Kershaw County Library — Camden Branch
🏢 Kershaw County Library · Camden, South Carolina
Kershaw County Library — Camden Branch
In a city where Revolutionary War battles shaped a nation, the Camden Branch of the Kershaw County Library has anchored community learning on Broad Street since 1973 — carrying forward a library tradition rooted in a 1915 Carnegie grant and serving South Carolina's oldest inland town with free databases, digital lending, and an embedded Community Health Worker.
🕑 Library Hours
| Monday | 9am–5pm |
| Tuesday | 9am–7pm |
| Wednesday | 9am–5pm |
| Thursday | 9am–7pm |
| Friday | 9am–5pm |
| Saturday | 9am–5pm |
| Sunday | Closed |
Hours may vary on holidays; check the library site before visiting.
📍 Location, Contact & Directions
Address: 1304 Broad Street, Camden, SC 29020
Phone: (803) 425-1508
Website: kershawcountylibrary.org
Plus Code: 866X792V+26 (Camden, SC)
📱 Scan for directions
Point your phone camera at the code to open turn-by-turn directions in Google Maps.
👋 Use the Library Online
📖 About Kershaw County Library — Camden Branch
The Camden Branch is the flagship location of the Kershaw County Library, anchoring the system's three-branch network on Broad Street in the heart of South Carolina's oldest inland city — chartered in 1768. The library's roots trace to 1915, when a Carnegie grant funded the construction of a dedicated library building that served Camden for decades; that original Carnegie building now operates as the Camden Archives & Museum, one block north at 1314 Broad Street. In 1936 a separate WPA-era county library extended service to rural Kershaw County by bookmobile, and in 1970 the city and county systems merged. The current building at 1304 Broad Street — designed by Camden architect Henry D. Boykin to complement the neighborhood's colonial streetscape — was dedicated September 9, 1973. Today the branch serves as the county's main hub for books, digital resources, and community services, including a Growing Readers Center opened in 2023 and an embedded Community Health Worker who connects Kershaw County residents with healthcare, housing, and social services.
⭐ What makes this library special
- Main branch of the Kershaw County Library system, founded on the 1970 merger of Camden's Carnegie-era city library (1915 grant) and the WPA-era county library established in 1936
- Growing Readers Center (opened 2023): dedicated literacy space with private reading stations, Vox audio books, hands-on skills cards, and a community mural for emerging readers of all ages
- Embedded Community Health Worker (walk-in Tuesdays and Thursdays) — connecting Kershaw County residents to healthcare, food, housing, and social-service programs at no charge
- Part of SC LENDS — South Carolina's shared Evergreen catalog — giving cardholders borrowing access across 20+ SC library systems
- Access to DISCUS — South Carolina's Virtual Library — with 24/7 statewide databases covering magazines, journals, encyclopedias, and reference resources for all SC residents
📱 Digital Resources — Free with Your Library Card
Kershaw County cardholders can borrow and research free through South Carolina's statewide digital resources:
📚 Services
- Book, audiobook, ebook, magazine, and DVD checkout
- SC LENDS consortium borrowing across 20+ South Carolina library systems
- DISCUS statewide database access — magazines, journals, encyclopedias, reference resources
- Mobile hotspot (MiFi) checkout — home internet device up to 2 weeks
- South Carolina State Park Pass checkout — free day-entry to SC state parks
- Public computers (1-hour sessions) and free Wi-Fi inside and in parking lot
- Printing (B&W $0.15/page, color $0.50/page), copying, scanning, and outgoing fax ($1/page)
- Community Health Worker — free navigation of health, housing & social services (walk-in Tue/Thu)
- Growing Readers Center — private reading stations, Vox audio books, and hands-on literacy skills cards
- Homebound delivery service for patrons unable to visit
- Bookmobile and outreach van serving rural Kershaw County
- Interlibrary Loan (ILL) — request materials from libraries statewide and nationally
🎸 Programs
- Kershaw Community Quest — expanded summer reading program for children ages 0–12 (funded by Duke Energy and SC Arts Commission)
- Growing Readers Center — year-round drop-in literacy support for emerging readers of all ages
- Storytime — weekly storytimes for babies and young children
- Turning Pages SC (Literacy SC) — one-on-one adult literacy tutoring sessions
- Fitness and wellness classes (yoga, dance)
- Coffee and Current Events — adult community discussion program
- Monthly crafts, cultural programs, and book discussions
📍 Nearby Libraries in South Carolina
Distances are approximate straight-line miles from this library.
All libraries in Camden · Browse all South Carolina libraries →
❓ Frequently Asked Questions
Camden is famous as a Revolutionary War site — does the library have resources on that history?
The library provides access to DISCUS databases and the SC LENDS catalog with historical and genealogical materials relevant to Camden's Revolutionary War heritage, including the 1780 Battle of Camden and Battle of Hobkirk Hill. For primary-source research, the Camden Archives & Museum at 1314 Broad Street — one block north, housed in the original 1915 Carnegie library building — is the premier repository for Kershaw County and south-central South Carolina genealogy, holding microfilmed church records, cemetery surveys, maps, and documents spanning the historic Camden District.
What makes the Camden Branch building notable, and why is the original Carnegie building no longer the library?
The current building at 1304 Broad Street was designed by Camden architect Henry D. Boykin to complement the colonial-era architecture of the surrounding historic district and was dedicated September 9, 1973. It was built following the 1970 merger of Camden's city and county library systems — replacing both the original 1915 Carnegie library (which became the Camden Archives & Museum) and a separate WPA-era county library — to unite city and county services under one modern roof. Camden itself is South Carolina's oldest inland city, chartered in 1768, with more than 60 National Register–listed properties.
How does the library serve residents outside Camden city limits?
Kershaw County Library operates two additional branches — in Elgin (803-438-7881) and Bethune (803-310-6006) — plus a bookmobile and outreach van that travel to rural communities throughout the county, continuing a tradition begun with WPA bookmobile service in 1936. The library also lends MiFi mobile hotspots for up to two weeks and offers homebound delivery for patrons unable to visit any branch.
What is the Growing Readers Center and who can use it?
Opened in 2023 with funding from Duke Energy and the SC Arts Commission, the Growing Readers Center is a dedicated literacy space at the Camden Branch featuring private reading stations for focused practice, Vox audio books, hands-on literacy skills cards, and a community mural. It is designed for emerging readers of all ages — from children learning to read to adults building reading fluency — and is available as a drop-in resource during regular branch hours.
✎ Notice something out of date? Suggest a correction and we’ll verify and update it.