Monticello Through the Lens of Thomas Jefferson's Personal Library
2023-04-13 18:00 - 19:00 (America/New_York) | Charleston Library Society, 164 King Street, Charleston, SC, 29401, United States
Thomas Jefferson housed one of the most incredible personal libraries in the early Republic, and often wrote about the important role education must play in building a free and democratic society. His personal library at Monticello would go on to be the seed that bloomed into the new Library of Congress.
The Jefferson Research Library is part of Robert H. Smith International Center for Jefferson Studies, and is where the Fiske and Marie Kimball Librarian, Endrina Tay, spends her days. During this program, which coincides with what would have been the Founding Father’s 280th Birthday, Ms. Tay will discuss Jefferson’s passion for literature, as well as her ongoing research into his collections.
Join us on April 13, 2023, at 6PM, for this can’t-miss program.
This event is free and open to the public with RSVP. To register, call 843-723-9912 or fill out the form below.
About Endrina Tay:
Endrina Tay is the Fiske and Marie Kimball Librarian at the Jefferson Library at Thomas Jefferson’s Monticello in Charlottesville, Virginia.
Since 2004, her research has focused on Thomas Jefferson’s libraries and on reconstructing and understanding Jefferson’s reading universe. In 2008, she discovered (with Jeremy Dibbell) a previously unidentified Jefferson booklist that documented for the first time the library George Wythe bequeathed to Jefferson in 1806 while Jefferson was president of the United States. In 2011, together with Ann Lucas Birle, she located over 80 previously unknown extant volumes from Thomas Jefferson’s library at Washington University in St. Louis.
Her publications include “Enlightened Networks: Thomas Jefferson’s System For Working From Home,” in The Spirit of Inquiry in the Age of Jefferson (Philadelphia: American Philosophical Society Press, 2022); and “Forming the Body of a Library Upon the “Illimitable Freedom of the Human Mind:” Books for the University of Virginia,” in The Founding of Thomas Jefferson’s University, ed. John Ragosta, Andrew O’Shaughnessy and Peter Onuf (Charlottesville: University of Virginia Press, 2019).

Saturday Story Time In The Rabbit Hole - Flowers
2023-04-15 10:00 - 11:00 | Charleston Library Society, 164 King Street, Charleston, SC, 29401, United States
Due to the high enthusiasm surrounding Story Time, we will be offering this to members only. To join the Library Society, click here.
Please join us for our beloved Story Time in the Rabbit Hole! During this hour long, kid-friendly program, children and their parents/caregivers can join Kenna, who led our CAMPS in the STACKS this summer. She will be reading in the Rabbit Hole and making an on-theme craft to bring home.
For this Story Time, Kenna will read The Tiny Seed by Eric Carle and the craft will be a paper handprint bouquet!
Story Time will repeat every Tuesday and Wednesday at 3:30 pm and Saturday at 10:00 am – we hope to see you there!
To RSVP to this free event, please fill out the form below.

Story Time In The Rabbit Hole - Earth Day
2023-04-18 15:30 - 16:30, 2023-04-19 15:30 - 16:30 | Charleston Library Society, 164 King Street, Charleston, SC, 29401, United States
Due to the high enthusiasm surrounding Story Time, we will be offering this to members only. To join the Library Society, please click here.
Join us for our beloved Story Time in the Rabbit Hole! During this hour long, kid-friendly program, children and their parents/caregivers can join Zora, our incredible Childrens’ Library Coordinator. She will be reading in the Rabbit Hole and making an on-theme craft to bring home.
For this Story Time, Zora will read Our Earth by Anne Rockwell and the craft will be planting a seed!
Story Time will repeat every Tuesday and Wednesday at 3:30 pm and Saturday at 10:00 am – we hope to see you there!
To RSVP to this free event, please fill out the form below.

Sally Bedell Smith on the Marriage that Saved the Monarchy
2023-04-18 18:00 - 19:00 | Charleston Library Society, 164 King Street, Charleston, SC, 29401, United States
Join us in welcoming Sally Bedell Smith to discuss her recently published royal biography, George VI and Elizabeth: The Marriage that Saved the Monarchy. With permission from Queen Elizabeth II, Smith combed through the Royal Archives to bring the late-regent’s parents, George VI and Elizabeth, and their love story to life on the page.
Tickets are $40.
To purchase tickets, please click here or call 212-480-2889 ext. 200.
About the Author:
Sally Bedell Smith is the author of bestselling biographies of Queen Elizabeth II; William S. Paley; Pamela Harriman; Diana, Princess of Wales; John and Jacqueline Kennedy; and Bill and Hillary Clinton. A contributing editor at Vanity Fair since 1996, she previously worked at Time and The New York Times, where she was a cultural news reporter. In 2012, Smith was the recipient of the Washington Irving Medal for Literary Excellence. She is the mother of three children and lives in Washington, D.C., with her husband, Stephen G. Smith.
About the Book:
This deeply researched and revealing book shows how a loving and devoted marriage helped the King and Queen meet the challenges of World War II, lead a nation, solidify the public’s faith in the monarchy, and raise their daughters, Princess Elizabeth and Princess Margaret.
With single-minded determination, the future King George VI of Britain (known as Bertie) courted the Scottish Lady Elizabeth Bowes Lyon for more than two years, and proposed three times, before she finally accepted his hand. Little did they know that their relationship and family would be catapulted on to the global stage after the abdication of King Edward VIII. Shy, sensitive, and afflicted with a stutter, George VI had never imagined that he would become King. However, with his outgoing and confident wife’s support and love, the King became an exceptional leader. He navigated the country through World War II, established a strong relationship with Winston Churchill, and inspired the British people with his courage and compassion during the blitz. Biographer Sally Bedell Smith was granted unprecedented access by Her Majesty Queen Elizabeth II to her parents’ letters and diaries, as well those of close friends and family. In her talk Sally will bring their love story to life and provide an inside view into the hopes, struggles, and triumphs of the royal couple. She will reveal how their marriage helped the new King and Queen meet the challenges and dangers Britain faced during World War II and led the nation back from the brink of destruction. She will also show how the King and Queen solidified the public’s faith in the monarchy and trained their daughter Princess Elizabeth from an early age to be a highly successful monarch who would reign for an unprecedented 70 years.

2023 Founders Award: Honoring David M. Rubenstein
2023-04-20 19:00 - 20:30 | Charleston Library Society, 164 King Street, Charleston, SC, 29401, United States
The Founders Award was established by the Trustees of the Charleston Library Society to recognize a person who exemplifies the values of the 19 young men who collaborated in 1748 to found what remains one of America’s earliest and enduring cultural and intellectual centers. This award also prizes leadership and philanthropy undertaken in pursuit of those values, and reflects a demonstrated desire to appreciate our past and understand its relationship to the future.
This year, we are thrilled to honor our 2023 award recipient, David M. Rubenstein, who not only embodies our 1748 Founding Members’ goal of promoting knowledge and shared learning, but who is also a visionary leader with a deep and proven commitment to civic engagement and lifelong scholarship.
Join us on April 20, from 7:00pm – 8:30pm, as we celebrate David M. Rubenstein. There will be toasts, tributes, and a lively conversation led by CNN Senior Political Analyst and Anchor John Avlon.
This evening will be made possible through the generous support of our Sponsors*
Presenting Sponsors:
Beemok Hospitality
Ken and Anne Tidwell
Event Sponsors:
Anne and Will Cleveland
Comerica Bank & Trust
Mr. and Mrs. John M. Dunnan
Farther Ventures
First Capital Bank
Sean W. Holleran and Lucas J. Murley
Martha Rivers Ingram
Tickets are $75 for Members, $100 for Guests. To purchase, click here.
For more information on sponsorship opportunities, click here, or call 843.723.9912.
About David Rubenstein:
David Rubenstein is a former government official, a lawyer, and a co-founder / co-chairman of The Carlyle Group, a global private equity investment company based in Washington, D.C. He currently serves as chairman of the Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts, the National Gallery of Art, the Council on Foreign Relations, and The Economic Club of Washington, D.C., and is a former chairman of the Duke University Board of Trustees and the Smithsonian Institution. In 2022, he became chair of the University of Chicago Board of Trustees.

In addition to his business success and acumen, Mr. Rubenstein is also an extraordinarily generous and thoughtful philanthropist. In December 2007, he purchased the last privately owned copy of the Magna Carta to loan to the National Archives in Washington, D.C. In 2011, he gave $13.5 million to the National Archives for a new gallery and visitors center, and the next year donated $7.5 million towards the repair of the Washington Monument. The list of beneficiaries of his generosity goes on.
Most remarkably he was an early signer of the Giving Pledge, the campaign started by Bill Gates and Warren Buffett to encourage wealthy individuals to contribute a majority of their wealth to philanthropic causes.
About Charleston Library Society Founders:
In 1748, 19 young men who had embraced Enlightenment ideals but did not have enough wealth to assemble their own private libraries decided to pool their resources to create a membership library. (For perspective, Thomas Jefferson was only five years old at this time.) To accomplish their goals, the members decided to avail themselves of the latest publications from Great Britain, and they contracted with London booksellers to purchase and build a respectable inventory. The Library Society quickly became “the center of intellectual life of the city.” It served as an intellectual and civic forum, a promoter of both formal and informal meetings and discussion. George Washington and the Marquis de Lafayette were early members, as were four signers of the Declaration of Independence.

The members hosted social and political events as well as scientific, natural history, and astronomical observations and experiments. There was constant discussion about founding a college and enhancing the cultural aspects of the city, which was accomplished in 1770. Three years later, the Library Society founded the first museum in America on January 12, 1773, using the British Museum as a model. Charles Cotesworth Pinckney served as the institution’s first curator, pulling from the Library’s core collection of materials assembled over the previous 51 years. The Society held regular dinners, welcomed people with a desire to improve their minds, and passionately developed the Library’s collection by purchasing books of history, science and technology, classical and modern literature, as well as manuscripts on other topics.

The Library Society is recognized as the second-oldest circulating library in America and the oldest cultural institution in the South. In January 2023, the Society began its celebration of its 275th anniversary.

Saturday Story Time In The Rabbit Hole - Earth Day
2023-04-22 10:00 - 11:00 | Charleston Library Society, 164 King Street, Charleston, SC, 29401, United States
Due to the high enthusiasm surrounding Story Time, we will be offering this to members only. To join the Library Society, click here.
Please join us for our beloved Story Time in the Rabbit Hole! During this hour long, kid-friendly program, children and their parents/caregivers can join Kenna, who led our CAMPS in the STACKS this summer. She will be reading in the Rabbit Hole and making an on-theme craft to bring home.
For this Story Time, Kenna will read If You Come to Earth by Sophie Blackall and the craft will be Earth!
Story Time will repeat every Tuesday and Wednesday at 3:30 pm and Saturday at 10:00 am – we hope to see you there!
To RSVP to this free event, please fill out the form below.

Story Time In The Rabbit Hole - Meal Time
2023-04-25 15:30 - 16:30, 2023-04-26 15:30 - 16:30 | Charleston Library Society, 164 King Street, Charleston, SC, 29401, United States
Due to the high enthusiasm surrounding Story Time, we will be offering this to members only. To join the Library Society, please click here.
Join us for our beloved Story Time in the Rabbit Hole! During this hour long, kid-friendly program, children and their parents/caregivers can join Zora, our incredible Childrens’ Library Coordinator. She will be reading in the Rabbit Hole and making an on-theme craft to bring home.
For this Story Time, Zora will read How do Dinosaurs Eat their Food by Jane Yolen and Mark Teague and the craft will be decorating cups!
Story Time will repeat every Tuesday and Wednesday at 3:30 pm and Saturday at 10:00 am – we hope to see you there!
To RSVP to this free event, please fill out the form below.

A Garden Well Placed – Landscape & Garden Design with Lady Tollemache
2023-04-25 18:00 - 19:00 | SC
Join us and the Horticultural Society for an evening with the award-winning landscape and garden designer Lady Tollemache. The British native will walk us through her Spring 2022 release, A Garden Well Placed, and the love story between her and the gardens she oversees as Lady of Helmingham Hall.
Tickets are $125 and include a copy of the book.
To purchase tickets, please click here or call 843-579-9922.
About the Author:
Lady Tollemache started her gardening life when she first moved to Helmingham Hall in 1975. She spent the next 20 years learning how to garden which ultimately prepared her for starting her own garden design company. While she admittedly has not taken a class in landscape architecture or even started a course in garden design, what she lacks in professional knowledge she gains a sense of a no boundaries approach to her garden designs.
About the Book:
A Garden Well Placed leads us down the garden path of the Helmingham Hall estate, through the walled gardens of the English countryside of Suffolk to the Chelsea Garden Show. This book chronicles her career as a garden designer where she works her magic on gardens large, small, formal and informal. Lady Tollemache has a flair for putting herself in the “place” of her gardens and landscapes which always results in sophisticated, multi-dimensional and considerate designs.

New Work from Charleston's First Poet Laureate
2023-04-27 18:00 - 19:00 | Charleston Library Society, 164 King Street, Charleston, SC, 29401, United States
Marcus Amaker, Charleston’s first-ever Poet Laureate, will return to CLS for an exclusive reading from his new book, Hold What Makes You Whole—a 200-page, full-color compilation of 70 poems released on April 4. After the reading, the author will discuss the inspiration and process behind this recent collection, followed by a book signing during which copies will be available for purchase and personalization.
Opening for Marcus is Alexandra Peters, a rising star poet in her own right. Together, this lineup makes for an evening of unparalleled, can’t-miss creativity and culture.
Tickets are $10 for members and $15 for guests.
To purchase before they sell out, click here or call 843.723.9912.
About Marcus Amaker
Marcus Amaker (he/him) takes daily naps and is a husband, a dad, a son, a musician, an opera librettist, and a Star Wars obsessive. He served as the first Poet Laureate of Charleston, South Carolina, from 2016—22. In 2021, he became an Academy of American Poets fellow. He’s also a prolific performer, the award-winning graphic designer of a roots music journal (No Depression), a musician, an opera librettist, the creator of a poetry festival, a teaching artist, and an advocate for youth poets.
His work has been recognized by The Washington Post, The Kennedy Center, American Poets Magazine, Chicago Opera Theater, The Portland Opera, Button Poetry, NPR, The Chicago Tribune, Edutopia, Town & Country, PBS NewsHour, South Carolina Public Radio, Charleston Magazine, Charleston City Paper, Post & Courier, and more. In 2019, he received a Governor’s Arts award in South Carolina and was named the artist-in-residence of the Gaillard Center, a world-renowned performance and education venue.
His poetry was used by the Washington National Opera for its Presidential Inauguration Day Concert in 2021, and has been studied in classrooms around the country.
In addition to more than 35 electronic music albums, Marcus has recorded three albums with Grammy Award–winning drummer and producer Quentin E. Baxter. His poem “The Rain” is on two Grammy-nominated recordings.
Marcus also created a publishing company to release poetry books and host events for poets in his community. June 3, 2021, was named “Marcus Amaker Day” by John Tecklenburg, mayor of Charleston.
He lives in North Charleston, SC, with his wife, their daughter, and a cat named after Wu-Tang Clan. Marcus is currently writing an opera with Gillian Rae Perry as part of Chicago Opera Theater’s Vanguard Initiative. His tenth book, Hold What Makes You Whole, was released on April 4.
About Alexandra Peters
A self-taught poet with roots in both Miami, Florida, and Charleston, Alexandra displayed a passion for poetry at a very young age—a spark ignited after she read Dr. Seuss books and discovered words can rhyme. As she grew, poetry became one of her favorite creative outlets to express and work through her feelings, thoughts, and viewpoints on herself, life, history, and current events. This passion led her to become part of the University of Central Florida‘s first spoken Word club in 2013: Project S.P.I.T. (Student Poetry Initiating Thought). She went on to become Vice President in 2017. Since graduating, she has found comfort and opportunities to grow in Charleston‘s poetry community, most notably placing third in the inaugural Free Verse Poetry Festival Slam and being a feature poet in one of the 2022 events: Collective Truths. When she isn’t writing, she enjoys collecting vinyl records, playing her saxophone, writing songs, and supporting live, local bands.

Lite Lunch: Zibby Owens & Friends Author Panel
2023-04-28 12:00 - 13:00 | Charleston Library Society, 164 King Street, Charleston, SC, 29401, United States
Buxton Books and CLS are excited to welcome back media powerhouse Zibby Owens for a Lite Lunch—and this time she’s bringing friends!
Join us on Friday, April 28, at Noon for a special author panel, featuring a stellar lineup that includes Zibby, Megan Tady (Super Bloom), Joanna Rakoff (My Salinger Year), and Amanda Eyre Ward (The Jetsetters).
Tickets are $48.50 each. Ticket price includes entry into The Charleston Library Society for an author talk with Amanda Eyre Ward, Joanna Rakoff, Megan Tady, and Zibby Owens; a signed copy of Megan Tady’s new book, Super Bloom; and a boxed lunch!
To purchase tickets, please click here.
About the Authors
Megan Tady is a writer and editor running the company Word-Lift. Her writing has appeared in The Huffington Post and Ms. Magazine, and she was a finalist for the 2021 Penguin Random House Student Fiction Award. Super Bloom, her sparkling and heartwarming debut novel, will be published on May 2nd by Zibby Books.
Amanda Eyre Ward is the New York Times bestselling author of The Jetsetters (a Reese’s Book Club pick!) and The Lifeguards. Her novels have been featured in People Magazine, The New York Times, and more. Amanda’s work has been optioned for film and television and translated into fifteen languages.
Joanna Rakoff is the author of the international bestselling memoir My Salinger Year and the bestselling novel A Fortunate Age, winner of the Goldberg Prize for Fiction and the Elle Readers’ Prize. Rakoff’s books have been translated into twenty languages, and the film adaptation of My Salinger Year opened in theaters worldwide in 2021 and is now streaming. Her writing has appeared in The New York Times, The Guardian, O: The Oprah Magazine, Vogue, Elle, Porter, and elsewhere, and her new memoir, The Fifth Passenger, is forthcoming from Little, Brown in 2024.
Zibby Owens is an author, award-winning podcaster, entrepreneur, and CEO. Owens founded Zibby Media, a privately-held media company, in 2018, with her award-winning podcast Moms Don’t Have Time to Read Books. The company has since grown to include the publishing house Zibby Books, the magazine Zibby Mag, the podcast network Zibby Audio, the education platform Zibby Classes, and community events like retreats, a book club, and a writing community. She was celebrated as “New York’s Most Powerful Book-fluencer” by New York Magazine. Owens is a regular contributor to “Good Morning America” and other broadcast outlets. She is the author of the memoir Bookends: A Memoir of Love, Loss, and Literature, the children’s book, Princess Charming, and the editor of two anthologies. Owens is a graduate of Yale University and Harvard Business School. She lives in New York with her husband, Kyle Owens of Morning Moon Productions, and her four children. Follow her on Instagram @zibbyowens.

Chamber Music with CSO: Brahms Horn Trio with Wendy Chen
2023-04-28 19:30 - 21:30, 2023-04-29 19:30 - 21:30 | Charleston Library Society, 164 King Street, Charleston, SC, 29401, United States
Join the Charleston Symphony for an elevated Chamber Music experience this season! Enjoy an intimate evening of ensemble music at the beloved Charleston Library Society that will showcase the brilliant talent of your CSO musicians. Performances will offer an exciting range of chamber music literature, robust programming, and a newly added wine reception at intermission.
We are excited to feature renowned pianist Wendy Chen on our 2022-23 series finale. No stranger to Charleston, Wendy participated in the Spoleto Festival USA Chamber Music Series for 15 years under the leadership of Charles Wadsworth. At the age of fifteen, Wendy Chen debuted with the Los Angeles Philharmonic under conductor André Previn. In 1990 she became the youngest winner ever of the National Chopin Competition, was one of the inaugural recipients of the Irving S. Gilmore Young Artists Award and was named a Presidential Scholar by the National Foundation for the Arts. Since then, her career has flourished, adding Young Concert Artists International Auditions and Washington International Competition to her numerous awards.
Johannes Brahms, a horn player during his youth, composed the Trio in E Flat Major for Horn, Violin and Piano, Op. 40 in 1865. This work commemorates the death of Brahms’s mother, Christiane, earlier that year. This piece was originally written for natural horn, rather than the valve horn that we commonly see today. And despite his special affection for the horn, Brahms wrote only one chamber music composition with the instrument.
While spending time in the Black Forest in the springtime reflecting on fond memories of his mother, listeners will hear rich themes and deep lyricism throughout the work. Brahms reflects not only on this difficult milestone in his life, but of the happy memories and recovery at the end of mourning during the lively tempo of the final movement.
This program will also feature works by Samuel Coleridge-Taylor, Eric Ewazen, and Francis Poulenc.
Tickets are $50.
To purchase tickets, click here or call the CSO at 843-723-7528.

Saturday Story Time In The Rabbit Hole - Birds
2023-04-29 10:00 - 11:00 | Charleston Library Society, 164 King Street, Charleston, SC, 29401, United States
Due to the high enthusiasm surrounding Story Time, we will be offering this to members only. To join the Library Society, click here.
Please join us for our beloved Story Time in the Rabbit Hole! During this hour long, kid-friendly program, children and their parents/caregivers can join Kenna, who led our CAMPS in the STACKS this summer. She will be reading in the Rabbit Hole and making an on-theme craft to bring home.
For this Story Time, Kenna will read Hello My Name is Ruby by Phillip C. Stead and the craft will be rocking paper birds!
Story Time will repeat every Tuesday and Wednesday at 3:30 pm and Saturday at 10:00 am – we hope to see you there!
To RSVP to this free event, please fill out the form below.

Coffee with an Author: Patti Callahan Henry
2023-05-02 10:30 - 11:30 | Charleston Library Society, 164 King Street, Charleston, SC, 29401, United States
Join Buxton Books and the Charleston Library Society (located 164 King Street) on Tuesday, May 2 as we celebrate the publication of Patti Callahan Henry’s new title – THE SECRET BOOK OF FLORA LEA (Simon & Schuster, on sale May 2) – WITH the ladies of Friends & Fiction! Patti’s pals and co-hosts on the popular web show and podcast Friends & Fiction — the New York Times–bestselling authors Mary Kay Andrews, Kristin Harmel, and Kristy Woodson Harvey—will all be signing and personalizing their own books during the event, as well. Feel free to stay for the duration of the morning to mingle or just stop in to have your books signed!
Choose between a General Admission ticket and A Book is Your Ticket option. The General Admission ticket covers entrance into the event and a free cup of coffee! A Book is Your Ticket covers entrance into the event, free coffee, and includes a hardcover copy of The Secret Book of Flora Lea (valued at $28.99 before tax). We will also have backlist titles from all four authors available for purchase if you need to stock up on signed copies for your own library or as gifts!
It’s always a good time when this group of authors – and friends – get together, especially when it’s for such a celebratory occasion! We hope to see you there for books, coffee, and literary fun!
To purchase tickets, click here.
NOTE: Tickets to this event are non-refundable. If you choose the “A Book is Your Ticket” option, your signed and personalized hardcover copy of The Secret Book of Flora Lea will be shipped to you (or be available for pick up at Buxton Books) the day following the event.
About The Secret Book of Flora Lea
“Not very long ago and not very far away, there once was and still is an invisible place right here with us. And if you are born knowing, you will find your way through the woodlands to the shimmering doors that lead to the land made just and exactly for you.” —HAZEL MERSEY LINDEN, 1939.
Fourteen-year-old Hazel and five-year-old Flora are evacuated from their London home to a rural village to escape the horrors of the Second World War. Living with the kind Bridie Aberdeen and her teenage son, Harry, in a charming stone cottage along the River Thames, Hazel fills their days with walks and games to distract her young sister, including one that she creates for her sister and her sister alone— a fairy tale about a magical land, a secret place they can escape to that is all their own.
But the unthinkable happens when young Flora suddenly vanishes while playing near the banks of the river. Shattered, Hazel blames herself for her sister’s disappearance, and she carries that guilt into adulthood as a private burden she feels she deserves.
Twenty years later, Hazel is in London, ready to move on from her job at a cozy rare bookstore to a career at Sotheby’s. With a charming boyfriend and her elegantly dilapidated Bloomsbury flat, Hazel’s future seems determined. But her tidy life is turned upside down when she unwraps a package containing an illustrated book called Whisperwood and the River of Stars. Hazel never told a soul about the imaginary world she created just for Flora. Could this book hold the secrets to Flora’s disappearance? Could it be a sign that her beloved sister is still alive after all these years?
As Hazel embarks on a feverish quest, revisiting long-dormant relationships and bravely opening wounds from her past, her career and future hang in the balance. An astonishing twist ultimately reveals the truth in this transporting and refreshingly original novel about the bond between sisters, the complications of conflicted love, and the enduring magic of storytelling.
About Patti Callahan Henry
Patti Callahan Henry is a New York Times, Globe and Mail, and USA Today bestselling author of sixteen novels, including her newest, The Secret Book of Flora Lea. She’s also a podcast host of original content for her novels, Surviving Savannah and Becoming Mrs. Lewis.
She is the recipient of The Christy Award “Book of the Year”; The Harper Lee Distinguished Writer of the Year and the Alabama Library Association Book of the Year for Becoming Mrs. Lewis. She is the co-host and co-creator of the popular weekly online Friends and Fiction live web show and podcast. Patti also was a contributor to the monthly life lesson essay column for Parade Magazine. She’s published in numerous anthologies, articles, and short story collections, including an Audible Original about Florence Nightingale, titled Wild Swan narrated by the Tony Award winner, Cynthia Erivo.
Additional Events
On Monday, May 1st, The Charleston Place & Buxton Books Literary Series will kick off the celebration with an exclusive pre-publication broadcast of Friends & Fiction LIVE at the Riviera Theater.
During the evening, the “Fab Four” will also speak about their other books (and all sorts of other topics!), answer live questions from the audience, sign and personalize books, mingle, and take photographs with attendees. As anyone who has tuned into their live web show and podcast can attest, spending time with this group of women feels like being at a party with friends. A good time and lots of laughs are guaranteed.
Additionally, a VIP ticket add-on option is available for those who want to attend a cocktail reception before the event (plus other perks outlined in the ticket description!). The VIP cocktail hour will run from 5:30 – 6:30 pm on the gorgeous terrace at the Riviera Theater. Space is limited, so act quickly.
Tickets for the May 1 events are available here.
Call Buxton Books at 843-723-1670 for additional information or questions about booking.

Story Time In The Rabbit Hole – Zoo Animals
2023-05-02 15:30 - 16:30, 2023-05-03 15:30 - 16:30 | SC
Due to the high enthusiasm surrounding Story Time, we will be offering this to members only. To join the Library Society, please click here.
Join us for our beloved Story Time in the Rabbit Hole! During this hour long, kid-friendly program, children and their parents/caregivers can join Zora, our incredible Childrens’ Library Coordinator. She will be reading in the Rabbit Hole and making an on-theme craft to bring home.
For this Story Time, Zora will read My Heart is Like a Zoo by Michael Hall and the craft will be zoo animals!
Story Time will repeat every Tuesday and Wednesday at 3:30 pm and Saturday at 10:00 am – we hope to see you there!
To RSVP to this free event, please fill out the form below.

Lite Lunch with Renowned Musician Tuffus Zimbabwe
2023-05-03 12:00 - 13:00 | Charleston Library Society, 164 King Street, Charleston, SC, 29401, United States
The Charleston Library Society is pleased to present a rare audience with Tuffus Zimbabwe. Not only is the renowned musician a fellow Charlestonian, but he’s also the keyboardist for Saturday Night Live and the great-nephew of Edmund Thornton Jenkins, an American composer during the Harlem Renaissance who spent most of his life abroad studying at the Royal Academy of Music after arriving in England by way of playing/directing the band of his father’s Jenkins Orphanage.
Mr. Zimbabwe’s appearance at CLS comes on the eve of the 2023 Colour of Music Festival, which kicks off on May 4th and and features the debut of three pieces by his great-uncle. During these back-to-back appearances, the artist will offer an insider’s view of how Mr. Jenkins came to known as the “Father of Lowcountry Black Classic Music,” as well as some background on the quintet compositions that he has created in homage to his roots, plus further insights on the cultural and historical relevance of his family’s imprint on classical music via Charlestonia, perhaps one of the greatest musical tributes to Charleston ever composed.
Tickets are $25 for members and $35 for guests, and include a boxed lunch.
Click here, or call 843.723.9912, to purchase.
About Tuffus Zimbabwe
Tuffus Zimbabwe is a pianist, composer, and educator originally from the Roxbury area of Boston. His completed his Bachelors’ degree at Berklee College of Music and received a Master of Music degree from New York University.
Mr. Zimbabwe is currently keyboardist in the Saturday Night Live house band, pianist, and assistant musical director for Trilogy: an Opera Company. Music has been a part Tuffus’ family as his grandmother Mildred Jenkins was a professional vocalist in the Operatic and Spiritual styles. She studied music at the Sorbonne in Paris and the New England Conservatory.
Mildred was also the sister of Edmund Thornton Jenkins (1894-1926), a composer, arranger, and multi-instrumentalist (violinist, pianist, and primarily a clarinetist and saxophonist).
From early on Edmund received private training and got his professional start playing, directing, and arranging music in his father’s Orphanage Band and Church. He furthered his studies at Avery Institute, Morehouse College, and the Royal Academy in London.
Mildred would later inherit his music manuscripts, then passed down to her son, Jomo Zimbabwe. Tuffus Zimbabwe restored, edited, and arranged Edmund’s music from handwritten manuscripts into printed score.
Mildred and Edmund Thornton Jenkins’ parents were Rev. Daniel Joseph Jenkins and Lena James, who founded the Jenkins Orphanage in 1891 in Charleston, SC. To help fund the orphanage as it grew, Rev. Daniel Jenkins would soon create the Jenkins Orphanage Band.
At its height, there were multiple Jenkins bands performing nationally, including a residency on Broadway for DuBose Heyward’s original play Porgy debuting in 1927 (which preceded and influenced Gershwin’s opera Porgy and Bess which debuted in 1935), and in Europe, most notably performing for the Queen of England.

John Lennon’s Lawyer on the Man, the Mafia, and the Biggest Trial You’ve Never Heard About
2023-05-04 18:00 - 19:00 | Charleston Library Society, 164 King Street, Charleston, SC, 29401, United States
While John Lennon retreated into private life in 1975, he also fought a major legal battle that flew under the public radar. Mafia-connected Morris Levy, owner of Roulette Records, released Roots, an unauthorized version of a rock ’n’ roll oldies album John had been producing. Levy claimed the former Beatle had verbally agreed to market Roots via TV. The quick release of John Lennon Rock ’n’ Roll, the official album, resulted in two Levy lawsuits against John—and John’s counterclaims against Levy.
The ensuing high-stakes drama—both in and out of the courtroom—spanned the better part of two years and is the subject of Lennon attorney Jay Bergen’s upcoming discussion on May 4. Drawing from stories shared in his 2022 book, Lennon, the Mobster & the Lawyer—The Untold Story, as well as archival documents and multimedia materials, Bergen will tell the intimate story of how he worked closely with John to rebut Levy’s specious claims, and what it was like getting to know the man behind the myth. Bergen will also recount how John explained his recording process in poetic, exacting terms for a judge who knew little about The Beatles or John’s solo career.
A Q&A session will follow the presentation.
Tickets are $10 for members, and $15 for guests.
To purchase tickets, please click here or call 843-723-9912.
About the Book:
Lennon, the Mobster & the Lawyer catches the high drama of the courtroom skirmishes in this previously untold story. It also paints a detailed personal portrait of John and his world from 1975 to 1977, when he would soon welcome a new son and go into happy seclusion as a father and husband.
About Jay Bergen:
Jay Bergen was a trial lawyer in New York City for forty-five years. He has handled antitrust, securities, entertainment, and copyright/trademark cases. While Jay presented as a buttoned-down NYC trial lawyer, deep down he was a rock ’n’ roller from his high school days. He and John Lennon hit it off right from the day they first met, February 3, 1975. While Jay was awed to become John’s trusted advisor in the Morris Levy litigation, he was able to treat John Lennon as “just another client” – and that’s the way Jay worked with him preparing for the January 1976 trial. The two became friends and that relationship opened Jay to living his life the way he wanted to, rather than the way others wanted. Through more than 40 years and five home moves, Jay preserved the entire trial transcript, exhibits, and related documents in six bankers boxes. The legal records were an integral part of his memories and John and Jay’s friendship, and will serve alongside other contemporaneous artifacts as context for Jay’s presentation.

Saturday Story Time In The Rabbit Hole – Boats, Tugboats, and Ships
2023-05-06 10:00 - 11:00 | SC
Due to the high enthusiasm surrounding Story Time, we will be offering this to members only. To join the Library Society, click here.
Please join us for our beloved Story Time in the Rabbit Hole! During this hour long, kid-friendly program, children and their parents/caregivers can join Kenna, who led our CAMPS in the STACKS this summer. She will be reading in the Rabbit Hole and making an on-theme craft to bring home.
For this Story Time, Kenna will read Toy Boat by Randell de Seve and the craft will be a boat!
Story Time will repeat every Tuesday and Wednesday at 3:30 pm and Saturday at 10:00 am – we hope to see you there!
To RSVP to this free event, please fill out the form below.

May New Members Mingle
2023-05-08 17:00 - 18:00 | Charleston Library Society, 164 King Street, Charleston, SC, 29401, United States
Please join us for our New Members Mingle! Every second Monday of the month, we look forward to hosting our newest members of the CLS family. Starting our night off with a complimentary glass of wine, the evening will include an orientation of the Library and informational tour with Q & A about your membership benefits.
Please RSVP with the form below. We look forward to seeing you!

Story Time In The Rabbit Hole – Mother's Day
2023-05-09 15:30 - 16:30 | SC
Due to the high enthusiasm surrounding Story Time, we will be offering this to members only. To join the Library Society, please click here.
Join us for our beloved Story Time in the Rabbit Hole! During this hour long, kid-friendly program, children and their parents/caregivers can join Zora, our incredible Childrens’ Library Coordinator. She will be reading in the Rabbit Hole and making an on-theme craft to bring home.
For this Story Time, Zora will read Me & Mama by Cozbi A. Cabrera and the craft will be Mother’s Day cards!
Story Time will repeat every Tuesday and Wednesday at 3:30 pm and Saturday at 10:00 am – we hope to see you there!
To RSVP to this free event, please fill out the form below.

Coffee with an Author: Marjorie Hudson
2023-05-10 10:30 - 23:30 | Charleston Library Society, 164 King Street, Charleston, SC, 29401, United States
“When people finish reading Indigo Field, I hope they feel their hearts crack open to joy, surprise, and a deeper understanding of this world.”
Marjorie Hudson’s summation of her new book is as aching and elegant and beautiful as the novel itself. She needn’t worry, though—Indigo Field resonates in all of the desired ways, with an impact that reverberates from page to page.
Join us for coffee on Wednesday, May 10, at 10:30AM, when the author will share more insights on the book.
About the Book
In the rural South, a retired colonel in an upscale retirement community grieves the sudden death of his wife on the tennis court. On the other side of the highway, an elderly Black woman grieves the murder of her niece by a white man. Between them lies an abandoned field where three centuries of crimes are hidden, and only she knows the explosive secrets buried there. When the colonel runs into her car, causing a surprising amount of damage, it sparks a feud that sets loose the spirits in the Field, both benevolent and vengeful. In prose that’s been called “dazzling” and “mesmerizing,” in the animated voices of trees and birds and people, in Southern-voiced storytelling as deeply layered as that of Pat Conroy, Marjorie Hudson lays out the boundaries of a field that contains the soul of the South and leads us to a day of reckoning
About the Author
Marjorie Hudson was born in a small town in Illinois and raised in Washington, D.C., where she graduated from American University with a degree in Journalism and Women’s Studies. After serving as features editor of National Parks Magazine, she moved to rural North Carolina, working as a freelance writer with a column interviewing nature photographers and publishing articles in Garden & Gun, American Land Forum, Wildlife in North Carolina, Our State Magazine, and North Carolina Literary Review. As copyediting chief for Algonquin Books of Chapel Hill, she encountered the work of contemporary Southern writers such as Jill McCorkle, Kaye Gibbons, and Clyde Edgerton for the first time. Inspired, she turned her hand to fiction writing, and her first story won a statewide award judged by Shannon Ravenel. She earned an MFA from Warren Wilson College. She lives with her husband, Sam, and feisty small terrier DJ, on a century farm in North Carolina, where she mentors writers and reads poetry to trees

Story Time In The Rabbit Hole – Mother’s Day
2023-05-10 15:30 - 16:30 | SC

A Celebration of Lowcountry Voices
2023-05-10 17:00 - 19:00 | Charleston Library Society, 164 King Street, Charleston, SC, 29401, United States
Join CLS, Evening Post Books, and Buxton Books for Lowcountry Voices, a special celebration of Charleston’s unique literary community. This cocktail event is scheduled from 5:00PM to 7:00PM on May 10th, during which attendees will have the opportunity to meet and chat with local authors, booksellers, and publishers; peruse our Main Reading Room and stacks; and enjoy drinks and hors d’oeuvres.
The event will also be the exclusive pre-debut of author Kristen Ness’s novel At Loggerheads. Buxton Books will sell signed copies before At Loggerheads launches to the public, so guests can grab their own before it hits bookstore shelves.
Tickets are available for $75 from the Post and Courier’s ticketing website. For more information on this and future events, click here.
All authors attending Lowcountry Voices will be available for discussion, book sales, and book signings. The list of authors includes:

Kathryn Smith- Baptists & Bootleggers, Gertie
Virginia Beach- Rice & Ducks, A Wholly Admirable Thing, American Landmark
Lindy Carter- The Rice Birds
Adam Parker- Us: A Journalist’s Look at the Culture, Conflict and Creativity of the South
And many more

About Evening Post Books
Evening Post Books is the award-winning book publishing division of Evening Post Publishing, proud owners of The Post and Courier. Based in Charleston, South Carolina, it specializes in books written by authors hailing from and writing about the South, including high-quality fiction, nonfiction, poetry, and other specialty publications.
Sponsors include the Charleston Library Society, Buxton Books, and the Post & Courier.

Learnings from Bryant Park: A Conversation with Andrew Manshel and David Rawle
2023-05-11 18:00 - 19:00 | Charleston Library Society, 164 King Street, Charleston, SC, 29401, United States
Andrew M. Manshel’s first-hand account of the transformation of New York’s Bryant Park contains relevant lessons for parks and public spaces in every community—including (and especially!) Charleston. As such, we are THRILLED to welcome Mr. Manshel to share his insights with us during an evening of discussion and learning on Thursday, May 11.
A conversation led by David Rawle, the catalyst for Charleston’s Theodora Park, hailed as “a model for the future,” this event is a can’t-miss occasion for everyone from garden/park organizations to civic-minded groups to urban planners to activists and individuals invested in the sustainable growth of our city.
Tickets are $10 for members, $15 for guests.
Box office closes at 3pm-day of, but please call if interested in getting one at the door.
Click here, or call 843-579-9922, to secure your seat(s) today.
About Andrew M. Manshel:
Mr. Manshel currently serves as Senior Advisor to Hollis Public Affairs, providing a full range of services to the private sector in dealing with all levels of government. He was Assistant Commissioner for Franchise Administration at the New York City Department of Information Technology and Telecommunications, managing the equitable delivery of telecommunications services in public space. For 11 years he served as Executive Vice President of Greater Jamaica Development Corporation and President of its Jamaica Capital Corporation and Jamaica First Parking affiliates, working to improve public space and the quality of life in a vibrant, but disinvested, African-American, Caribbean, Central American and South Asian neighborhood.
Mr. Manshel is the author of Learning from Bryant Park: Revitalizing Cities, Towns and Public Spaces, published in 2020 by Rutgers University Press. For 10 years Mr. Manshel was Associate Director and Counsel at the Bryant Park Restoration Corporation (conceptualizing and successfully implementing many of its most noted programs including its performances, the film series and the construction and leasing of the Bryant Park Grill) and General Counsel and Director of Public Amenities to the Grand Central and 34th Street Partnerships (where he structured the first tax exempt BID bond issues, developed and leased the Pershing Square Café, negotiated site control for Herald and Greeley Squares, and created the horticulture, street vendor, newsrack and public toilet programs).
Prior to that he was a partner in the Real Estate Department of law firm Kalkines Arky Zall & Bernstein LLP (now Manatt Phelps & Phillips). He also served as Vice President of Finance and Administration at Barnard College. Mr. Manshel often assists organizations in revitalizing, planning and managing public spaces, works to strengthen not-for-profits’ governance and finances and blogs about downtown and public space revitalization. He holds Juris Doctor and Master of Business Administration degrees (with distinction) from New York University and a BA in Government (with honors) from Oberlin College.
Mr. Manshel plays the renaissance lute and the theorbo.
About David Rawle:
David Rawle is the retired founder of a Charleston-based marketing and communications firm representing national and international companies. He contributed significantly to the creation and success of several major Charleston institutions, including Kiawah Island, Daniel Island, Spoleto Festival USA, and the South Carolina Aquarium. David was the catalyst to creating Theodora Park, an acclaimed ‘pocket park’ in downtown Charleston, called “a beautifully tranquil public garden” by the New York Times and “a model for the future” by the Post and Courier. CLS members and friends may recall David’s standing-room-only presentation of his book, “What Matters.”

Workshop // Introduction to BookBinding
2023-05-12 09:30 - 13:00 | Charleston Library Society, 164 King Street, Charleston, SC, 29401, United States
Join our resident bookbinder and conservator, James Davis, to learn the art of hand bookbinding and walk away with your very own journal. Starting with paper, board, and thread, students will be instructed on the techniques and practices of constructing a well made blank book from scratch. Each journal will feature hand stitching and decorative marbled paper covers. Discussions will focus on the history of bookbinding and conservation techniques for preserving books within our libraries and museums.
All materials will be provided and no prior bookbinding experience is necessary. Please wear closed toed shoes and clothes you don’t mind getting a little messy or bring an apron if you have one.
Tickets are $275 for CLS members and $325 for guests.
To purchase tickets, click here or call 843-723-9912.

Saturday Story Time In The Rabbit Hole – Mother's Day
2023-05-13 10:00 - 11:00 | SC
Due to the high enthusiasm surrounding Story Time, we will be offering this to members only. To join the Library Society, click here.
Please join us for our beloved Story Time in the Rabbit Hole! During this hour long, kid-friendly program, children and their parents/caregivers can join Kenna, who led our CAMPS in the STACKS this summer. She will be reading in the Rabbit Hole and making an on-theme craft to bring home.
For this Story Time, Zora will read Mama, Do You Love Me by Barbara M. Joosse and the craft will be paper flowers!
Story Time will repeat every Tuesday and Wednesday at 3:30 pm and Saturday at 10:00 am – we hope to see you there!
To RSVP to this free event, please fill out the form below.

Story Time In The Rabbit Hole – Magical Things
2023-05-16 15:30 - 16:30 | SC
Due to the high enthusiasm surrounding Story Time, we will be offering this to members only. To join the Library Society, please click here.
Join us for our beloved Story Time in the Rabbit Hole! During this hour long, kid-friendly program, children and their parents/caregivers can join Zora, our incredible Childrens’ Library Coordinator. She will be reading in the Rabbit Hole and making an on-theme craft to bring home.
For this Story Time, Zora will read Julián Is a Mermaid by Jessica Love and the craft will be magic wands!
Story Time will repeat every Tuesday and Wednesday at 3:30 pm and Saturday at 10:00 am – we hope to see you there!
To RSVP to this free event, please fill out the form below.
