The College of Information and Communications has announced a partnership with USC Press to support the reprinting of select Young Palmetto Books. The books will be available for purchase at the South Carolina State Fair, Oct. 8-19.

Young Palmetto Books are educational resources for developing reading skills and supporting social science curricula focusing on the history, culture and nature of South Carolina. Many of these books are in family collections, and it has been a priority at USC Press to keep them in print. With high production costs, USC Press needed a partner to help with individual book budgets. With CIC and Cocky’s Reading Express support, all Young Palmetto Books titles will remain in print and available to children and educators. Several YPB titles will be available for purchase at the SC State Fair

“The founding impetus for Young Palmetto Books was to support strong reading habits in children and to encourage full-family literacy,” says Michael J. McGandy, director of University of South Carolina Press. “USC Press is grateful to USC College of Information and Communications Dean Tom Reichert, for continuing this partnership so as to ensure that all Young Palmetto Books titles remain in print and are available to children across South Carolina.”

“As the college that houses the School of Information Science and Cocky’s Reading Express, we are compelled to support important educational material for children of all ages,” says Reichert. “Young Palmetto Books include a wide collection of books that encourage and inspire children to read and that is mission-critical to our college.”