The unfortunate incidents in Boston two weeks ago prevented a high profile launch of the Digital Public Library of America scheduled at the Boston Public Library. Instead, the Digital Public Library of America quietly appeared on the Internet on April 18.

The DPLA is designed to establish a national network out of the over forty state/regional digital libraries and large digital libraries in the US, bringing together digitized content from across the country into a single access point for end users, and an open platform for developers.  The DPLA web address looks a little different: http://dp.la/ but the concept itself is a little different.

The South Carolina Digital Library is one of seven service hubs identified for the initial project. Beaufort County Library has been associated with the South Carolina Digital Library since 2004. The library was asked to be a pilot project to test whether the inclusion of digital materials from public libraries into the South Carolina Digital Library was feasible.  The answer was a resounding “Yes.”

Since 2004, our library has added 848 images to the South Carolina Digital Library. Because the South Carolina Digital Library is a regional hub for the Digital Public Library of America, and our library is a contributor to the South Carolina Digital Library, we are in turn a contributor to the just launched Digital Public Library of America.

The Beaufort District Collection of the Beaufort County Library is proud to have some of our holdings represented in this ground-breaking national project.  Be sure to search “Beaufort, SC” on the DPLA homepage.