Senator John W. Drummond: The Story of a South Carolinian, Military Hero, and Statesman by Richard D. Young, Director of Research for the Institute of Public Service and Policy Research of the University of South Carolina in Columbia, South Carolina, is a carefully documented history of a major figure in South Carolina politics.  Drummond retired from the South Carolina General Assembly June 5, 2008 after 41 years of service to that legislative group and at the age of 88.  But his service to his state and country began much earlier.

Young’s history begins with Drummond’s early years, including his time as a pilot in World War II.  Drummond’s plane had crashed near Gieville, France in 1944 and he was captured by the Germans.  He was liberated after VE-day in 1945.  During his year as a POW he was housed with other Americans, black and white, and he later mused that it was “an education, the best education about life and living I could have.”  Years later Gieville treated the military man who had fought to save France with a ceremony, banquet, and special gifts dug up from the crash area.

Young interrupts the account of this man to report on the social, political, and economic picture of South Carolina 1945 to 2006.  This is the author’s specialty, so the pages fly by with a concise yet detailed picture of what was happening while Drummond returned to citizenship.  The Senator’s life continues with marriage, family, store ownership, then manager and owner of successful oil businesses, before he enters a life in the South Carolina legislature.  Durmmond was elected as a Representative from Greenwood in 1964 and then as a Senator in 1967.  He remained in this body until his retirement.  As a tribute to his forty-one years of service to the state the South Carolina Senate adopted SJ-8, a Senate Resolution to commend the Honorable John W. Drummond, of Greenwood County on April 30, 2008.  Drummond retired from the South Carolina Legislature this past June.

Young’s account of this state servant is a worthy rememberance and an enjoyable read.  The State Library has copies of the book available for checkout.  Electronic versions of the version that appeared in the Institute’s journal Public Policy and Practice are available at http://www.ipspr.sc.edu/ejournal/Archives0711.asp.

State and County Profiles on South Carolina State Agency Webpages

Many of the state agencies of South Carolina are posting both statistical and narrative profiles of the state and counties for the areas they address.  Once these profiles were only made available in print format, possibly monthly or quarterly, but more often only annually.  Now, however, the information can be posted quickly to the website, so that current information is more readily available.  Usually the data is presented in a format that is easy to print or download.  Some of the agencies that post state and/or county profiles include:

South Carolina Department of Health and Environmental Control

            SC DHEC reports on the status of health and presence of disease or risky behaviors at http://www.scdhec.gov/hs/epidata/county_reports.htm.  The page allows a user to choose a county or region and then view a list of reports.   The disease reports are color graphs for a region or trends in mortality for the state.

South Carolina Employment Security Commission

            SC ESC has three pages of county or labor area profiles.  County Spotlights (http://www.sces.org/lmi/Spotlights/index.asp ) are single page descriptions of the population, labor force, income, location and climate.  Workforce Investment Area (WIA) reports (http://www.sces.org/lmi/Spotlights/WIA/index.asp ) are similar to county spotlights, but are on 12 areas in South Carolina.  Information includes extended demographic and labor statistics.  Summary workforce information is reported monthly at http://www.sces.org/lmi/news/news.asp#Labor_Force_Data_by_Workforce_Investment_Area .

South Carolina Department of Commerce

            SC Department of Commerce has county and city profiles giving information for prospective businesses at http://www.sccommerce.com/SearchCommunityProfiles.aspx.   Simple search yields information by name or county.  Advanced search allows a user to specify ports or interstate locations or to limit reports by population or labor market.  Short reports on labor markets by place are also available (http://www.sccommerce.com/Searchlaborprofiles.aspx ).

South Carolina Department of Education

            SC Department of Education reports on the status of schools in the counties at http://ed.sc.gov/topics/researchandstats/schoolreportcard/ .  Choose the year desired, then the county.  On the county page there will be a links to a Printable pdf Report Card for the County  and to links for specific school reports.  Reports give enrollment and summary reports on annual exams.

South Carolina Office of Research and Statistics

            SC ORS receives information both from the state agencies and from the US Census Bureau.  Their page of Community Profiles (http://www.sccommunityprofiles.org/ ) provides statistical profiles at the state, county, place, zip code, and census tract levels.

These profiles of the state and counties provide valuable information.  However, in most cases only current information is available, as reports are merely updated as new information is acquired.  Because the agencies opt to update existing documents instead of creating new documents that can be saved for comparison, they create the risk that vital information about the state may be lost.  Agencies are encouraged to cooperate with the South Carolina State Library Depository System in efforts to identify and preserve the information about South Carolina and its residents.

More than 200 print and electronic state documents were added to the State Library state documents collection during September.  Some particularly interesting publications that were part of the Depository System (Sufficient copies for depository libraries) included:

Divorce and the law.  SC Bar Association. (J8987B 2.D48)  This is a brief but informative brochure on the grounds for and process of obtaining a divorce in South Carolina.  There is no “divorce form” available through the courts, and individuals are advised to seek legal counsel for this procedure.

Jasper County Natural Resources Conservation Plan Department of Natural Resources (N2197 2.J17) This is a beautifully illustrated book of the status and history of various types of resources in Jasper County and outlines strategies and recommendations to preserve them in light of growing urbanization.

Quick Guide for Riverine Floodplains, Development, and Maps.  Department of natural Resources (N2197 2.Q84) This is a very usable guide covering the basics of watersheds and floodplains and showing factors to consider when development is proposed.  The pages are sturdy and secured in a spiral comb that allows the pages to lie flat.  It includes lots of graphs, statistics, bulleted items and drawings to illustrate important aspects.

Items added as electronic formats include:

General Records Retention Schedules for:

  Municipal Records

  County Records

  State Colleges and Universities

  State Agency Administrative Records

  State Agency Financial Records

  State Agency Personnel Records

  State Agency Data Processing and Electronic Records

S.C. Public Libraries Annual Statistics SCSL

www.statelibrary.sc.gov/scedocs/L6265/000459.pdf

Complete lists of items added to the documents collection for the month are posted on the State Documents Depository Shipping List and the South Carolina State Library - New Documents Not in Depository System.  For information on the South Carolina State Documents Depository System contact Elaine Sandberg, Government Documents Librarian.

            State Library staff is busy learning to scan and make digitized publications available through our online catalog!  The first project is reports from the Certified Public Manager participants, since these documents are easy to dismantle, scan, and reassemble.  Participants in the CPM program often ask for copies of these reports, either to check out or to see online.  To date the library hasn’t been able to offer either service, since our print copy cannot leave the library.  Soon the reports will be available in digital format through WebLion.