Summer at Library to Include Reading Program, Friday After Hours Events

Greg Wilson/Anderson Observer

The Anderson County Library System has lately taken a long, careful edit, the work of civic maintenance. Annie Sutton, the library system’s director, said the library has published its 2026-to-2029 strategic plan, a document assembled after a year-end sweep of public surveys, “question of the day” prompts, social-media feedback, and internal discussions with staff and the library board.

Sutton said the library’s next three years will be organized around four goals: expanding access, improving communication, building outreach and community partnerships, and creating “a place to belong.” Those goals, she said, grew directly out of what people said they wanted from their libraries: more programming after work and on weekends, later hours, clearer wayfinding, better marketing, and a fuller understanding of what the system already offers.

She also pointed out that as part of a statewide consortium, the library allows patrons to request materials from elsewhere in South Carolina if the local branch does not have them. It is one of the quieter miracles of modern librarianship: a book that seems absent in one building can often be called up from another, as though the state were a much larger reading room.

The library and its branches are in what feels like a comparatively stable moment, after years of upgrades and renovations at branches across the county. Belton and Honea Path have been updated in recent years, Williamston and Westside were improved before that, and the main library has added new carpet, fresh paint, and “Leap Stations” with unusual checkout items such as seeds, pickleball sets and fishing poles.

Now they are beginning to look at older branches like Pendleton and Powdersville, both of which opened around 2007 and 2008, to evaluate the need for new furniture, carpet, or paint. It is the sort of housekeeping that can seem mundane until one remembers that public buildings, like public institutions, have a way of quietly signaling whether they are cared for.

One of the more visible signs of the library’s outreach push is the new bookmobile, which Sutton said has been received with enthusiasm. People have messaged her about seeing it around the county, and children, she said, seem especially delighted simply to climb aboard and sit in the back.

That response fits the broader aim of meeting people where they are, whether that means appearing at community events or bringing library services to places and schedules that make sense for working families. Sutton said the library wants to do a better job of communicating its own value, and of reminding people that access is not just about a building but about timing, visibility, and convenience.

The summer reading program, Sutton said, is another part of that same philosophy. This year’s theme is dinosaurs, a choice that seemed to delight the children who saw the giant inflatable dinosaur at the library’s Soiree. The program has two parts: a reading challenge designed to keep children reading through the summer and avoid the “summer slide,” and a slate of weekly programs at branches across the county.

Families can track reading in the Beanstack app, and the library will continue to offer story times and special programs such as visiting musicians, animals, and petting-zoo-style events. Sutton said participation rises and falls from year to year, but she hopes for stronger turnout this summer and said the system may rethink the program if needed for next year.

The library is also planning three Friday after-hours events from June through August, running from 6:30-9 p.m. June will center on movie night, with movie trivia and related activities; July will focus on music, with line-dancing demonstrations and music bingo among the offerings. Those events, like the reading program itself, are meant to make the library feel like a place where people can gather without having to spend money or even know exactly what they need.

While a library card is not required to attend programs, the library is always happy to issue one. To get a card, all a person needs is a picture ID, a current address, and the willingness to sign up for themselves and/or their children.

In the end, the library’s logic remains one of the most enduring civic ideas around: that access to knowledge should be easy, and that belonging can begin with something as modest as a magical card in a wallet.