Charleston Library Society

Music at the Library: CSO Holiday Strings Ensemble
2015-12-17 19:00 - 20:00 (America/New_York) | SC
Our own Charleston Symphony Orchestra musicians join us again to get us in the spirit of the Christmas and Chanukah holidays. This year we will be entertained by a string ensemble for this always memorable evening concert.
For tickets, please call (843) 723-7528 or visit www.charlestonsymphony.org

Jon Meacham: Destiny and Power
2015-12-18 18:00 - 19:00
To purchase tickets, click here or call (843) 723-9912.
The format for this event will be an interview/discussion with Jon Meacham and John Huey, former Editor-in-Chief at Time, Inc, who got his start as a reporter at The Atlanta Constitution before heading to The Wall Street Journal and then Time Inc. It will be a lively, entertaining opportunity to see and hear two great minds discuss Bush ’41.
The evening will begin at 6:00 and will be followed by an opportunity to have a glass of wine with the author at the Library. Tickets can be purchased for $65, which will include a signed bookplate and copy of Destiny and Power.
In this brilliant biography, Jon Meacham, the Pulitzer Prize–winning author, chronicles the life of George Herbert Walker Bush. Drawing on President Bush’s personal diaries, on the diaries of his wife, Barbara, and on extraordinary access to the forty-first president and his family, Meacham paints an intimate and surprising portrait of an intensely private man who led the nation through tumultuous times. From the Oval Office to Camp David, from his study in the private quarters of the White House to Air Force One, from the fall of the Berlin Wall to the first Gulf War to the end of Communism, Destiny and Power charts the thoughts, decisions, and emotions of a modern president who may have been the last of his kind. This is the human story of a man who was, like the nation he led, at once noble and flawed.
His was one of the great American lives. Born into a loving, privileged, and competitive family, Bush joined the navy on his eighteenth birthday and at age twenty was shot down on a combat mission over the Pacific. He married young, started a family, and resisted pressure to go to Wall Street, striking out for the adventurous world of Texas oil. Over the course of three decades, Bush would rise from the chairmanship of his county Republican Party to serve as congressman, ambassador to the United Nations, head of the Republican National Committee, envoy to China, director of Central Intelligence, vice president under Ronald Reagan, and, finally, president of the United States. In retirement he became the first president since John Adams to see his son win the ultimate prize in American politics.
With access not only to the Bush diaries but, through extensive interviews, to the former president himself, Meacham presents Bush’s candid assessments of many of the critical figures of the age, ranging from Richard Nixon to Nancy Reagan; Mao to Mikhail Gorbachev; Dick Cheney to Donald Rumsfeld; Henry Kissinger to Bill Clinton. Here is high politics as it really is but as we rarely see it.
From the Pacific to the presidency, Destiny and Power charts the vicissitudes of the life of this quietly compelling American original. Meacham sheds new light on the rise of the right wing in the Republican Party, a shift that signaled the beginning of the end of the center in American politics. Destiny and Power is an affecting portrait of a man who, driven by destiny and by duty, forever sought, ultimately, to put the country first.
Advance praise for Destiny and Power
“Altogether fair, insightful . . . a portrait made especially compelling by the author’s remarkable access to Bush’s private White House diaries. This is a timely, first-rate book!”—David McCullough
“What a spectacular and moving portrait this is—not only of a remarkably classy man but of the era that shaped him! It is hard to imagine a biographer more fitted than Jon Meacham to write what will surely be the definitive work on George Herbert Walker Bush.”—Doris Kearns Goodwin
“This astonishing book is both timely and timeless. . . . A fascinating and insightful portrayal of the life of an exemplary American citizen.”—Walter Isaacson
“Jon Meacham’s timely and intimate biography of George Bush 41 is a welcome reminder of this modest president’s call to service, from the cockpits of World War II to the Oval Office and the end of the Cold War.”—Tom Brokaw
“This riveting biography by the incomparable Jon Meacham gives George H. W. Bush his well-deserved place in history. Destiny and Power is full of surprises, revealing 41’s important role in scene after crucial historical scene of the past seven decades.”—Michael Beschloss

Speaker Series: Jerrold Mitchell
2016-01-07 18:00 - 19:00
Jerrold Mitchell, partner at the investment firm of Saltonstall & Co., emeritus trustee of the Boston Athenaeum, and a book collector for more than half a century, will explain how wine books have come to form a genre that almost defies cataloging. Ranging from the useful tasting notes of a professional and the biographical confessions of a winemaker to the claims of a physician that the beverage cures all known ills, Mitchell will describe how he came to collect wine books and will read from some of his favorite wine writers. In addition to the lecture, the Library Society will provide a selection of wines during a post-lecture reception.
This event will cost $10 for members and $15 for non-members. For tickets, please call 843-723-9912 or click here.

Speaker Series: Brian Hicks
2016-01-12 18:00 - 19:00
Come listen to Brian Hicks speak about the release of his new book The Mayor: Joe Riley and the Rise of Charleston.
Brian Hicks is The Post and Courier’s metro columnist and the author or co-author of six books. A native of Tennessee, he has covered Southern politics for more than 20 years, including turns as a statehouse correspondent in three states. His journalism has won more than two-dozen awards, including the S.C. Press Association’s Journalist of the Year in 1998. His column began appearing on the newspaper’s website in 2007 and the print edition in 2008. Hicks’ column has won a Green Eyeshade Award from the Society of Professional Journalists as well as Best Column and Best Humor Column honors from the S.C. Press Association. His books include “Toward the Setting Sun,” “Ghost Ship” and “Raising the Hunley,” co-authored with staff writer Schuyler Kropf. His latest, “City of Ruin: Charleston at War 1860-1865,” was

CLS Book Club
2016-01-13 10:00 - 11:00
The CLS Book Club returns for the first time in the New Year. This Book Club selection will be H is for Hawk by Helen Macdonald. The presentation will have a special guest speaker, Birds of Prey. They will have live hawks to show and discuss.
* NEW YORK TIMES BESTSELLER
* Winner of the 2014 Samuel Johnson Prize
* Named the Costa Book of the Year
* #1 bestseller in the UK
When Helen Macdonald’s father died suddenly on a London street, she was devastated. An experienced falconer—Helen had been captivated by hawks since childhood—she’d never before been tempted to train one of the most vicious predators, the goshawk. But in her grief, she saw that the goshawk’s fierce and feral temperament mirrored her own. Resolving to purchase and raise the deadly creature as a means to cope with her loss, she adopted Mabel, and turned to the guidance of The Once and Future King author T.H. White’s chronicle The Goshawk to begin her challenging endeavor. Projecting herself “in the hawk’s wild mind to tame her” tested the limits of Macdonald’s humanity and changed her life.
Heart-wrenching and humorous, this book is an unflinching account of bereavement and a unique look at the magnetism of an extraordinary beast, with a parallel examination of a legendary writer’s eccentric falconry. Obsession, madness, memory, myth, and history combine to achieve a distinctive blend of nature writing and memoir from an outstanding literary innovator.
To RSVP please call 843-723-9912 or email dreutter@charlestonlibrarysociety.org.

268th Annual Meeting
2016-01-19 17:00
January 19th at 5:00 PM, please join of us for the 268th Annual Meeting of the Charleston Library Society with guest speaker, Curtis Ravenel, Global Head of Sustainable Business and Finance for Bloomberg. Because of limited seating, please RSVP to (843) 723-9912 or rsvp@charlestonlibrarysociety.org.
Click here to read the Minutes from the 2015 Annual Meeting. The attached minutes will be approved during the 2016 Annual Meeting.

Annual Gala
2016-01-22 18:00 - 22:00
Annual Gala with guest speaker Darla Moore- Antiquarian Foundations of Capitalism
For details, call (843) 723-9912

NOT by the Book: Cornelia Pelzer Elwoo
2016-01-27 18:00 - 19:00
Cornelia Pelzer Elwood and D. Scott McLeod, PhD, will discuss their book Take Charge of Treatment for Your Child with Asperger’s (ASD), and how to create a personalized guide to success for home, school, and the community.
Take Charge of Treatment for Your Child with Asperger’s (ASD) combines personal examples, professional guidance, and practical tools to help parents meet challenges and maximize success for their children with ASD aged 5-14. Equipping parents with the knowledge and tools to become effective case managers for their child, this book provides straightforward instructions to create a guide to the child’s unique ASD profile. The book’s online component helps parents easily personalize checklists and worksheets to develop their guide – a comprehensive toolbox for home, school, and the community.
The individualized guide will:
· Provide information about the child’s unique profile for anyone who needs it
· Serve as a teaching template for the child’s teachers and support team, with effective tools and strategies to use with him or her
· Act as a case management road map to help parents support their child and collaborate with teachers and service providers
· Be an instruction booklet for the child, helping him or her to thrive in every environment
Cornelia Pelzer Elwood is the mother of two sons, one of whom has Asperger’s Syndrome. She received her BA from Vanderbilt University, trained as a life coach, and earned a Certificate in Autism Spectrum Disorders from Antioch University New England. She has many years of experience collaborating with her son’s providers and interacting closely with his schools. She is based in the Boston area of Massachusetts.
D. Scott McLeod, PhD is the Executive Director of the Massachusetts General Hospital Aspire Program (www.massgeneral.org/children/Aspire), clinical instructor of psychology for Harvard Medical School, and clinical psychologist for individuals with autism spectrum disorders and their families in his private practice in Wellesley, Massachusetts, USA. He obtained his PhD in clinical psychology from Boston University.

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Brazilian Carnival at the Library
2016-02-09 19:30 - 21:00
A Brazilian combo, Porto Seguro, with guest vocalist, Ann Caldwell present a tour of Brazilian music, culture and Carnival traditions at the Charleston Library Society. Join the fun on Tuesday, February 9 at 7:30 for Mardi Gras — the last night of Carnival week — and experience the colorful diversity of the Brazilian celebration. Ann Caldwell and Porto Seguro will perform a concert of Brazilian Choro, Bossa Nova and Samba, supported by images from throughout Brazil. The evening will culminate in a reception with caipirinhas (Brazil’s national drink), samba dancing, more music and the drumming of Capoeira Charleston.
Tickets for this event are $25 for members, $35 for nonmembers, and $10 for students (with valid ID). To purchase call 843-723-9912 or click here.
Guest vocalist, Ann Caldwell, beloved in the Charleston area for her virtuosic jazz chops and leadership of the Magnolia Singers, has the quiet energy of a windmill yet the soulful voice and power of a locomotive. Ann’s rich, organic sound wraps around a note, then takes it and the listener to a different space in time. Ann brings a unique rhythm to every, beat and word. Ann will lend her vocal stylings to some of Brazil’s best known samba and bossa classics.
Porto Seguro is four talented musicians from diverse backgrounds playing three musical styles considered the roots of Brazilian jazz: choro, bossa nova andsamba. Choro, originating from the early 20th century, combines Afro-Brazilian and European sounds into a happy-go-lucky mix that simply makes you want to smile. Bossa nova (think Tom Jobim, João Gilberto and Stan Getz) and put Brazilian music front and center on the world stage in the 1950’s, but choro was the first true Brazilian pop music. Almost all the music played during the Rio Carnival is samba, a uniquely Brazilian dance form originating from Afro-Brazilians. The word samba comes from the Angolan world semba referring to a type of ritual music. The word had a variety of meanings to the African slaves brought to Brazil during the 17th, 18th and 19th centuries. It meant to pray or invoke the spirits of the ancestors and the gods of the African Pantheon. As a noun, it could mean a complaint, a cry, or something like “the blues”.
All three styles present a distinctively Brazilian combination of bravado, laid-back vibe, rhythm and soul. They require a delicate balance between expert instrumental technique and the ability to ease into the groove. Members, Susan Conant, flutes; John Holenko, mandolin; Tom Noren, guitar and Jonathan Kennedy, bass provide just that. Their entertaining and informative program explores a range of moods and instrumentations. Audiences rave about their performances which have occurred in both quiet indoor listening rooms and at outdoor community picnics.
“The concert last night was simply amazing. There must have been 200 people and they stayed and stayed.”
“The whole evening was magical.”
“It was a wonderful night for sure. The music was great, the weather perfect and even my kids had a lot of fun.”
Porto Seguro’s members hail from diverse backgrounds but have one important quality in common — they are all devoted to making excellent music. Each member of the group brings a different perspective and the result is a kind of cross-cultural sharing that produces a unique but cohesive blend of Brazilian music with an American twist. The players are all top notch and the music sublime.
Capoeira Charleston is a fun and diverse group of Capoeira and Brazilian dance enthusiasts led by professor Quiexo. Capoeira (pronounced “cop-o-way-rah”) is an extraordinary and unique martial art that finds its origins among the African slaves in Brazil. It combines self-defense, acrobatics, dance, music and song. Its martial aspects began developing in the 16th and 17th centuries, as a means of protection by the slaves from their owners. It was consequently banned, and became hidden in a dance; it was ‘played’ within a circle of onlookers and musicians using percussive and stringed instruments- primarily the berimbau, a stringed bow-like instrument from Angola. It was in the circle (a roda in Portuguese) where highly skilled capoeristas performed their art using a system of kicks, leg sweeps, and flips.

Speaker Series: Aidan Donnelley Rowley
2016-02-15 18:00 - 19:00
Join us for Aidan Donnelley Rowley’s discussion of her highly anticipated novel, The Ramblers.
A gorgeous and absorbing novel, The Ramblers follows of a trio of confused souls struggling to find themselves and the way forward in their lives, set against the spectacular backdrop of contemporary New York City. During the course of one fateful Thanksgiving week, a time when emotions run high and being with family can be a mixed blessing, Aidan Donnelley Rowley’s sharply defined characters explore the moments when decisions are deliberately made, choices accepted, and pasts reconciled.
Clio Marsh, whose birdwatching walks through Central Park are mentioned in New York Magazine, is taking her first tentative steps towards a relationship while also looking back to the secrets of her broken childhood. Her best friend, Smith Anderson, the seemingly-perfect daughter of one of New York’s wealthiest families, organizes the lives of others as her own has fallen apart. And Tate Pennington has returned to the city, heartbroken but determined to move ahead with his artistic dreams.
Rambling through the emotional chaos of their lives, this trio learns to let go of the past, to make room for the future and the uncertainty and promise that it holds. The Ramblers is a love letter to New York City—an accomplished, sumptuous novel about fate, loss, hope, birds, friendship, love, the wonders of the natural world and the mysteries of the human spirit.

NOT By the Book: Geoffrey Cowan
2016-02-19 18:00 - 19:00
Tickets are $20 for members and $25 for nonmembers. For tickets, please call (843)723-9912 or click here.
Throughout his career, Geoffrey Cowan has been an important force across a spectrum of communication and public policy arenas – as a lawyer, academic administrator, government official, best-selling author, distinguished professor, non-profit executive, and Emmy Award-winning producer. He is the author of new book Let the People Rule: Theodore Roosevelt and the Birth of the Presidential Primary.
Let the People Rule tells the exhilarating story of the four-month campaign that changed American politics forever. In 1912 Theodore Roosevelt came out of retirement to challenge his close friend and handpicked successor, William Howard Taft, for the Republican Party nomination. To overcome the power of the incumbent, TR seized on the idea of presidential primaries, telling bosses everywhere to “Let the People Rule.”

NOT By the Book: Peter Del Tredici
2016-02-22 12:00 - 13:00
Everything You Ever Wanted to Know About Ginkgo, But Were Afraid to Ask
Dr. Peter Del Tredici
Senior Research Scientist, Arnold Arboretum
Join Dr. Peter Del Tredici of Harvard University for an in-depth look at one of the most ancient and fascinating trees on the planet. Peter has been studying the natural history and evolution of this tree for thirty years and is a world authority on the species. His travels have taken him to remote areas in eastern and southwestern China in search of wild-growing Ginkgos. Peter is an authority on the cultivation of the Ginkgo for ornamental as well as medicinal purposes and works as a consultant for the 1,000-acre Ginkgo plantation in Sumter, South Carolina, that produces leaves used in the production of an extract that people take to improve brain function

NOT by the Book: Dr. Wayne Weart
2016-02-23 18:00 - 19:00
The Art and Tools of the Apothecary
C. Wayne Weart, Pharm D.
Professor Emeritus, College of Pharmacy and Department of Family Medicine, MUSC
The presentation will look back over the last 150 plus years of the pharmacy profession with an emphasis on Charleston, SC, and Apothecary’s Hall, one of the oldest pharmacies in the US. Information on the origin of the name “Apothecary’s Hall” and the history of this historic Charleston pharmacy including photographs of the pharmacy when it was first given to the Charleston Museum in 1920’s will be presented. We will also show and describe many of the tools of the apothecary which were used to compound or prepare the medications that were prescribed prior to the development of the US Pharmaceutical Industry and the passage of the Pure Food and Drug Act of 1906. The presentation will also include photographs and discussion on many of the beautiful advertising pieces used around the turn of the 19th century including “Show Globes”, “Species Jars”, “Show Mortars” and Drug Trade Cards.
Dr. Weart is the Past President of the Waring Historical Library Society and past Board Member of the American Institute of the History of Pharmacy. He has been with MUSC since 1979 as a faculty member in the College of Pharmacy and Department of Family Medicine.

Music at the Library: Vynnytsky Recital
2016-02-25 19:00 - 20:00
Volodymyr Vynnytsky Piano Recital
The talented Vynnytsky rejoins us for a second season concert. Come chase away those February blahs as the team warms the hall and your hearts with magnificent music. This concert is always a crowd pleaser.
For tickets, please call (843) 723-9912 or click here.
TICKETS

Wide Angle Lunch Series- Season XII Season Pass
2016-03-01 10:00 - 2016-03-11 11:00
We offer you an hour of space in the center of your day. An hour to forget what’s going on at home, in the office, in your head, and re-focus. An energizing lunch, an expert’s insight into a new theme, a fresh perspective on a familiar topic. Emerge from the peaceful surrounds of the Charleston Library Society rested, recharged, and perhaps also inspired.
It’s hard to believe that the WAL Series is already presenting its twelfth series. This spring we continue to expand horizons and seek new ways to challenge our assumptions.
In Series XII, the overarching theme will be
“Rebranding Yourself, Your Career, or Your Company.”
Tickets for a single event are $20 for members and $25 for nonmembers.
With purchase of a ticket you receive admittance and lunch.
Season passes: $85 for members and $110 for nonmembers.
For season pass tickets, please click here or call (843) 723-9912.

Speaker Series: Matthew Heimer
2016-03-10 18:00 - 19:00
Keeping Up With Generation iPhone
$10 members, $15 nonmembers- For tickets, please call (843) 723-9912 or click here.
How Fortune and its readers are adapting to the rise of the millennials.
In 2015, millennials – loosely defined as adults born after 1980 – became the largest generation in the American labor force. The demographic dominance of this highly educated, tech-savvy and often difficult-to-manage group, 53 million strong, has created tremendous opportunities and daunting challenges for the executives and corporate leaders who subscribe to Fortune. And of course, they also pose challenges to Fortune itself, as the venerable publication aims to woo millennials as an audience and deliver news and analysis to them the way they like it (ideally, short, fast and via their iPhones).
Fortune senior editor Matt Heimer (a Gen X-er who manages several millennials, and actually likes them) shares some insights about how the maturing of a new generation is shaping both what Fortune chooses to cover and how it covers it.
Matthew Heimer is the senior Editor at Fortune Magazine, editing features and overseeing the investing section. Prior to his appointment at Fortune, Matt was a senior editor at MarketWatch, where he edited long-form features and multimedia projects helped launch and oversee the website’s revamped retirement and personal-finance coverage. A graduate of Yale University and past member of the a Capella singing group, the Whiffenpoofs, Heimer’s talent are far from limited. He hold’s a master’s degree in law and journalism from Yale Law School, where he was a Knight Fellow. Notably, in addition to having close ties to Charleston, he’s also a former contestant on “Jeopardy!” – so be sure to phrase your welcome messages to him in the form of a question.

Wide Angle Lunch Series: Lydia Fenet
2016-03-11 12:30 - 13:30
The Art of the Sell
Mix up your lunch break — Christie’s International Director of Strategic Partnerships, Senior Vice President, Lydia Fennet will kick off our Spring 2016 Wide Angle Lunch Series. She will discuss the incredibly dynamic world of art selling and buying when dealing with celebrities of great magnitude. Lunch will be provided.
$20 members, $25 nonmembers
For tickets, please call (843) 723-9912 or click here.

Music at the Library: Ann Caldwell
2016-03-17 19:00 - 20:00
Ann Caldwell is a vocalist and performing artist who sings songs about love and loss; heartache and heaven. Ann has been performing as a fixture on the Charleston music scene for more than two decades. “Caldwell is a wide-ranging alto-contralto… Her roots are in Negro spirituals, church music and pop, and she has emerged … as a major jazz voice with plenty of body and soul.” The late Jack McCray- Post and Courier
Come experience an evening of Jazz from one of Charleston’s most talented vocalists.
For tickets, please call (843) 723-9912 or click here.
TICKETS

Movie Night: Marilyn & Manhattans
2016-03-22 19:00 - 21:00
Movie Night is returning to the Library Society! Come enjoy our screening of the classic, Some Like It Hot (1959), starring Marilyn Monroe, while enjoying a Manhattan and some light snacks.
After witnessing a Mafia murder, slick saxophone player Joe (Tony Curtis) and his long-suffering buddy, Jerry (Jack Lemmon), improvise a quick plan to escape from Chicago with their lives. Disguising themselves as women, they join an all-female jazz band and hop a train bound for sunny Florida. While Joe pretends to be a millionaire to win the band’s sexy singer, Sugar (Marilyn Monroe), Jerry finds himself pursued by a real millionaire (Joe E. Brown) as things heat up and the mobsters close in.
Purchase of a ticket will include admittance and one complimentary Manhattan. Tickets are $20 for members and $25 for nonmembers.
Tickets will go fast for this fantastic event so, RSVP today by calling 843-723-9912 or click here.

CLS Book Club
2016-03-30 10:00 - 11:30
Join the CLS Book Club for our discussion of Ta-Nehesi Coates’ Between the World and Me. Dr. Patricia Williams Lessane, PhD, Executive Director of the Avery Research Center (and CLS Board Member) will present a lecture, and lead the book club’s follow-up discussion on this National Book Award winning work of non-fiction.
Please remember to RSVP for this event. To RSVP, please call 843-723-9912 or email dreutter@charlestonlibrarysociety.org

Wide Angle Lunch Series: John Tecklenburg
2016-03-30 12:30 - 13:30
For Tickets, please click here or call (843) 723-9912.
Sworn-in two months ago, Mayor John Tecklenburg is in the midst of creating his own “new vision for Charleston.” He has made it a priority to focus on some of the problems that have arisen because of Charleston’s enormous success and popularity. Mayor Tecklenburg will discuss what he sees in the Holy City’s future.

Wide Angle Lunch Series: Cleary Simpson
2016-04-05 12:30 - 13:30
For tickets, please click here or call (843) 723-9912
Cleary Simpson, Senior Vice President of MediaLink, has three decades of experience in media general management, sales and marketing, business development, partnerships and alliances, brand management, new market identification and product development. Working with major companies such as Johnson & Johnson, Wal-Mart, Campbell’s, McDonald’s, and Cadbury, Ms. Simpson isn’t afraid of reworking known brands. Her next task will be to rebrand Playboy Magazine.

National Audubon Society Photography Awards Exhibition
2016-04-06 18:00 - 19:00
Beautiful photography of birds in their habitats
The Library Society will host Audubon South Carolina and the Charleston Audubon Society for a reception and talk to honor the National Audubon Society Photography Awards.
The winning photographs for this year’s contest have recently been on exhibit at the Smithsonian National Museum of Natural History, and the collection will now tour the country. This year’s award winner, Don Wuori of Columbia, South Carolina, will discuss his photography and the exhibit will be on display in the Main Reading Room until April 11, 2016.
Join us to enjoy beautiful photographs, a lovely reception and an opportunity to learn more about the Audubon Society.
For tickets, call 843-462-2150 or click here.

Founders Award with Martha Ingram
2016-04-07 18:00 - 19:00
2016 Founders Award Honoring Martha Ingram
For tickets, please call (843) 723-9912 or click here.
$75 members, $100 nonmembers
The Founders Award was established by the Trustees of the Charleston Library Society to recognize an institution or individual who has helped us appreciate and understand our past and its relationship to the future. The award honors the 19 young men who collaborated in 1748 to promote knowledge and shared learning by establishing the Library Society, one of America’s earliest centers of community learning, the 2nd oldest circulating library in America, and the oldest cultural institution in the South.
Martha Robinson Rivers Ingram was born in Charleston and since 1995, she has served as Chairman of Ingram Industries in Nashville, Tennessee. While she is a respected executive in the corporate world, she is even better known for her passion for the arts and her extraordinary philanthropy to education and the arts in Nashville. Here in Charleston, she serves on the board of the Spoleto Festival USA. More significantly, her commitment to launch the complete renovation of the Gaillard Performance Center will provide a remarkably beautiful space “where creativity will be nurtured and a building where people will come together in the sharing of endeavors, ideas, and dreams.” Given that the young founders of the Library Society sought to establish an organization to promote these same goals, it is especially appropriate that we honor Mrs. Rivers during the year that the Gaillard reopens.

Music at the Library: Chamber Music Charleston Returns
2016-04-10 15:00 - 16:00
Chamber Music Charleston – Music for Winds & Piano: Bizet, Piazzolla & Mozart
An encore of one of the best chamber music organizations in Charleston. It always a delight to host Bassoonist Sandra Nikolayevs, leader of CMC, to our venue. Her group never fails to enrapture and entertain. Flutist Regina Helcher Yost, clarinetist Charles Messersmith and pianist Ghadi Shayban join Ms. Nikolajevs in music by Piazzolla, Bizet and Mozart.
For tickets, please call (843) 723-9912 or click here.
TICKETS

Awful Good: Tenzin Chopak & Nicholas Walker
2016-04-10 18:00 - 19:00
Join the Charleston Library Society in welcoming two musical geniuses, Tenzin Chopak & Nicholas Walker, for a unique and provoking concert on April’s Second Sunday at 6:00PM. This is a free concert open to the public, so bring friends and family to experience a beautiful performance in historic setting.
To RSVP, call 843-723-9912 or email dreutter@charlestonlibrarysociety.org

“All told, this is a masterful work, both in terms of words and music. Tenzin Chopak has set a high bar, and cleared it with consummate ease.” – Jonathan Hochberg, Finger Lakes Music Press
“Tenzin Chopak and company come up with another chamber-folk masterpiece… weaving an almost mystical spell for Chopak’s compelling vocals.” Jim Catalano – Ithaca Journal
“Tenzin Chopak creates a work of strong and potent natural beauty. Fluid grace, swelling waves of sound, gentle harmonies and thoughtful words… something to be truly appreciated and enjoyed.” Tracey Craig – Rootabaga Boogie
Nicholas Walker is a musical omnivore, a musician who brings a broad range of training and experience to the double bass – classical and jazz, modern and baroque, concertos, solo recitals, chamber ensembles, and orchestral work. His enthusiasm and aptitude transcend arbitrary musical boundaries. Walker is an Associate Professor of Music at Ithaca College, and is President-Elect of the International Society of Bassists, and Artistic Director/Convention Chair for the 50th Anniversary ISB convention in Ithaca in 2017. Walker leads a rewarding career as a freelance musician, composer, and educator. Walker has given masterclasses and performances in over a dozen countries, including guest residencies at leading conservatories in the U.S.A., Seoul, Amsterdam, the Hague, Oslo, Hanover, Leipzig, Rostock, Adelaide, St. Petersburg, and Beijing. As an orchestral musician, Walker has freelanced with the Oslo Philharmonic, the National Arts Center Orchestra of Canada, the Handel & Haydn Society Orchestra, and the St. Petersburg Chamber Philharmonic. As a soloist he has premiered a concerto by Dana Wilson, and was featured at Berlin Bass 2010, several International Society of Bassist Conventions, Michaelstein Kaleidoskop, and the Beijing International Double Bass Festival. A Fulbright Scholar, Walker has diplomas from Rice University, the Nadia Boulanger Conservatoire de Paris, and Stony Brook University; earning his Doctorate in early music at Stony Brook University in 2004. Walker has been featured on a dozen CDs, three as a leader, and has frequently been heard on NPR’s Performance Today. As a composer Walker has written two double-bass concertos, several chamber works, as well as solo bass pieces, one of which won first prize winner in the ISB Composition Competition.
Tenzin Chopak (vocals, guitar, piano), is an artist and songwriter now based in Ithaca, NY. The son of a minister and an artist, Tenzin learned to love music in his father’s church in Oak Ridge, Tennessee. He studied voice, piano, and guitar throughout his childhood, performing his original music frequently while dreaming of making it a full time profession. In 1999, after some years of a burgeoning devotion to the study of Tibetan language and religion, he traveled to North India. It was during his eight month stay there that he was given the name “Tenzin Chopak”. For the following twelve years, while continuing his study of Tibetan in upstate, NY, Tenzin kept music a quiet if not hidden part of his life. In late 2011 he began to write and perform publicly again. Teaming up with Richie Stearns, Rosie Newton, Eric Aceto, Harry Aceto, and Ethan Jodziewicz, he formed Rockwood Ferry as a vehicle for his music. Since then he has been the driving force behind two Rockwood Ferry albums, composed music for film, and has rapidly gained recognition for his songwriting, singing, and for his presence and joyful abandon in live performance. Tenzin presents his work beyond genre with something akin to pure theater, evoking the primal feeling and texture of universality that is present in roots traditions, yet with a charged vulnerability and intimacy in both his dynamic musicality and elegant lyricism.

Introduction to Leather Binding
2016-04-19 17:30 - 20:30
Introduction to Leather Binding

April 19th, 21st, 26th, and 28th from 5:30pm-8:30pm

Cost: $300 students, $350 members, $400 nonmembers – all materials included
No experience necessary.
Learn to make a book that can be judged by its cover! In this four-session workshop, students will learn the basics of bookbinding while constructing a beautiful ¾-leather journal with a leather spine, leather corners, and either cloth or marbled paper sides. Beginning with book anatomy, the class will cover the proper techniques for all the basic skills that go into binding a functional and attractive book, including folding, cutting with precision, sewing, covering, and time permitting, gold tooling, or finishing. This style of binding was very popular in the early 19th century, and still makes for an attractive book today!
For more information or to register, please contact Brien Beidler at bbeidler@charlestonlibrarysociety.org, or call 843 723 9912.
To purchase your tickets click here
An example of the journal you will be making is pictured below.

Wide Angle Lunch Series: Ed Bell
2016-04-21 12:30 - 13:30
For tickets, please click here or call (843) 723-9912
President and part-owner of the Charleston School of Law, Mr. Bell will share his perspectives on the opportunities and challenges he has faced since he began his position as President. Focused on changing the school from a for-profit business model to a non-profit with the motto “For the good of the people” has not been an easy task.
However, Mr. Bell’s vision and enthusiasm has made him the man for this job.

Music at the Library: Charleston Renaissance Ensemble
2016-04-21 19:00 - 20:00
Charleston Renaissance Ensemble –
Celebrate Shakespeare’s Birthda with music and brilliant commentary by Elizabeth Kirkland Cahill (Betsy), Rhodes Scholar and co-author of Shakespeare Alive!
Seven friends with a common devotion to Early Music has evolved into an ensemble of professional and semi-professional singers whose perennially popular concerts frequently draw standing-room-only crowds. Celebrating the ethereal sounds; from chant, to polyphony, to madrigals; as a tribute to the birthday of The Bard, this energetic and entertaining group returns for the annual celebration.
For tickets, please call (843) 723-9912 or click here.
TICKETS

Lowcountry Giving Day
2016-05-03 09:00 - 17:00
This is a day of celebration and we want everyone to get in on the fun. Last year, millions of dollars were raised. In 2016, nonprofit participation has increased more than 75% and we are expecting more communtity engagement and participation than ever before.
Now there is a new way to give- anyone can donate at text.gives/clsgive or by texting ‘clsgive’ to 33923.
