Library of Virginia

Library of Virginia
The Library of Virginia at its current location
Location	Richmond, Virginia, United States of America
Type	Government of Virginia
Established	1823
Other information
Director	Dennis T. Clark (as of January 25, 2024)
Website	http://www.lva.virginia.gov/
References:

The Library of Virginia in Richmond, Virginia, is the library agency of the Commonwealth of Virginia. It serves as the archival agency and the reference library for Virginia's seat of government. The Library 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 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 history, government and people available anywhere. As of 2024, the Library’s collections contained more than 134 million items in total. This includes more than 121 million state, local, and federal government records; more than 9 million personal papers; more than 1.5 million items in the General Book Collection; 809,986 microforms; 578,589 items in the Visual Studies Collection; 54,892 maps; 53,024 rare books; 4,906 items in the DVD/VHS/audio collection; and 573 items in the State Art Collection.

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 provided for a new Virginia State Library on Capitol Square in what is today known as the Oliver Hill Building. 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). It shared this space with the State Law Library, the Virginia Supreme Court of Appeals, the Virginia Department of Law, and the Office of the Attorney General.

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 in 2008 and 2005, respectively.

In addition to the main Library building, the Library manages the State Records Center in Henrico County where inactive, non-permanent records of state agencies and local governments are housed. The Library houses one of the most comprehensive collections on Virginia, focusing on the varied past of the Commonwealth and documenting the lives of important and ordinary Virginians and their stories. The collections hold government records, private papers, manuscripts, rare books, maps, photographs, ephemera and more, including millions of digital records.

The Library’s online resources include Virginia Memory, which provides access to many of its digital collections; Virginia Chronicle, a newspaper database; Virginia Untold: The African American Narrative, a database of records related to enslaved and free Black and multiracial people who lived in Virginia from the establishment of slavery in the 1600s until the 1860s; Virginia Changemakers, a biography series; Document Bank of Virginia, a collection of primary historical sources for use in classrooms; and The Dictionary of Virginia Biography, an ongoing biographical reference project.

The Library also supplies research and reference assistance to state officials; consulting services and training to state and local government agencies and to Virginia's public libraries; administers numerous federal, state, and local grant programs; provides educational programs and resources on Virginia history; and offers exhibitions, lectures, and book-signings.

Exhibitions, events and programs

The Library of Virginia’s exhibition program offers physical, traveling and virtual exhibitions that explore the Commonwealth's social and cultural history and promote interest in and use of the collections and services of the Library. Related lectures, discussions, book talks and other events explore exhibition themes.

Partnering with public libraries and other organizations, the Library’s LVA On the Go van brings some of the resources and staff expertise of the Library across the Commonwealth to help the public engage with local history, family history, educational materials and more.

Since 1998, the Library of Virginia and the Library of Virginia Foundation have sponsored the annual Virginia Literary Awards honoring outstanding Virginia authors and books about Virginia in the areas of fiction, nonfiction, poetry and, since 2024, children’s literature. The Library partners with the Virginia Museum of Fine Arts to present the annual Art in Literature: The Mary Lynn Kotz Award to recognize an outstanding book that is written primarily in response to a work (or works) of art while also showing the highest literary quality as a creative or scholarly work on its own merit. Also presented during the awards is the Honorary Patron of Letters Degree, which recognizes individuals who have made outstanding contributions in the realm of history, or library or archival science. The Library previously presented an annual lifetime achievement award, whose recipients are Ellen Glasgow (1998), Edgar Allan Poe (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 (2006), Tom Wolfe (2007), Rita Dove (2008), John Grisham (2009), Lee Smith (2010), Earl Hamner, Jr. (2011), Tom Robbins (2012), Charles Wright (2013), Barbara Kingsolver (2014), Jan Karon (2015), Nikki Giovanni (2016) and David Baldacci (2017).

The Library regularly hosts author talks and book signings, lectures, panel discussions, film screenings, book group meetings, art displays, workshops and other events related to Virginia’s history, government and people. Most events are free. A noon book talk series features nonfiction works, while the Carole Weinstein Author Series focuses on Virginia authors and Virginia subjects across all genres. Quarterly First Fridays at LVA events feature works by Virginia artists and hands-on creative activities for visitors. A genealogy workshop series helps attendees learn how to research their family history.

The Library’s Making History with LVA volunteer program invites participants to help make historical documents more searchable and usable for researchers through transcription, indexing and text correction. Volunteers can work online on their own or join monthly in-person or virtual sessions led by Library staff members.

The Library of Virginia and Dominion Energy partner each year to honor distinguished Black Virginians, past and present, as Strong Men & Women in Virginia History for their important contributions to the state, the nation, or their professions. The annual program includes a creative contest for high school students, who share stories on contemporary issues inspired by past Strong Men & Women in Virginia History honorees.

The Library participates in Archives Month in Virginia, which focuses on institutions and individuals that have made significant impact on the preservation and accessibility of historical records. It produces an annual Archives Month in Virginia poster commemorating archival and special collections repositories throughout the state and hosts related events.

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, 1907–1934
• Wilmer L. Hall, 1934–1946
• Randolph Warner Church, 1947–1972
• Donald Rucker Haynes, 1972–1986
• Ella Gaines Yates, 1986–1990
• John C. Tyson, 1990–1994
• Nolan T. Yelitch, 1995–2007
• Sandra Gioia Treadway, 2007–2024
• Dennis T. Clark, 2024-current

Further reading

• Sandra Gioia Treadway and Edward D. C. Campbell Jr., eds. The Common Wealth: Treasures from the Collection of the Library of Virginia. Richmond: The Library of Virginia, 1997. ISBN 0-88490-185-8.
• Trenton E. Hizer, comp., Guide to the Personal Papers Collection at the Library of Virginia. Richmond: The Library of Virginia, 2008. ISBN 0-88490-208-0.

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)
• Archival Resources of the Virginias (ARVAS)
• Debra H. Rodman, "Retelling Virginia's Migration History", Southern Spaces, 25 October 2010. A review of an exhibition at the Library of Virginia.