Cast Your Vote for the Ninth Annual People's Choice Awards

The Library of Virginia is pleased to sponsor the Ninth Annual People's Choice Awards. Finalists in fiction and nonfiction were selected by an independent panel of judges from the books nominated for the 15th Annual Library of Virginia Literary Awards. Awards are given for the best fiction and nonfiction books by Virginia authors; in the case of nonfiction, books on a Virginia subject that have been published in the past year are eligible.

The winners will be chosen by votes from the public from among five finalists in each category. Readers may vote in public libraries or online at the Library of Virginia's Web site, www.lva.virginia.gov/public/litawards/vote.asp. Voting for the People's Choice Awards runs from May 14 through June 29,...

Apply Now for the 2012 Anne and Ryland Brown Teacher Research Fellowship

The Library of Virginia is pleased to announce the 2012 Anne and Ryland Brown Teacher Research Fellowship. The goal of the program is to enhance knowledge and training in history and social science instruction in the commonwealth of Virginia by providing educators with an opportunity for in-depth study and the development of teaching materials in collaboration with both teaching colleagues and members of the Library of Virginia's professional staff.

Under the program, Virginia educators research and study a specific aspect of Virginia history and produce educational...

Early Warwick County Court Records Returned to Virginia

The Library of Virginia recently recovered seven documents that had been removed from the Warwick County (now city of Newport News) courthouse by a Massachusetts soldier during the Peninsula Campaign in April 1862. The court records, dated 1688–1751, include wills, a bond, and other legal documents and were discovered by Richard Trask, town archivist of Danvers, Massachusetts, among the Putnam family papers in the Danvers Archival Center at the Peabody Institute Library. The documents were returned to Carl Childs, director of the Library's Local Records Services Branch in a ceremony held in the Gordon Room of the Peabody Institute Library in Danvers on April 30.
 

Wallace A. Putnam, a second lieutenant in the 10th Massachusetts Regiment, arrived at Warwick courthouse on April 5, 1862, took the

documents from the clerk's office as a souvenir of his war service, and later shipped the documents back to his family in Massachusetts.
 

Remote Access to Sanborne Fire Insurance Maps of Virginia Localities Available

The Sanborn Maps Geo Edition (1867–1970) database provides digital access to thousands of large-scale maps of Virginia towns and cities, searchable by address and GPS coordinates. Your Library of Virginia library card is your key to exploring this amazing resource. Stop by the Library to get a card today and then visit the Library's Using the Collections page to begin your research.

Sanborn fire insurance maps are large-scale plans used to estimate the potential risk for urban structures. Founded in 1867 by D. A. Sanborn, the Sanborn Map Company was the primary American publisher of fire insurance maps for nearly 100 years. They are the most frequently consulted maps in libraries and are a valuable tool for urban planners, social historians, architects, environmentalists, geographers, genealogists, local historians, and anyone who wants to learn about the history, growth, and development of cities, towns, and neighborhoods...

American Libraries Gives Accolades to Four Virginia Libraries

Central Rappahannock Regional Library (England Run Branch), Appomattox Regional Library (Prince George Branch), Roanoke County Library (South County Branch) and Old Dominion University (Patricia W. and J. Douglas Perry Library) are included in American Libraries' annual review of the best in new and...

Brooks Selected to Attend Archives Leadership Institute

Vincent Brooks, senior local records archivist at the Library of Virginia, has been accepted to attend the fourth annual Archives Leadership Institute at the University of Wisconsin. The ALI will be held July 22–28, 2012. Produced by Wisconsin University's School of Library and Information Studies, the program is directed primarily at mid-level-to-senior staff and archivists who aspire to.  leadership roles in their organizations and/or professional associations.

Brooks will join 24 other selected archivists for a mix of panels, workshops, and small-group discussions exploring topics such as policy issues for archivists, communication and media relations, legislative...

The Power of RE

This spring at the Library of Virginia, we are driven by the power of "RE." Whether it's RE-kindling a love of Virginia history in a student, RE-storing an old book or document, RE-vealing a hidden truth found in our collection, or RE-juvenating a family tree, we are dedicated every day to finding new things to celebrate about our shared history and culture. The donors to the Library of Virginia Foundation help make each of these things possible. Your tax-deductible gift to the Library of Virginia Foundation will make an immediate difference to our staff, collections, and programs. So whether it's new or RE-new, please consider making a gift...
 

Library Participates in Award-winning Program

The Association of Southeastern Research Libraries (ASERL) is the recipient of the 2012 "Documents to the People" Award for the innovative Collaborative Federal Depository Program (CFDP). The Award was given in recognition of its "achievable and sustainable plan for the development and preservation of comprehensive [federal document] depository collections on a multi-state level."

The program seeks to create "Centers of Excellence" within federal depository libraries in the Southeast, to develop comprehensive-as-possible documents collections relating to a government agency, Superintendent of Documents class stem, subject matter, or format. Centers of Excellence (CoEs) allow researchers to identify the best documents collections for their selected areas. The Library of Virginia serves as the Center of Excellence for the Board of Publication...

Treadway Elected to Lyrasis Board of Trustees

Librarian of Virginia and State Archivist Sandra G. Treadway has been elected to the Board of Trustees of Lyrasis for a three-year term. Lyrasis, a nonprofit membership organization, partners with member libraries to create access to and manage information, while building and sustaining collaboration, enhancing library and technology operations, and increasing buying power. Lyrasis helps libraries operate more effectively by providing expanded access to valuable resources and professional expertise in ...

Thursday, May 10, 2012
Poetic Principles: Remembering Eleanor Ross Taylor Claudia Emerson, Ross Taylor, David Wojahn, Debra Nystrom, and Kathleen Graber will celebrate the life and work of Eleanor Ross Taylor through readings of her poems. Taylor, who won the Library of Virginia's literary award for poetry in 2000 for Late Leisure, died at age 91 on December 30, 2011. She was the author of six books of poetry published over five decades and in 2010 received the prestigious $100,000 Ruth Lilly Poetry Prize, given by Poetry magazine for poets whose "lifetime accomplishments warrant extraordinary recognition." A reception will follow the program, which is sponsored in part by the Carole M. Weinstein Virginia Authors Fund.

Wednesday, May 16, 2012
"Books on Broad" featuring Jason Rosenhouse
Time: 5:30–7:30 PM
Join us when we host Jason Rosenhouse to discuss and sign his book Among the Creationists. Rosenhouse, a self-described nonbeliever, presents a more down-to-earth picture of modern creationism and the people who espouse it. Refreshments will be served (5:30–6:15 PM), followed by author talk (6:15–7:15 PM), and book signing (7:15–7:30 PM).

Friday, May 18, 2012
The Iron Way: Railroads, the Civil War and the Making of Modern America
William G. Thomas, professor of history and the John and Catherine Angle Chair in the Humanities at the University of Nebraska-Lincoln, will discuss his new book, The Iron Way: Railroads, the Civil War and the Making of Modern America. Beginning with Frederick Douglass's escape from slavery in 1838 on the railroad, and ending with the driving of the golden spike to link the transcontinental railroad in 1869, his book charts a critical period of American expansion and national formation, one largely dominated by the dynamic growth of railroads and telegraphs. Thomas brings new evidence to bear on railroads, the Confederate South, slavery, and the Civil War era, based on groundbreaking research in digitized sources never available before. The Iron Way revises our ideas about the emergence of modern America and the role of the railroads in shaping the sectional conflict.

Thursday, May 24, 2012
In the Service of Children: African American Children's History Before and After Emancipation
Time: 6:00–8:00 PM
Place: Lecture Hall
Dr. Wilma King, the Arvarh E. Strickland Professor of African American History and Culture at the University of Missouri-Columbia, will share her research on the history of African American children, before and after emancipation, and will explore how lessons drawn from the past can inform how we—parents, teachers, and community members—can advocate for today's youth. This free program is offered by a partnership of Hope in the Cities, the Black History Museum and Cultural Center of Virginia, the Virginia NAACP, and the Library of Virginia.

Monday, May 28, 2012
Library of Virginia Closed
Time: 9:00 AM–5:00 PM
The Library of Virginia and the State Records Center will be closed for Memorial Day.
 

Saturday, June 9, 2012
Lost & Found Adventure: A Challenge of Historic Proportions!
Time: 9:30 AM–2:00 PM
Place: Lobby. Fee: $25 per person with up to six players per team. Register at http://lostandfoundatlva.eventbrite.com
The Library of Virginia and its environs are the setting for an adventure that pits your wits against a series of cunning clues, crafty codes, and ingenious puzzles. Based on the Library's newest exhibition, Lost and Found, teams of up to six embark on a quest that has been described as a combination of Amazing Race and National Treasure. Put on your sneakers, thinking caps, and imaginative team uniforms and get lost, if only for a couple of hours, in the colorful culture of Richmond's past. Check in: 9:00–9:45 AM. Event begins promptly at 10:00 AM, rain or shine, and concludes by 2:00 PM. Post-adventure celebration begins at 11:00 AM with lunch provided.

Wednesday, June 13, 2012
Martha Jefferson Randolph, Daughter of Monticello: Her Life and Times
As the oldest and favorite daughter of Thomas Jefferson, Martha "Patsy" Jefferson Randolph (1772–1836) was extremely well educated, traveled in the circles of presidents and aristocrats, and was known on two continents for her particular grace and sincerity. Yet, as a mistress of a large household, she was not spared the tedium, frustration, and great sorrow that most women of her time faced. Though Randolph's name is familiar because of her famous father, Cynthia A. Kierner is the first historian to place her at the center of her own story, taking readers into the largely ignored private spaces of the founding era. Randolph's life story reveals the privileges and limits of celebrity and shows that women were able to venture beyond their domestic roles in surprising ways. Kierner is professor of history at George Mason University. A book signing will follow the talk.
 

Tuesday, July 10, 2012 
Help Me Find My People: The African American search for Family Lost in Slavery
Time: 6:00–8:00 PM
Place: Lecture Hall
Dr. Wilma King, the Arvarh E. Strickland Professor of African American History and Culture at the University of Missouri-Columbia, will share her research on the history of African American children, before and after emancipation, and will explore how lessons drawn from the past can inform how we—parents, teachers, and community members—can advocate for today's youth. This free program is offered by a partnership of Hope in the Cities, the Black History Museum and Cultural Center of Virginia, the Virginia NAACP, and the Library of Virginia.