The Sam Nickles Memorial Library
Welcome to the Sam Nickles Memorial Library! The library is named after Sam Nickles, an activist and young gay man from Greenwood, SC, who died from AIDS in 1995. Our library aims to support the mission and vision of the Harriet Hancock Center by providing a thoughtful collection that “supports, educates, and empowers the LGBTQ+ community and its allies.” We also aim to cultivate an interest in lifelong learning and reading. Our library is a diverse collection of LGBTQ+ focused literature. We strive to have perspectives from every letter in our community.
About Sam Nickles
Samuel Lindsay Nickles was born in Hodges, SC to W.A. “Al” and Martha Jean Anderson Nickles of Hodges, SC, where his father served many years as the Mayor. He graduated from USC and worked at Policy Management Systems where he was named Outstanding Employee of the year in 1989. He was a member of Columbia’s Unitarian Universalist Congregation, was co-founder of ‘AmPositive BePositive’ and a sustaining member of the Gay and Lesbian Community Center. He passed away at the age of 35 on July 16, 1995.
FAQ’s
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Come during open hours and a trained center volunteer can get you set up with an account! You have to be a SC resident, and you will need to bring an ID with you (government-issued, work, school, etc). To see our drop-in hours, visit our community calendar.
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Yes! Once you have a library account set up, you can check out books to take with you.
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Books check out for 30 days, and you can renew them two more times, unless someone else places a hold on them.
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You can browse books by searching in our online catalog or in person! We have sections for children, middle grade, young adult, and adult books. Our adult nonfiction books are also sorted into sections by topic for easier browsing.
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All book donations have to be preapproved by the librarian. We have a very small space and unfortunately cannot take all the books that people are willing to share with us, so we have to be very selective about accepting donations. Please email our librarian with the book title, author, and subject for any books you are interested in donating (library@harriethancockcenter.org)
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We look for high quality books with LGBTQ+ focus. Please note that all book donations have to be preapproved by the librarian. Check out our wishlist if you’re interested in donating a book!
About the Librarian
Hi there! My name is Carolyn, and I’m a student at USC. I’ve been working and volunteering in libraries since I was in middle school, which is when I discovered my love for them. If you have any questions, feel free to reach out! library@harriethancockcenter.org