The South Carolina State Library Talking Book Services lost a beloved team member on March 16th with the passing of Todd Ferguson.
Todd joined us after a full career with S.C. state government, and he quickly became indispensable to the entire S.C. State Library operation. Though his first day at work here was the day before the Covid lockdown, Todd dove into his new duties and kept the library’s mail services functioning safely throughout that difficult period. Even more impressive was his overall positive approach to the unprecedented time.
As coordinator for the new Download-on-Demand service for Talking Book patrons, Todd touched nearly every single cartridge that went out to patrons from our facility. He arrived before anyone else each morning to download books from patrons’ queues onto cartridges and print mailing labels for the blue TBS mailing containers for morning mail collection. He was a troubleshooter, a conscientious professional, and the first person to volunteer whenever anyone needed an extra hand anywhere in the agency.
Though he was a humble and self-effacing man, Todd had a lot of interesting stories to tell from his very interesting life. Patrons may remember him from our “10 Questions with TBS” recorded interview last month in our patron newsletter when Todd told us that he liked to read and watch the History channel, that orcas are the coolest animal, and that he’d love to have had dinner with Ernest Hemingway in Key West.
It is always difficult to say goodbye too soon to a dear friend, and all of us here at the State Library and Talking Book Services will miss Todd greatly. We feel fortunate to have known him, and he will be long remembered as a cheerful and giving coworker, a devoted father, and a generous and considerate friend.