Top row, left to right: Sadeqa Johnson, Suzanne
Stryk, Kathryn Miles and Kidada Williams.
Bottom row, left to right: Erica
Abrams Locklear, Todd Peppers and Russ Ford.
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Library Announces the 2023
Carole Weinstein Author Series
Lineup
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Join us at the Library for the 2023 Carole Weinstein Author Series! This year’s
lineup includes the historical fiction follow-up to the award-winning
novel Yellow Wife, a brilliantly reported true crime story, a look at
Appalachian foodways, a heart-wrenching reexamination of the Reconstruction-era
South, a memoir from a death row chaplain and an artist’s exploration of the
nature of Virginia.
The series kicks off next Thursday, May 11 at 6 p.m. with
Trailed: One Woman's Quest to Solve the Shenandoah
Murders by award-winning journalist and science writer
Kathryn Miles. Free and open to the public, the Weinstein Author
Series supports the literary arts by bringing both new and well-known authors to
the Library of Virginia. The series focuses on Virginia authors and Virginia
subjects across all genres and is made possible through support from the Carole
Weinstein Endowment for Virginia Authors.
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Library Launches
LVA On the
Go
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The Library of Virginia launched its first statewide tour this spring in a new
custom-built vehicle to bring some of its vast resources, staff expertise and
programming to every corner of the commonwealth.
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Debuting as part of the Library’s yearlong 200th anniversary celebration, LVA On
the Go is a state-of-the-art vehicle designed to enhance awareness of the
Library’s collections and resources, strengthen ties to local organizations,
capture stories and histories from community members, and provide a memorable and
fun experience. Find a schedule of location visits at lva.virginia.gov/200.
Personalized to address the interests of each location, LVA On the Go events may
include presentations on resources like Virginia Untold:
The African American Narrative database, a genealogy workshop, an oral
history station to capture personal and family stories for the Library’s
collection, regionally specific children’s crafts and more.
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Library Creates a Digital Map of
Virginia’s Deaf Communities
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The Library has added a digital map resource to Virginia’s Deaf Culture Digital Library, a website
with information for the commonwealth’s Deaf community created by the Library in
collaboration with Central Rappahannock Regional Library. “Virginia’s Deaf
Communities: A Spatial Story” is a story map combining images and narratives
that explore some of the people and places that make up the rich history of the
deaf and hard-of-hearing communities in Virginia from the 18th through the early
20th centuries.
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Launched during Deaf History Month in April, the digital map offers information on
42 subjects from across the state. Images from the collections of the Library of
Virginia and other institutions illustrate the subjects identified on the map. The
project provides the public, library users and library staff with new insights
into an often-overlooked segment of society.
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Film Screening & Discussion Explore Family
History
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The Library of Virginia hosts a free screening of the film Clay 1613: An
American Family in Black and White, followed by a discussion with executive
producer Leontyne Clay Peck and Dr. Gregg Kimball, the Library’s director of
Public Services and Outreach, on Thursday, May 18 at 6 p.m.
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The film explores historical and genealogical research done by Peck and the Clay
Family Society, with a focus on connecting poor and rich, black and white, and
known and unknown descendants of the English planter John Clay, who arrived in the
colony of Virginia in 1613. Clay 1613 takes viewers on a journey of
storytelling and will inspire families to document their family histories.
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First Fridays at LVA Returns
June 2
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Stop by the Library on Friday, June 2, 5 to 8 p.m., for our
quarterly First Fridays event. Enjoy refreshments and view an art exhibition by
Virginia artists. Take in our gallery exhibition, “200 Years, 200 Stories”; make
your own map-themed art at the “creation station”; and relax to open mic poetry,
prose or music.
The Library is accepting artwork submissions for First Fridays Exhibitions –
Virginia Stories for events on Aug. 4 and Dec. 1. Submissions must include
a paragraph describing the Virginia story told by the artwork. Virginia artists of
all ages and skill levels are eligible to enter. We are also seeking open mic
performers. Poets, writers, songwriters and other performers of all ages and
abilities may use 10 minutes at the mic. Learn more
here.
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Online Presentation Examines What
Comes After Family History Research
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Join us online on Thursday, May 25 at 6 p.m. for “Your
Family History: What Comes After the Research,” a free virtual
discussion by a panel of guests describing how they have turned their family
history research into unique projects for their families and the public.
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Panelists include Leontyne Clay Peck, executive producer of the film Clay
1613: An American Family in Black and White; Bettye Kearse, author of
The Other Madisons: The Lost History of a President’s Black Family;
Peighton Young, a Ph.D. student at the College of William and Mary and a public
representative of the Descendants Council of Greater Richmond; and Gayle Jessup
White, author of Reclamation: Sally Hemings, Thomas Jefferson, and a
Descendant’s Search for Her Family’s Lasting Legacy.
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Host Your Event at the
Library!
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The Library of Virginia is now offering facility rentals of the building’s lobby,
conference rooms, lecture hall, orientation room and computer classroom. From
small meetings to large galas, the Library’s spaces can accommodate all your event
needs. Equipment updates throughout these accessible, first-floor spaces enable
hosting of both in-person and hybrid events. Limited free parking is available in
the deck underneath the Library building.
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DID YOU KNOW?
The First State Library
Building Opened in 1895
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The first building constructed specifically for the Library opened on Capitol
Square in 1895. Designed to be fire-proof, it also housed other state government
offices and included a wing added in 1908. The City of Richmond paid for an
additional clerk to extend the Library’s public hours until midnight. The Library
remained there until 1940. Later known as the Old Finance Building, the structure
was named for civil rights attorney Oliver W. Hill Sr. in 2005.
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