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Governor Appoints Three to the Library Board
Governor Bob McDonnell has named three new members to the Library Board. Robert Chambliss Light, Jr., of Lynchburg, regional assistant general counsel of Nationwide Mutual Insurance, previously served on the board from 1998 to 2003. Su Yong Min, of Arlington, a lawyer at the Law Office of Su Yong Min, PLLC, earned her juris doctor degree from George Mason University School of Law and her bachelor's degree from the University of Pennsylvania. Emily O'Quinn, of Bristol, an... |
Library Wins Governor's Award for Mobile App
 The Library of Virginia's Library Development team, headed by project leaders Rose Schooff and Carol Adams, recently won one of Governor McDonnell's "Government to Citizen Awards" for developing a mobile public library application. The award was presented at the Commonwealth of Virginia Innovative Technology Symposium in September. This recognition program is designed to highlight Virginia government entities that are using IT to improve citizen service and/or efficiency in service delivery.
The Library of Virginia partnered with Boopsie, Inc., to develop the free mobile application for Find It Virginia that directs users to their local public library resources. From any mobile phone or tablet connected to the Internet, you can instantly tap into your library resources, anytime, anywhere, ... |
Morrow to Deliver Governor Henry Lecture
George Morrow II, the author and publisher of a book series entitled "Williamsburg in Character," will deliver the annual Governor Henry Lecture at the Library of Virginia on Tuesday, November 13, at 5:30 PM and at Hampden-Sydney College's Crawley Forum on Wednesday, November 14, at 7:00 PM. Entitled "We Must Fight!": The Private War Between Patrick Henry and Lord Dunmore, the lecture will focus on the personalities at play as Virginia moved toward breaking with Great Britain.
Virginia's Revolution was less the result of events than of personalities; less the product of a misunderstanding than of a mutual conviction that "After all, we must fight." Those were Patrick Henry's words, and when they are compared to...
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Credo Reference Comes to Virginia's Public Libraries
 The Library of Virginia is using a unique approach to improve digital and information literacy for all residents of Virginia. Through a strategic partnership with Credo Reference, public libraries throughout the state now have access to a resource called Literati Public as part of the Library's "Now We Go Where You Go" initiative. "Now We Go Where You Go" is the mobile app developed by the Library of Virginia for use by local public libraries.
Literati Public, developed in close partnership with public librarians, is a highly customizable solution that promotes the mission of public libraries by combining Credo online reference service's content with newly developed platform technology.
"We are extremely excited to provide Literati Public to all public libraries in the commonwealth, as it solves some very pressing issues," said Carol Adams, assistant director of Library Development and Networking at the Library of Virginia. "Not only can we now affordably offer core reference materials that provide an essential starting point for learners, we can also integrate resources that we have acquired from third parties, extending their value and increasing usage. Perhaps most importantly, we can leverage Credo's team of on-staff librarians to develop customized ... |
Winter Reading Program Features Anita Jeram's Artwork
 Each year the Library of Virginia offers the "Snuggle with a Book" Winter Reading Program. The 2013 program features the art of Anita Jeram–from I Love My Little Storybook (2002) by Candlewick Press–and is sponsored by Target, the Institute of Museum and Library Services, Smart Beginnings, the Virginia Department of Social Services, and Read Aloud Virginia.
The winter reading program begins in February, "I Love to Read" Month, and concludes on March 2, Read Across America Day. The program is designed for young children, from birth through first library directors from across the state will gather here on September 20 and 21 for the 2012 Virginia Public Library Directors' Meeting, presented by the Library of Virginia. Directors will receive updates from Librarian of Virginia Sandra Treadway and from Library Development and Networking staff on... |
Database Spotlight: EBSCO's Newspaper Source Plus Is A Great Resource
EBSCO's Newspaper Source Plus database is an exciting addition to the Library's collections. It provides access to more than 1,100 full-text newspapers (both national and international) and includes more than 300 U.S. titles such as USA Today, the Christian Science Monitor, and the San Francisco Chronicle. Virginia content includes current coverage of the Free Lance Star, Manassas Journal Messenger, Carroll News, and Virginia Gazette newspapers, as well as historical coverage for numerous titles including the Richmond Times-Dispatch (1997–2009) and the Daily Press (1997–2009). The database also provides transcripts of television and radio news shows, such as 60 Minutes, 20/20, and NPR's Morning Edition.
Four additional resources are also included with the database: the e-book collection, the AP NewsMonitor collection, Web News, and CINAHL. Each can be selected on the "Choose Databases" page. The e-book collection can also be accessed from the "General Reference" link on the Library’s "Using the Collections" page. The AP NewsMonitor and Web News search results automatically display to the right of the main ... |
Exhibition Panel on Trailblazer Dorothy Hamm Lives On
 Carmela Hamm, of Henrico County, recently contacted the Library of Virginia's education and outreach manager, Mark Howell, about her mother, Dorothy Hamm, a civil rights activist from Northern Virginia in the 1950s and 1960s. In 2010 the Library of Virginia honored Hamm as a recipient of the African American Trailblazers award. The Trailblazers program includes a traveling panel exhibition that visits different parts of the state during the course of the year. By the time the exhibition runs its course, a new class of honorees is ready to take its place on the circuit and the previous year's panels are taken down.
Old panels are usually recycled or stored. Hamm's daughter was, in this case, hoping for the latter. A recreation center in Arlington that was recently built on the foundation of J. M. Langston Elementary School–that community's African American school in the decades prior to desegregation–will include an exhibition on the civil rights movement in Arlington, and she was hoping to repurpose our panels to continue... |
CommonHelp Lets You Apply for Assistance Online
The state's local public libraries are serving as a community partner to help the Department of Social Services and the public with a new tool called CommonHelp that will improve access to social services in Virginia. CommonHelp is a fast and easy way to apply online for many Virginia social services assistance programs. The web-based, self-service platform allows citizens access to information about programs and the ability to apply for SNAP (food assistance), TANF (cash assistance), child care assistance, energy/fuel assistance, and Medicaid (medical assistance), 24 hours a day, seven days a week. Virginians will be able to reach CommonHelp from the comfort of home or from a public library computer or any computer with Internet access.
The Department of Social Services and the Library of Virginia facilitated training sessions recently to familiarize librarians with the new computer portal. |
Governor Proclaims "October Is Information Literacy Awareness Month"
Governor Bob McDonnell has proclaimed the month of October as "Information Literacy Awareness Month" in the state of Virginia. Information literacy advances society by providing people with accurate information. As the repository of the most comprehensive collection of materials on Virginia government, history, and culture available anywhere, the Library understands how vital it is for Virginia citizens to have access to information, and this proclamation demonstrates the importance of this concept. |
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All events are free and take place from noon until 1 PM in the conference rooms at the Library of Virginia unless otherwise noted. |
Wednesday, October 10, 2012
Lost Rights: The Misadventures of a Lost American Relic
In celebration of Archives Month, David Howard, a newspaper reporter, freelance writer, full-time magazine editor, and author, will discuss and sign Lost Rights, his first book. In 1865, an unknown infantryman rifled through the North Carolina State House, hunting for Confederate mementos–but what he found was no ordinary souvenir. He returned home with a touchstone of our Republic: one of the fourteen original copies of the Bill of Rights. Lost Rights follows that document's epic passage over the course of 138 years, from the Indiana businessman who purchases the looted parchment for five dollars to the antiques dealer who tries to peddle it more than a century later for $5 million. The parchment drifts from the living-room wall of a middle-class Midwestern family into the corruptible world of high-end antiquities before its journey ends with a dramatic FBI sting on the 32nd floor of a Philadelphia office tower. Part history, part detective story, part true-crime yarn, Lost Rights is a page-turner populated by unforgettable characters–the outrageous New England antique-furniture dealer, the real estate magnate seeking his next financial conquest, the folk-art expert who stows the iconic document under his bed, and the little-known historian who divines the parchment's most important secret from a faded, barely legible, 200-year-old notation, among many others. |
 Wednesday, October 17, 2012
Book Launch – First House: Two Centuries with Virginia's First Families
Place: Lecture Hall and Virginia's Executive Mansion
Author Mary Miley Theobald will present a book talk at the Library of Virginia to launch the release of First House. A book signing will follow the talk. Tours of the Virginia's Executive Mansion will be available every half hour throughout the day by pre-registration. To pre-register for a tour, please contact Audrey Trussell at 804-371-2642 or by e-mail at Audrey.Trussell@governor.virginia.gov |
Thursday, October 18, 2012
The Poe Boys Present: Poe in Fact and Fiction
Place: Lobby and Exhibition Gallery
Time: 11:00 AM–3:00 PM
Cost: $20 for program and lunch ($7 additional for Poe Museum visit and performance)
Daniel Stashower (The Beautiful Cigar Girl) and Louis Bayard (The Pale Blue Eye) present a fun- and fact-filled program that explores the mysteries of Poe's biography and the challenges of writing about his life. The program will include a one-day mini-exhibition of Poe ephemera from the Library of Virginia's collections and from the special collections of the Poe Museum, presented by Tom Camden (Library of Virginia's director of Special Collections) and Chris Semtner (Poe Museum curator). The program will conclude with an optional visit to the Poe Museum for a tour and performance. To register, please visit www.literaryva.com or call Kat Spears at 804-692-3620. |
Thursday, October 16, 2012
Poetic Principals
Time: 6:30–7:30 PM
Lisa Russ Spaar and Henry Hart will give a poetry reading. Spaar and Hart are the most recent recipients of the Carol Weinstein Poetry Prize, an honor celebrating excellence in poetry among poets with strong connections to Virginia. |
Thursday, October 18, 2012
Film Screening: Even Cowgirls Get the Blues
Time: 7:15-9:00 PM
Place:Byrd Theater
In honor of Tom Robbins, the 2012 Literary Lifetime Achievement Award recipient, the Byrd Theatre will screen Even Cowgirls Get the Blues, based on the novel of the same name and narrated by the author. Tom Robbins will make a special appearance that evening at the Byrd to introduce the film. Come out to celebrate Robbins's contribution to American literature and enjoy an evening at this historic theater. Though the event is free, donations will be gratefully accepted to support the ongoing operations and preservation of the Byrd Theatre. |
Friday, October 19, 2012
James River Writers Workshops
Time: 9:00 AM–4:00 PM
Place: State Capitol, House and Senate Rooms 3
Cost: Visit www.jamesriverwriters.org
Half-day workshops will explore techniques in writing and strategies for seeking publication. Visit James River Writers (www.jamesriverwriters.org) for more information or e-mail fallconference@jamesriverwriters.org. |
Saturday, October 20, 2012
Create Your Own Book: A Workshop for Kids
Time: 10:00–11:30 AM
Place: Henrico Public Library, Tuckahoe Branch
Cost: $45. Visit www.literaryva.com
Richmond author and educator Kathryn Starke will lead a workshop for aspiring authors ages six to nine at Tuckahoe Area Library. Participants will turn their story ideas into an illustrated, bound book. All materials will be provided. |
Saturday, October 20, 2012
Literary Luncheon featuring Tom Robbins Time: 11:30 AM–1:00 PM
Place: Richmond Convention Center
Cost: $45. Visit www.literaryva.com.
The Library of Virginia's annual Literary Luncheon features medal presentations for all Virginia Literary Award finalists and a keynote presentation by internationally renowned author and 2012 Lifetime Achievement Award recipient Tom Robbins. Virginia Literary Award finalists will be available for book signings after the luncheon. To register, visit www.literaryva.com or call Kat Spears at 804-692-3620. |
Saturday, October 20, 2012
Library of Virginia Literary Awards Celebration
Time: 5:00–10:30 PM
Place: Library of Virginia
Cost: Visit www.literaryva.com
The Library of Virginia's annual Literary Awards Celebration will once again feature host Adriana Trigiani for 2012, plus Lifetime Achievement Award recipient Tom Robbins. A cocktail reception will be followed by dinner and the ceremony. Tickets include seated dinner, choice of book, and open bar for $175 per person. Tickets for a special VIP cocktail reception in a restricted area of the Library with finalists and Lifetime Achievement recipient are available for an additional charge. For more information or to register, visit www.literaryva.com or call Kat Spears at 804-692-3620. |
Tuesday, October 23, 2012
Master of the Mountain: Thomas Jefferson and His Slaves
Is there anything new to say about Thomas Jefferson and slavery? The answer is a resounding yes. Henry Wiencek's eloquent, persuasive book "based on new information coming from archaeological work at Monticello and on hitherto overlooked or disregarded evidence in Jefferson's papers" opens up a huge, poorly understood dimension of Jefferson's world. We must, Wiencek suggests, follow the money. A book signing will follow the talk. |
Wednesday, October 24, 2012
Come Tour the Archives of the Commonwealth at the Library of Virginia
Time: 10:00–11:00 AM
Place: Lobby
The Library of Virginia is celebrating Archives Month with behind-the-scenes tours of the Archives Stacks, Conservation Lab, and Special Collections. Guests will see unique paper items being conserved and learn about the Mutual Assurance Society Collection, legislative petitions, "murder" maps from court records, and election records. The tours will conclude in the Special Collections Reading Room, where the surrender papers of Lord Cornwallis, Stonewall Jackson's last communication to General Robert E. Lee, the Virginia Ordinance of Secession, an 1818 engraved script on parchment copy of the Declaration of Independence, and other treasures of Virginia's history will be on display. |
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