The Charleston Friends of the Library is a nonprofit organization that supports the Charleston County Public Library system. Friends of the Library raises money to fund more than 4,000 programs sponsored annually by the Library, including Summer Reading. To accomplish their goal of advocating for and enhancing the Library system, they provide opportunities for the community to invest in their public library through donations of time, money, and books.

This year, tens of thousands were helped with support from Charleston Friends of the Library. Young children learned to read; teens found a positive after-school environment; the unemployed developed job skills; workers received tax assistance; and others, who reached across language and cultural barriers, fulfilled personal passions. (Yes, a lot more than borrowing books goes on at our library). There is one place in Charleston, a village square, where everyone congregates equally—the public library.

The Charleston County Public Library was named one of the best library systems in the country in 2009.

• Sixteen branches, stretching from Edisto to McClellanville;
• Annually, the Library's circulation exceeds 3 million;
• Patron visits are above two million;
• Nearly 1.93 million reference questions are answered;
• More than 4,700 programs draw audiences of 147,500.

The Charleston County Public Library: We connect people to each other, to ideas, and to the larger world.

For more information, visit charlestonlibraryfriends.org.

To make sure your music, movie, video game, and book trades are donated to this cause, please write "Friends of the Library" in the I AM TRADING FOR box on your Shipping Form.