School librarians from elementary to high school across the School District of Pickens County have been awarded a prestigious grant from the South Carolina Council on the Holocaust. The grant provides much-needed resources to bolster Holocaust education in school libraries, ensuring students from kindergarten to grade 12 have access to invaluable nonfiction texts. 

This generous grant was made possible through the South Carolina Council on the Holocaust’s “35 for 35 Initiative,” which was launched to celebrate the 35th year of the council’s existence. Schools across the state are being selected to receive $500 worth of nonfiction books centered on the Holocaust for their library collections, helping to further Holocaust education efforts statewide.

This year, Emily Curry from Liberty Middle School, Tracy Brady from Gettys Middle School, Paige Cochrane from Easley High School, Tami Sickels from Pickens Elementary School, Dwane Valera from R.C. Edwards Middle School, Nikki Miller from Dacusville Middle School, Amy Mcguinn from Pickens Middle, and Lindsey Douglas from Daniel High School were among the grant recipients.

School District of Pickens County librarians’ commitment to connecting students with Holocaust nonfiction texts is among the council’s larger initiative that ensures over $17,000 worth of books will be distributed to 35 schools in South Carolina, including the School District of Pickens County, over the course of the 2023-2025 academic years. Each participating school has demonstrated a commitment to expanding Holocaust education by integrating these important resources into their libraries.

In Pickens County, the resources are available for student check-out in elementary and middle school, and high school librarians are also using the materials in collaboration with English II teachers who teach Elie Weisel’s memoir, Night, to both provide supplemental texts and expand the unit to include Holocaust research.

Scott Auspelmyer, Executive Director of the South Carolina Council on the Holocaust, shared the importance of this initiative, saying, “By equipping schools with nonfiction resources on the Holocaust, we are fostering a deeper understanding of history, human rights, and the atrocities of genocide. Our mission is to ensure that young learners have access to quality texts that support their education on the Holocaust.”

The South Carolina Council on the Holocaust, founded in 1989, works in collaboration with the state legislature and the South Carolina Department of Education. It focuses on promoting awareness of the Holocaust and honoring both the survivors and liberators who call South Carolina home. The council provides support for teacher training, educational programs, and Holocaust-related events across the state.