I can plug the reader into the USB and put the card into the reader. The light on the reader lit up, but I still can t upload my pics. What gives? Running Mavericks
It sounds like you've a problem with your USB port - try a different one if possible.
Damaged memory card. Connect the memory card to the computer using the USB card reader and use Recuva to see what you can recover from the memory card. Results vary widely depending on how corrupted the files are. When done, throw away the card.
Does your Mac not already have a built in SD card reader? It should have unless it is an older model. But if it does not, then using the card reader should certainly work. Try this. DO NOT put the reader in the USB and then the card into the reader. Put the card into the reader FIRST, then plug the reader into the USB port on the computer. You SHOULD get an icon on the desktop that will probably say Canon, but it may just say No Name or some such thing. You just click on the icon and you can open the folder that contains the photos, select all, and drag and drop them to any folder you want on the Mac.
