The Library of Virginia in

Richmond, Virginia (Thus do we reach the stars) , image_map = , mapsize = 250 px , map_caption = Location within Virginia , pushpin_map = Virginia#USA , pushpin_label = Richmond , pushpin_m ...

, is the

library A library is a collection of materials, books or media that are accessible for use and not just for display purposes. A library provides physical (hard copies) or digital access (soft copies) materials, and may be a physical location or a vi ...

agency of the

Commonwealth of Virginia Virginia, officially the Commonwealth of Virginia, is a state in the Mid-Atlantic and Southeastern regions of the United States, between the Atlantic Coast and the Appalachian Mountains. The geography and climate of the Commonwealth are ...

. It serves as the archival agency and the reference library for Virginia's seat of government. The Library moved into a new building in 1997 and is located at 800 East Broad Street, two blocks from the Virginia State Capitol building. It was formerly known as the Virginia State Library and as the Virginia State Library and Archives. Formally founded by the

Virginia General Assembly The Virginia General Assembly is the legislative body of the Commonwealth of Virginia, the oldest continuous law-making body in the Western Hemisphere, the first elected legislative assembly in the New World, and was established on July 30, 1 ...

in 1823, the Library of Virginia organizes, cares for, and manages the state's collection of books and official records, many of which date back to the early colonial period. It houses what is believed to be the most comprehensive collection of materials on Virginia government, history, and culture available anywhere. Its research collections contain more than 808,500 bound volumes; 678,790 public documents; 410,330 microforms, including 45,684 reels of microfilmed newspapers; 308,900 photographs and other pictorial materials; 101.8 million manuscript items and records; and several hundred thousand prints, broadsides, and newspapers..

History of the institution

Although the Library of Virginia was officially established January 23, 1823, its history goes back to the collection of materials acquired for official use by the colonial Council and subsequent colonial and state authorities. The first permanent home of the Library was a small room on the top floor of the State Capitol. The state's books and records eventually outgrew this space, and overflow books and documents were then stored in several rented locations across Richmond. In an 1851 survey by the Smithsonian, the library was listed as having 14,000 volumes. In 1892, the

General Assembly A general assembly or general meeting is a meeting of all the members of an organization or shareholders of a company. Specific examples of general assembly include: Churches * General Assembly (presbyterian church), the highest court of pres ...

provided for a new Virginia State Library on Capitol Square in what is today known as the

Oliver Hill Building Virginia State Library-Oliver Hill Building, also known as the State Finance Building, is a historic library and government office building located on Capitol Square in Richmond, Virginia. It was built in 1892–1894, expanded in 1908–1910, remod ...

. Over the ensuing forty years, the Library again outgrew that building, and in 1940 it moved to its third location at the edge of Capitol Square between 11th and Governor Streets (today the Patrick Henry Executive Office Building). an
''Accompanying four photos''
/ref> It shared this space with the State Law Library, the

Virginia Supreme Court of Appeals The Supreme Court of Virginia is the highest court in the Commonwealth of Virginia. It primarily hears direct appeals in civil cases from the trial-level city and county circuit courts, as well as the criminal law, family law and administra ...

, the Virginia Department of Law, and the Office of the

Attorney General In most common law jurisdictions, the attorney general or attorney-general (sometimes abbreviated AG or Atty.-Gen) is the main legal advisor to the government. The plural is attorneys general. In some jurisdictions, attorneys general also have exec ...

. The Library moved to its current location at 800 East Broad Street in 1997. The old library buildings were listed on the

National Register of Historic Places The National Register of Historic Places (NRHP) is the United States federal government's official list of districts, sites, buildings, structures and objects deemed worthy of preservation for their historical significance or "great artist ...

in 2008 and 2005, respectively. The state library houses one of the most comprehensive collections on Virginia. The collection covers Virginia government, history, and culture. The collection focuses on the varied past of the commonwealth, documenting the lives of important and ordinary Virginians and their deeds. The collections include printed material, manuscripts and photographic collections. The Library also supplies research and reference assistance to state officials; consulting services to state and local government agencies and to other Virginia public libraries; administers numerous federal, state, and local grant programs; publishes award-winning books; provides educational programs and resources on Virginia history; and offers exhibitions, lectures, and book-signings.

Programs and publications

Since 1998, the Library of Virginia and the Library of Virginia Foundation have sponsored the annual Library of Virginia Literary Awards honoring outstanding Virginia authors and books about Virginia in the areas of fiction, nonfiction, and poetry. They also present annually a lifetime achievement award, whose past recipients are Ellen Glasgow (1998),

Edgar Allan Poe Edgar Allan Poe (; Edgar Poe; January 19, 1809 – October 7, 1849) was an American writer, poet, editor, and literary critic. Poe is best known for his poetry and short stories, particularly his tales of mystery and the macabre. He is wide ...

(1999), Anne Spencer (2000), Booker T. Washington (2001), Mary Lee Settle (2002), Louis D. Rubin, Jr. (2003), George Garrett (2004), Merrill D. Peterson (2005),

William Styron William Clark Styron Jr. (June 11, 1925 – November 1, 2006) was an American novelist and essayist who won major literary awards for his work. Styron was best known for his novels, including: * '' Lie Down in Darkness'' (1951), his acclaimed f ...

(2006),

Tom Wolfe Thomas Kennerly Wolfe Jr. (March 2, 1930 – May 14, 2018)Some sources say 1931; ''The New York Times'' and Reuters both initially reported 1931 in their obituaries before changing to 1930. See and was an American author and journalist widely ...

(2007), Rita Dove (2008), John Grisham (2009), Lee Smith (2010),

Earl Hamner, Jr. Earl Henry Hamner Jr. (July 10, 1923 – March 24, 2016) was an American television writer and producer (sometimes credited as Earl Hamner), best known for his work in the 1970s and 1980s as the creator of two long-running series, ''The Waltons' ...

(2011), Tim Robbins (2012), Charles Wright (2013), and Barbara Kingsolver (2014). The Library of Virginia sponsors the annual Virginia Women in History project to honor eight Virginia women, living and dead, who have made extraordinary contributions to the state or to their professions and also the annual African American Trailblazers in Virginia project. Library of Virginia hosts the Virginia Literary Festival. This event attracts authors, publishers, and residents of Virginia. Attendees get the chance to meet new authors as well as well known authors. The library awards seven different literary awards at their annual event. Archives Month focuses on institutions and individuals that have made significant impact on the preservation and accessibility of historical records. In conjunction with the Archive Month the Library of Virginia produces posters commemorating archival and special collections repositories throughout the state. Many archives contribute to the celebration by hosting events. Library of Virginia hosts an ongoing series of Book Talk Series. These book talks feature authors from Virginia and books on the state of Virginia. These are hosted nearly every week and the cover a wide range of topics: from Virginia's role in the founding of the United States to the legacy of the Civil War to the many facets of the civil rights struggle in Virginia. The audience is given the opportunity to listen and interact with a variety of scholars and literary authors. The Library's Virginia Heritage Resource Center offers a series of lectures by researchers and subject specialists showcasing the contents of the library's collection and its potential as a resource for researchers. Library of Virginia offers a variety of workshops each year for anyone who works in library services. These workshops and conferences are designed to help hone skills and develop new approaches. These workshops cover topics such as serving special needs patrons, cataloging databases, and reference services. In 2007 and 2008 work began on the Virginia Memory project, which serves as an extension of the Library of Virginia's online presence. The project launched in 2009 and has four components, the Library's digital collections, online versions of the Library's exhibitions, an online classroom, and a "reading room" that offers a chronology of Virginia events, articles by Library archivists, and "This Day in Virginia History". The Transcribe program is a collaborative workspace for people to help the Library transcribe documents. In August 2015 the project expanded to include the Document Bank of Virginia, which hosts select documents along with historical context for educational use.

State Librarians of Virginia

During the nineteenth century, Secretaries of the Commonwealth usually oversaw the state library as part of their official duties. * John Pendleton Kennedy, 1903–1907 *

Henry Read McIlwaine Henry Read McIlwaine (1864–1934) was an American editor and librarian. He served as the third State Librarian for the Commonwealth of Virginia. Biography Henry Read McIlwaine was born in Farmville, Virginia on July 12, 1864. McIlwaine graduate ...

, 1907–1934 *

Wilmer L. Hall Wilmer or Wilmers may refer to: Places * Wilmer, Alabama, United States, an unincorporated community * Wilmer, Louisiana, United States, an unincorporated hamlet * Wilmer, Texas, United States, a city *Wilmer, British Columbia, Canada, a settlem ...

, 1934–1946 *

Randolph Warner Church Randolph may refer to: Places In the United States * Randolph, Alabama, an unincorporated community * Randolph, Arizona, a populated place * Randolph, California, a village merged into the city of Brea * Randolph, Illinois, an unincorporated comm ...

, 1947–1972 *

Donald Rucker Haynes Donald is a masculine given name derived from the Gaelic name ''Dòmhnall''.. This comes from the Proto-Celtic *''Dumno-ualos'' ("world-ruler" or "world-wielder"). The final -''d'' in ''Donald'' is partly derived from a misinterpretation of the ...

, 1972–1986 *

Ella Gaines Yates Ella Gaines Yates (June 14, 1927 – June 27, 2006) is recognized in the library world as being the first African-American director of the Atlanta-Fulton Public Library System in Georgia. Yates was born into a well known and wealthy family in A ...

, 1986–1990 * John C. Tyson, 1990–1994 *

Nolan T. Yelitch Nolan T. Yelich (born 1942) served as the Librarian of Virginia from 1996 until his retirement in 2007, after 39 years of service in American libraries. Early life and education Yelich was born in Wisconsin and earned bachelor's and master's degr ...

, 1995–2007 *

Sandra Gioia Treadway Sandra or SANDRA may refer to: People * Sandra (given name) * Sandra (singer) (born 1962), German pop singer * Margaretha Sandra (1629–1674), Dutch soldier * Sandra (orangutan), who won the legal right to be defined as a "non-human person" Pl ...

, 2007–present

References

External links

The Library of Virginia
(official site)
Find It Virginia
(official research tool)
Virginia Memory
(digital collections)
The Uncommonwealth: Voices from the Library of Virginia
(blog)
Document Bank of Virginia

Multiple Exposure: Catablog of the Prints and Photographs Collection at the Library of Virginia
(blog)
Virginia Heritage: Guides to Manuscript and Archival Collections in Virginia
* Debra H. Rodman
"Retelling Virginia's Migration History"
''Southern Spaces'', 25 October 2010. A review of an exhibition at the Library of Virginia. {{Coord, 37, 32, 29, N, 77, 26, 2, W, display=title 1823 establishments in Virginia Government agencies established in 1823 Government of Virginia History of Virginia

Virginia Virginia, officially the Commonwealth of Virginia, is a state in the Mid-Atlantic and Southeastern regions of the United States, between the East Coast of the United States, Atlantic Coast and the Appalachian Mountains. The geography an ...

History of the institution

Programs and publications

State Librarians of Virginia

References

Further reading

External links