries need to continually innovate and to experiment to
stay relevant and serve their communities.  That is what we have tried
to do at the Georgetown County Library.  To have been nominated by local
folks for this award is a true honor, and I can promise local residents
that we will not rest on our laurels, but roll up our shirtsleeves and
keep working for them."

"This award honors the significant relationship between library users
and librarians.  It also recognizes these 10 librarians for the notable
impact they have on the lives of the people they serve and on their
communities," said American Library Association President Jim Rettig.

During the past several years, the library has coordinated a unique
collaboration with nine other local cultural agencies and created the
Georgetown County Digital Library (www.gcdigital.org) to preserve its
community's history.  This work - underwritten recently by a grant from
the Gaylord and Dorothy Donnelley Foundation - has resulted in an online
collection with over 17,000 items including historic photographs, maps,
and Nineteenth Century newspapers.  Images from the collection were used
this fall by the television show "Anderson Cooper 360" to assist in the
production of a documentary on the Lowcountry ancestors of First Lady
Michelle Obama.  The site receives about 5,000 hits daily worldwide.

"Go to the Georgetown County Digital Library website," said John Sands,
Lowcountry Director, Gaylord and Dorothy Donnelley Foundation, "and you
will find pictures of Bernard Baruch, Winston Churchill and Franklin
Delano Roosevelt.  But more importantly, you will find pictures of the
servants who prepared their meals, the hunting guides who took them into
the remarkable Lowcountry, and the houses where they raised their
families.  When Anderson Cooper 360 prepared a segment on Michelle
Obama's family roots as slaves on an antebellum plantation in Georgetown
County, the research staff found the images that illustrated the story
through the county's digital library.  Without those images, the story
and our collective understanding would have been vastly less valuable.
Without Dwight McInvaill's vision and willingness to take a chance on a
new concept that would serve his community, there would have been no
digital library."

To combat at its roots a county illiteracy rate approaching 30%, the
library has established - in concert with Georgetown County First Steps
- collections of books in approximately 40 childcare centers.  The
library has also developed a special curriculum which a library
storyteller uses to teach youngsters basic language and motor skills.
The library also offers childcare providers quarterly training sessions
for accreditation.  For this work, the library received in 2003 the
first "Counties Care for Kids Award" given by the National Association
of Counties.

The library also addresses teen illiteracy and a local high-school
dropout rate that has approached 38% by having a countywide interactive
gaming program at all of its four facilities.  To participate in this
endeavor - which is funded by a major grant from the Frances P. Bunnelle
Foundation - teens must register for library cards and check out library
materials regularly.  They must also attend library programs on topics
ranging from culture to technology.  Most importantly, they must remain
in school and maintain good grades.

In 2007, the Georgetown County Library became South Carolina's first -
and so far only - library recognized nationally by the federal Institute
of Museum and Library Services for a National Medal for Library Service.
Then First Lady Laura Bush noted in a White House ceremony that this
library has emerged as a national treasure by inspiring residents to
embrace their heritage and to dream of a bright future.

Dwight McInvaill has served as the Director of the Georgetown County
Library since January 1996.  During the last year, he earned his library
about $1.3 million dollars in grants and usually averages about $300,000
in grants annually.  

According to an economic impact study by the University of South
Carolina in 2005, there was almost a 350% return on the state's total
investment in South Carolina's public libraries.  Also, more than 13.8
million people visited South Carolina's public libraries annually -
approximately, 10 million more than those attending all USC and Clemson
sports events.  As McInvaill, noted when recalling these statistics,
"Take that, [Clemson Mascot] Tiger and [USC Mascot] Cocky!  Libraries
are Number One!"

Each of the "I Love My Librarian" winners will receive a $5,000 cash
award at a ceremony and reception at the New York Times Building hosted
by the New York Times on December 3, 2009.  In addition to Dwight
McInvaill, awardees include the following individuals:  Sol A. Gomez of
Tucson, Arizona; Laura Grunwerg of River Edge, New Jersey; Lucy Hansen
of Mercedes, Texas; Alice K. Juda of Newport, Rhode Island; Karen E.
Martines of Cleveland, Ohio; Seamus Scanlon of New York, New York; Dana
Thomas of Fort Myers, Florida; Carolyn Wheeler of Bloomfield Hills,
Michigan; and Oceana Wilson of Bennington, Vermont.

Over 3,200 library users nominated a librarian as part of the Campaign
for America's Libraries according to the American Library Association's
Public Information Office.  During this third year of the award,
nominations were open to librarians working in public, school, college,
community-college, and university libraries.  

Librarians in our nation's 123,000 libraries make a difference in the
lives of millions of Americans every day.  More information about the I
Love My Librarian Award is available at the 
www.ilovelibraries.org/ilovemylibrarian.    

---

Curtis R. Rogers, Ed.D.

Communications Director

South Carolina State Library <http://www.statelibrary.sc.gov/> 

POB 11469, 1430 Senate Street, Columbia, SC 29211

ph:803-734-8928 fax:803-734-8676

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