Here’s how to get library books (for free) in Beaufort Co. during coronavirus pandemic
“What on Earth could be more luxurious than a sofa, a book, and a cup of coffee? Was ever anything so civil?” Anthony Trollope wrote in The Warden.
Trollope didn’t have the coronavirus in mind in 1855, but as we face a pandemic, reading can be an essential form of caring for ourselves. Whether you’re spending more time inside on your couch or out on the beach, it’s always comforting to escape into a good book.
On Monday, Beaufort County Libraries began book pickup services so you don’t have to fill your bookshelf or drain your wallet buying new books.
Pickup services are available from 12 p.m. until 4 p.m. Monday through Friday.
Library branches in Beaufort, Bluffton, Hilton Head Island, Lobeco and St. Helena will not open to walk-ins until at least June 15.
Here’s how library book pickup works:
- Call your local branch library to request items or confirm that your existing hold is available. Make sure you have your library card information handy.
- Pull up to the branch’s designated pick-up area and call the library again. You will need your library card at pickup.
- Pop your trunk. A library staff member will put items in.
If you don’t have a library card, you can visit the library website and apply for an application online. Staff will then email your account number and temporary password to you.
All due dates have been extended and fines will not accrue while the libraries remain closed.
The Island Packet spring reading list
The Island Packet and Beaufort Gazette staff have been working from home since mid-March to get you the news.
Here’s what we’ve been reading in our free time:
Lowcountry Flair
Midnight in the Garden of Good and Evil by John Berendt
The Water is Wide by Pat Conroy
Becoming Mrs. Lewis: The Improbable Love Story of Joy Davidman and C. S. Lewis by Patti Henry
Tell Me a Story: My Life with Pat Conroy by Cassandra King Conroy “gives an inside look into the life of one of Beaufort’s favorite people,” according to David Lauderdale.
Classics
1984 by George Orwell is “quite simply my favorite book of all time,” Hilton Head reporter Katherine Kokal said.
The Old Man and the Sea by Ernest Hemingway
Cookbooks and Self-help
Magnolia Table by Joanna Gaines, which reporter and audience team member Lisa Wilson said is “a lovely book to look at and to use. Lots of great comfort-food dishes that have been good to try while eating more at home.”
Grit: The Power of Passion and Perseverance by Angela Duckworth, which Beaufort reporter Stephen Fastenau said is “deeply interesting and worth the time” to understand how high-achievement and grit can be learned attributes.
Graphic Novels/ Fantasy
Nimona by Noelle Stevenson
American Gods by Neil Gaiman
Memoir/ Essay/ Story collections
The White Album by Joan Didion
Educated by Tara Westover
Dispatches by Michael Herr
I Hate to See that Evening Sun Go Down by William Gay
Mystery/ Crime/ Suspense
In Cold Blood by Truman Capote
Where the Crawdads Sing by Delia Owens “paints a beautifully familiar picture of the Lowcountry marshes we love with a hint of love, mystery and growing up in solitude,” according to reporter Kokal.
Little Fires Everywhere by Celeste Ng, which has recently been turned into a Hulu series.
Social Issues
The Hate U Give by Angie Thomas
Just Mercy by Bryan Stevenson
Death in Mud Lick: A Coal Country Fight against the Drug Companies That Delivered the Opioid Epidemic by Eric Eyre and edited by Island Packet alum Wade Livingston.
This is Chance! by Jon Mooalem
Cheated by Jay Smith and Mary Willingham, which education reporter Rachel Jones said is a detailed look into her alma mater UNC’s athletics scandal.
Say Nothing: A True Story of Murder and Memory in Northern Ireland by Patrick Radden Keefe
Hyperlinked titles are available in our local libraries.
This story was originally published May 21, 2020 at 4:50 AM.
