|
 | Preservation grants will help to conserve historic items such as this 1880–1896 Culpeper County Register of Births (left) and a Goochland County Land Book covering 1861 to 1870 (right). |
| Library Awards $2 Million in Court Record Preservation Grants |
| The Library of Virginia‘s Circuit Court Records Preservation Program (CCRP) has awarded more than $2 million in grants to localities across the Commonwealth for 2025 for the preservation of records in Virginia’s courthouses. Since 1992, the CCRP has awarded 2,282 preservation grants totaling over $38 million dollars.
The CCRP Grant Review Board approved 114 grant projects from 105 circuit courts, with most projects covering professional conservation treatment for hundreds of records that date from the 1690s to the mid-20th century. They include deed books, will books, land tax books, marriage licenses, order books and plat books housed in circuit court clerks’ offices, which suffered damage from use, age, pests, water, cellulose acetate lamination or previous nonprofessional repairs. |
| | |  | 2025 Carole Weinstein Author Series Announced |
| The Library of Virginia is excited to announce the Carole Weinstein Author Series for 2025, which kicks off Thursday, April 10. This year’s series features bestselling and award-winning authors including David Baldacci, Adriana Trigiani and more, who will discuss a racially charged murder case in 1968, the hilarious story of one woman's determination to live a creative life that matters, Appalachian migration, the culinary history of five generations of Black country cooks, and other topics.
The series focuses on Virginia authors and Virginia subjects across all genres and showcases the literary arts by bringing both new and well-known authors to the Library to share stories that define the Commonwealth.
Held in our Lecture Hall from 6 to 7:30 p.m., the free talks are followed by a lively Q&A with audience members and an author signing of their books. The series is made possible through generous support from the Carole Weinstein Endowment for Virginia Authors. |
| | | | |
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
| Find Your Story in Virginia’s Past With Our Genealogy Workshops |
| The Library of Virginia, the leading source of information on Virginia’s history, government and people, has announced its 2025 Genealogy Workshop Series for those who are new to family history research or who want to delve deeper into historic records. |
|
| |
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
| The series begins on Friday, April 11 with “Maps & Research at the Library of Virginia,” which explores why maps are critical to genealogical research. Our beginner’s workshop, “Finding Your Family History: Introduction to Genealogical Research,” and intermediate-level workshop, “How to Trace Your Virginia Roots,” will each be offered in both virtual and in-person formats. Genealogy workshops on more specific topics include two virtual events, “African American Genealogy to 1870” and “Newspaper Research,” as well as in-person workshops on “Virginians in the First & Second World Wars” and “Finding Women,” which offers guidance on researching your female ancestors.
Registration is required. In-person workshops are $25 ($20 for Library of Virginia members) and virtual workshops are $15 ($10 for Library of Virginia members). |
| | | | Virtual Book Talk Explores the Impact of Slave Trading in the Civil War South |
| Join us online on Tuesday, March 25 at noon for a free virtual talk by historian Robert K.D. Colby on his first book, “An Unholy Traffic: Slave Trading in the Civil War South.” The book examines how Confederates bought and sold thousands of men, women and children through a persisting trade in enslaved people. They did so for a multitude of reasons, including to adapt to the conflict, to invest in their desired slaveholding future, and to fend off the onset of emancipation. These transactions had profound impacts on the enslaved, their lives and families, and the ways in which they pursued freedom during the war. |
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
| | Book Talk Examines Doug Wilder’s Term as Richmond’s Mayor |
| On Tuesday, April 8 at noon, author Linwood Norman will present a free talk his new book, “When Mayor Doug Wilder Ruled Richmond: Strong-Arm Politics in Virginia’s Capital City.” Our nation’s first elected Black governor, L. Douglas Wilder, returned to public service in 2005 as the first popularly elected mayor of Richmond in 60 years. Despite his landslide election, voters may have had little idea what they were getting themselves into, as many were ill-prepared for Wilder’s strong style of leadership. Norman, a former press secretary to the mayor, skillfully recounts the turmoil of Richmond’s transition to the “strong mayor” model of local government. |
|
| |
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
| | | Richmond Cemetery Collaboratory Symposium Explores Long-term Cemetery Care |
| The Library of Virginia will host the Richmond Cemetery Collaboratory’s first symposium, Cultivating Perpetual Care Communities: A Richmond Cemetery Collaboratory Symposium, on Saturday, March 29 from 9 a.m. to 4 p.m.
This free event will explore how long-term care of cemeteries is created, expressed and supported — particularly in historically Black cemeteries. Topics will include physical care, volunteer management, preservation plans, policymaking, archive creation, research and community building. A light breakfast and lunch will be provided. This event is sponsored by the Library of Virginia, the Richmond Cemetery Collaboratory, the University of Richmond and Virginia Commonwealth University. |
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
| | LVA On the Go Kicks Off 2025 Statewide Tour in April |
| The Library of Virginia hits the road again next month with LVA On the Go! Our custom-built van will tour the state this year to bring some of the Library’s resources, staff expertise and programming to locations across the Commonwealth.
The first stops on the tour are Bedford Public Library’s Forest Library on Wednesday, April 9 and Thomas C. Boushall Middle School in Richmond on Saturday, April 12 to engage visitors with local history, family history, educational materials and more. For more information, contact Peter North at 804.692.3536 or peter.north@lva.virginia.gov. |
|
| |
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
| | | April’s First Friday at LVA Celebrates Virginia Flora & Fauna |
| Join us for LVA’s quarterly First Fridays on April 4 at 5 p.m. View works by Virginia artists that reflect Virginia’s plants and animals, as well as related items from our collections. Enjoy refreshments and get creative with flower origami in our makerspace. You can also view our current exhibition and visit the Virginia Shop for books and gifts.
Don’t miss poetry readings from the “Writing the Land: Virginia” poetry anthology throughout the evening in the Conference Rooms. This book celebrates the beauty and value of conserved lands in Virginia, including public wildlife management areas, conservation easements, city and riverside trails, park systems and shoreline farms. The Library is partnering with the Capital Region Land Conservancy and the Nature Conservancy to present this poetry reading. |
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
| | | Say “Cheers” to Virginia With State Seal Glassware |
| Treat your table to an inspiring part of Virginia history! The Virginia Shop’s expanded selection of glassware engraved with Virginia's state seal includes wine glasses, mason jars, can glasses, whiskey glasses, decanter sets and even a cookie jar!
Shop online at thevirginiashop.org and enjoy free standard shipping on purchases over $50 with the code SEAL25. Offer valid through April 15. |
|
| |
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
| | | | | | | | | |
|
|
|
| |
|
