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The Library of Virginia e-Newsletter
May 2014

News
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Treadway Receives Filby Award from NGS

Librarian of Virginia Sandra G. Treadway is the recipient of the National Genealogical Society's Filby Award for Genealogical Librarianship. The award was presented at the NGS's 2014 Family History Conference at Librarians 'Day preconference on May 6. The $1,000 NGS Filby Award for Genealogical Librarianship is awarded annually.

The Filby Award is named for the late P. William Filby, former director of the Maryland Historical Society and author of many core genealogical reference tools that genealogists have relied on for decades. The award was created and first presented at the annual 1999 NGS Family History...

Cast Your Vote for the 11th Annual People's Choice Awards

The Library of Virginia is pleased to sponsor the 11th Annual People's Choice Awards. Winners will be announced at the 17th Annual Library of Virginia Literary Awards at the Library of Virginia. Awards are given for the best fiction and nonfiction books published in the past year by Virginia authors; in the case of nonfiction, books on a Virginia subject are eligible.The winners will be chosen by public vote from among five finalists in each category. Readers may vote in public libraries or...

Kingsolver Is 2014 Literary Lifetime Achievement Award Winner

The Library of Virginia will honor internationally acclaimed author Barbara Kingsolver with its 2014 Literary Lifetime Achievement Award. She is the author of best-selling novels, nonfiction, and poetry, as well as a freelance journalist and political activist.

Born in 1955, Kingsolver grew up in rural Kentucky and earned degrees in biology from DePauw University and the University of Arizona. Critical acclaim for her books includes multiple awards from the...

Bridge Joins LVA Foundation

The Library is pleased to announce that Amy Bridge has joined us as the new executive director of the Library of Virginia Foundation. She will be responsible for all fund-raising efforts of the Foundation as well as oversight of the Virginia Shops (at the Library and the Capitol) and the Discovery Café. Bridge comes to the Library from the Richmond Public Library Foundation, where she served as chief administrative officer and director of development. From 2002 until 2012 she served as director of the Executive Mansion of the Commonwealth of Virginia. In that capacity she planned and implemented 750 events for more than 55,000 mansion guests. Among the more memorable of these were a private reception given by then-Governor Kaine for Queen Elizabeth II and events for the ambassadors of China, Israel, and...

Nominations Sought for Strong Men & Women and Virginia Women in History Programs

Each year students are encouraged to nominate individuals for the Strong Men and Women and the Virginia Women in History programs. This year, nominations are due June 13. Nominees can be either living or dead, but should be someone who has made a major difference in the community, the state, or their profession.

Schools with winning nominations are eligible for cash prizes, free teacher workshops, and student programming. Members of the public are also encouraged to submit entries but are not eligible for...

Suffolk Public Library Chosen for Transforming Libraries Program

The Suffolk Public Library, which serves a population of 85,000, is one of ten public libraries chosen by the American Library Association to undergo an intensive 18-month, team-based community engagement training program as part of the Libraries Transforming Communities Public Innovators Cohort. The Suffolk Public Library system, which has three locations and also operates a bookmobile, provides free services to residents living within the 430 square miles that comprise the city of Suffolk.

The cohort, selected through a highly competitive peer-reviewed application process, is part of ALA's LTC initiative, a national plan to help librarians strengthen their role as core community leaders...

Brown Institute to Focus on "Teaching Tough Topics"

The Library of Virginia will present the fifth annual Anne and Ryland Brown Teacher Institute on June 27, 2014. The Brown Teacher Institute is an annual event held to enhance the knowledge of and training in history and social science instruction in the commonwealth of Virginia by providing educators with teaching resources and opportunities for in-depth study.This year's theme, "Teaching Tough Topics," explores how to use primary sources to tell stories that can teach us about tough times in history. In a lead-up to the Library's ground-breaking exhibition To Be Sold: Virginia and the American Slave Trade, scheduled toopen on October 27, the event will focus...

The Virginia Shop Summer Sale Set for June 16–28

The Virginia Shop at the Library of Virginia will hold its summer sale June 16–29, featuring savings of up to 75 percent on clearance books, toys, home goods, and jewelry. Savings of 10 percent will be offered on full-priced merchandise. Semper Virginia Society members will receive 20 percent off all full-priced merchandise purchased in the store during the sale.

Virginia Early Childhood Foundation & Library of Virginia Launch "Smart Beginnings Start with Families" Campaign

The Virginia Early Childhood Foundation and the Library of Virginia have designated May 11–June 15, the time period between Mother's Day and Father's Day, as an opportunity to focus on the unique needs of young children and to recognize that "Smart Beginnings Start with Families." Both of these partner organizations develop and implement...
Fun & Free at the Library

Wednesday, May 14, 2014
Back Roads "BOOKS ON BROAD" FEATURING BILL LOHMANN AND BOB BROWN
Time: 5:30–7:30 PM
Place: Lecture Hall
Richmond Times-Dispatch columnist Bill Lohmann and photographer Bob Brown have traveled around Virginia for many years. Back Roads: People, Places and Pie from Around Virginia features a collection of Brown's photographs from the road with insights from Lohmann that tell the stories behind the pictures. Reception (wine and cheese) 5:30–6:30 PM, book talk 6:00–7:00 PM, and book signing 7:00–7:30 PM.

Monday, May 19, 2014
Mrs. PoeMrs. Poe
Time: Noon–1:00 PM
Place: Conference Rooms, Free
Lynn Cullen will discuss and sign her new novel, Mrs. Poe, inspired by literature's most haunting love triangle: Edgar Allan Poe, his tubercular young wife, and a lady poet. Closely based on Poe's life and writings, and rich with authentic historical detail, Mrs. Poe is a novel of romantic obsession, set in the fascinating world of New York's literati scene of the 1840s.

Saturday, May 24, 2014—Monday, May 26, 2014
Closed
The Library of Virginia will be closed for the Memorial Day weekend.

Through Tuesday, May 27, 2014
Central Virginia Botanical Artists Exhibition
Time: 9:00 AM–5:00 PM
Place: Lobby under the stairs, Free
To complement the Library's exhibition Flora of Virginia, the Central Virginia Botanical Artists will mount an exhibition of works by members of the CVBA.

Tuesday, May 27, 2014
Poetic Principals: Writers from VCU
Place: Conference Rooms, Free
Three up-and-coming writers with connections to Virginia Commonwealth University will offer readings of their recent work: Paula Champa, who just published her first novel, The Afterlife of Emerson Tang; Emilia Phillips, who just published her first collection of poems, Signaletics; and Joshua Poteat, author of Ornithologies and Illustrating the Machine that Makes the World.

Friday, May 30, 2014—Saturday, May 31, 2014
Antiquarian Book FairTHIRD ANNUAL ANTIQUARIAN BOOK FAIR
Don't miss the commonwealth's premier rare-book event featuring more than 40 of the region's finest dealers in mass-market titles, rare books, manuscripts, maps, and ephemera.

The Library of Virginia hosts the Antiquarian Book Fair in conjunction with the Virginia Antiquarian Booksellers' Association and with the support of the Southeast Chapter of the Antiquarian Booksellers' Association of America.

  Book Fair Schedule
   Friday, May 30
  Hours: Noon–8 PM
  Wine-and-cheese reception: 5:30–7:30 PM
 
  Saturday, May 31
  Hours: 9:00 AM–3:00 PM

Through Saturday, September 13, 2014
Flora of VirginiaFlora of Virginia
Place: Lobby and Exhibition Hall
Time: 9:00 AM–5:00 PM
Discover the power of the flower. Delve into Virginia's natural environment through Flora of Virginia, an exhibition featuring hundreds of colorful illustrations from the Library of Virginia's collections. Learn fun facts about Virginia's native plants. Examine the history of botanical description and illustration. Explore the personalities behind the folks who collected and described these plants. Try your hand at sketching a specimen at the drawing station.

Monday, June 2–Saturday, August 23, 2014
Mapping RVA: Where You Live Makes All the Difference
Place: Voorhees Map Reading Room, Second Floor
Time: 9:00 AM–5:00 PM
Housing Opportunities Made Equal (HOME) presents Mapping RVA: Where You Live Makes All the Difference, a multimedia exhibition of nine maps created using geographic information systems to display a unique history of the Richmond metro area. In this iteration of the traveling exhibit, maps from the Library of Virginia's holdings will be presented alongside the maps created by HOME's director of research, Brian Koziol. The current circumstances of Richmond's neighborhoods have roots in state and federal policies that have had lasting effects on concentrations of poverty and growth, lending patterns, homeownership, and educational outcomes for children.

Monday, June 16–Saturday, July 19, 2014
Rewarding Virginia's Warriors:  Commemorating 70 Years of the GI Bill
Place: Reading Rooms, Second Floor
Time: 9:00 AM–5:00 PM
The GI Bill turns 70 this year. Prior to this groundbreaking legislation being signed into law in June 1944  by President Franklin Roosevelt, postwar benefits for veterans  were skimpy and spotty at best. This display of pre-World War II portions of the Library's military collection highlights Revolutionary War land bounties, petitions for pensions, and post-Civil War applications for prosthetics. Artifacts from Hanger, Inc, a prosthetic company founded by Virginian James Hanger after the Civil War will also be on display.

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