Orangeburg County's population stands well over 90,000. Nearly a third of you are checking a book out of the county library every month. The others are reading magazines and newspapers, or clicking on anything that happens to be on TV. You're missing some exciting reading.
Warren Yarborough isn't. He gets a book a week and just finished "Rhett Butler's People."
"I was afraid it might be a corny historical romance, but not at all. It tells some amazing facts about the slave trade between Charleston and the Caribbean Islands before THE WAR. Ole Rhett is a very amazing guy."
"Another one that came out last year is called 'The Anatomist.' It tells the story of Englishman Henry Grey who in 1854 wrote the first great medical book about dissecting human bodies and studying the organs."
The TV show has his name, nothing else.
"In medieval times, doctors were forbidden by law to perform such studies. A few, determined to find out, resorted to hiring grave robbers to dig up and steal bodies. It's a hard book to put down."
50 degrees below
Joanne (Mrs. James) Broad, whose favorite author is Janet Evanovich, takes out two or three books a week. Most tell detective stories through the eyes of Stephanie Plum, a modern bounty hunter who tracks down people whom local courts have placed on bond, then disappear.
"The characters really come alive under Evanovich's hand," she says. "She makes them fun as well as fascinating. Her newest, 'Lean Mean 13,' because it is the 13th novel Stephanie has starred in, is as good as the first 12."
Joanne, who has lived in Orangeburg 40 years, came into the world in Alaska, our hugest, coldest, darkest state.
"I had a wonderful childhood up there," she says. "Fairbanks is about the size of Orangeburg. I still miss the four definite seasons we had compared to the 'cold summer' and 'hot summer' down here. We did have to go to school in the black, dark winter, sometimes when the thermometer registered 50 below. But summers were delightful. We picked and sold wildflowers and picked wild blueberries and made jam.
"We keep records on who has read our books, but it's not possible to say exactly how many people in Orangeburg County read one or even 50 books a year," says Landis Bozard, circulation supervisor. "At the end of our fiscal year last June, the total circulation stood at 232,050 books, movies and CDs. That's nearly three for every citizen of the county, and only a third of them patronize us.
"Our bookmobiles had over 10,000 picked up at their stops during the year and over 40,000 left the shelves at the Holly Hill, Elloree, Branchville and North branches.
"What kind of books are all these people reading? Number one is mysteries and general fiction. Nora Roberts and Patricia Cornwell still stand high in popularity. Murder mysteries and detective novels are third. Then there are biographies, science and science fiction and a dozen other categories.
"Just everybody reads or has read some of the Harry Potter series. John Grisham's true story, 'Playing for Pizza,' about an American third-string quarterback joining the Italian Nation Football League is getting dozens of requests.
"Others are: 'Double Cross' by James Patterson, about a killer who brags about his murders on his Web site; and 'T Is For Trespass' by Sue Grafton, about a woman who has stolen a nurse's identity in order to take advantage of an elderly neighbor."
"I like books about ocean adventures and exploration," says E. G. Livingston. "Robert Ludlum, who wrote 'The Bourne Ultimatum', has a new one out, 'Treasure of Kahn' about the discovery of an ancient ship found in the middle of the Sahara Desert. It became stranded there many centuries ago when the streams dried up. His unraveling of its history fascinated me."
Susan Livingston, circulation assistant, says, "The more popular one of these best sellers becomes, the more copies we order.
"We've got something new for our regular readers who keep up with the latest books, our 'Bestsellers Club.' After joining, you're placed on the 'hold' list for the titles and authors you select. You can choose up to 15. We'll call as they become available. About 150 library members are already on it."
Paula Paul, library director, says: "It gives us so much pleasure to see people come and use all these things we offer. A number of men arrive every day to devour our wide selection of newspapers. People are always enjoying the 'easy chair' magazine section. And often, every one of the machines in the computer room has a student or correspondent working at it."
"We try to accommodate everyone even if occasionally we get a request we can't fill," says Susan. "Not long go, a lady came up to the desk and asked, do you have 'To Kill a Hummingbird?'"
Retired editor and public relations executive Thomas Langford's column is titled "Some Edisto Stories." Let him know if you have stories to share: 803-534-2097.