WALHALLA — In 1948, Harry Truman defeated Thomas E. Dewey for president, Israel was recognized as a nation and the Frisbee and Velcro were both invented.

That year also marked the birth of the Oconee County Public Library (OCPL), and 60 years later, it is still going strong.

From 2 p.m.-4 p.m. Sunday, at its Walhalla headquarters on 501 West South Broad St., the library will celebrate its 60th anniversary, and the public is invited.

Philip Cheney, OCPL reference librarian, said while technology has morphed through the years, the library has changed alongside it.

“Libraries are important to the quality of life in any community, and folks coming in from other places expect you to be up to par with where they came from, even from surrounding counties,” Cheney said.

While the library continues to offer a vast array of books, for both young and old alike, Cheney said the library also offers free Internet service on its 10 personal computers.

The library also offers meeting areas for groups, primarily nonprofit organizations. CDs, DVDs and books on tape can be rented for free and lots of children’s programs, conducted by Karen Lociemba, are also featured at the facility.

Martha Baily, who is tied with Louise Marcum for the longest tenure as director at 15 years prior to her retirement this year, was instrumental in moving the library into the electronic and computer ages. Baily said offering books on tape, formerly in CD, and now in DVD form, proved popular with patrons.

“My thought was not to be in competition with video stores, but I tried to tie it into literature and supplement areas where they might not be offered otherwise,” Baily said.

Early years

The birth of the OCPL occurred in May 1948 when it was authorized by South Carolina lawmakers. The Oconee County Library Commission held its first meeting a month later without a library and librarian and with a first-year budget of $3,500, all but $500 coming from the county.

Louise Powell was hired as the first librarian on a trial basis, at a salary of $1,800 per year. In June, the Commission ordered a half-ton pickup truck to be converted to a bookmobile, the first for the county. Today, the nine bookmobile routes include nursing homes, assisted living centers, day care centers, preschools, retirement communities and some individual homes.

The library began operating in Walhalla in the Rock Building, and five years later, moved to a space located in the Chicopee Clinic Building in Walhalla. In 1955, the library received the entire building as a gift from the Chicopee Corporation.

In 1979, the main library moved to its new, specially-built facility in Walhalla where it remains to this day. Branch libraries opened in Westminster in 1950, Salem in 1952 and Seneca in 1953.

In 1985, a steering committee to organize The Friends of the Library was established.

Fond memories

Bobbi Cole began her career with the OCPL in 1978, hired as a full-time assistant at the Seneca branch out of high school. Cole, who would spend the next 29 years at that location before becoming branch manager of the Westminster branch in July 2007, remembered her interview with Marcum.

“She was impressed because I said I loved to read to my nephew,” Cole said.

She laughs when reflecting on just how much times have changed from even 30 years ago.

“Betty DuBose was the branch manager at Seneca, and I was her assistant,” Cole recalled. “There were days when it was so slow that I would run to the store and get ice cream, and we would both sit and eat.”

But Cole says times have changed dramatically. “Now, I hardly have time for lunch.”

Long ago, Cole said libraries had a unique way of retrieving overdue books.

“If a person kept the library’s books for several months, you would send them an overdue notice, followed by a second and then a third notice if not returned,” Cole said. “After that, a deputy would visit the person’s house, knock on their door and inform the individual they would either have to turn the books in or pay a fine.

“Very seldom did you lose books back then, but now you can’t do that because there isn’t enough manpower (in law enforcement).”

Cole said she is pleased that today’s education leaders are placing a greater emphasis on reading.

Other uses

While there continues to be demand for best sellers and novels, Cheney said books can now be leased. Customers can go online and see what books are available and even reserve or renew books in that manner.

Cheney said the OCPL has hosted home school students and recently provided instruction on the proper use of an online catalog to another group of visitors. He added that a book unavailable at one library can be located through other libraries in the state or throughout the country. He said he once located a book for a customer by contacting a library in North Dakota.

Cheney said the OCPL also features what is known as the South Carolina Room. This room contains a collection of books about the Palmetto State, as well as North Carolina and Virginia, is also used in genealogical studies and features local newspapers and obituaries on microfilm.

Cheney said DISCUS, a federally funded project that provides electronic access to essential information resources 24 hours per day, seven days per week, is growing in popularity.

“Anyone can access it, and every public library is a conduit,” Cheney said. “It provides reference sources for academics, business, health, legal issues, newspapers and more and does so even when the library is not open.”

Customer friendly

In an effort to enhance its customer-friendly reputation, the Oconee County Library System has created a Web site (http://www.oconee.lib.sc.us), and Baily said reciprocal agreements have also been established with the Pickens and Anderson county libraries.

“If you have a library card and are in good standing, with no fines owed, you can go into those libraries and get cards there and use their facilities,” Baily said. “We can also use their facilities, and they can use ours. There is now no charge for that, whereas, in the past, an annual fee of $20 was once charged.”

Cole believes the people-oriented attitude the OCPL and its branches have strived for through the years is the biggest reason for its success.

“You meet all these wonderful people, you see kids grow up, then meet their kids and their grandkids,” she said. “It’s a really good job to be in because you learn something every single day.”