Blazing the Way: The WPA Library Service Demonstration Project in South Carolina

In 1935 the Works Progress Administration (WPA) began sponsoring nationwide library demonstration projects designed to encourage the development of library service to underserved populations while simultaneously providing temporary work for the unemployed. This paper reviews the WPA's statewide library program in South Carolina and analyzes the impact it had on public library development in the state. Prior to the WPA, South Carolina had no funded state library agency and only three of forty-six counties had countywide library service. Although the statewide library demonstration project was not entirely successful in all of its activities, the WPA project greatly improved public library conditions in the state. Libraries were started or expanded, bookmobile service was initiated, and library service to rural and African-American citizens was enhanced. When the project ended in 1943, South Carolina had twelve publicly funded county libraries, one regional library, and a funded state library agency.