Governor's Budget Proposal Asks for Further Cuts from LVA

On December 17, Governor Timothy Kaine announced his plans to address the estimated $2.9 billion shortfall in the state's biennial budget. The plan includes about 1,500 job cuts through a combination of layoffs, retirements and elimination of unfilled positions, a 30-cent increase in the state cigarette tax, $400 million in cuts in health care and public education, and the use of $500 million from the state's rainy day fund.

The Library of Virginia's cut for 2010 is $1,088,104, which is almost our entire general fund operational budget (not counting staff costs). In addition, the Library will lose $1.25 million from the Circuit Court Records Program, which is used to process, preserve, microfilm, and digitize records from circuit courts across the state. The cuts to the Library's general fund money will have a severe impact on conservation, preservation microfilming, and collection development. The Executive Management Team is meeting to assess all areas of the Library's budget and to do everything possible to maintain current staffing levels.

New Poe Stamp to be Unveiled on January 16 at the Library of Virginia

January 19, 2009, marks the 200th anniversary of the birth of Edgar Allan Poe and the U.S. Postal Service is releasing a Poe stamp in honor of the Poe Bicentennial. The Postal Service, in partnership with the Poe Museum, St. John's Church, and the Library of Virginia, will hold a First Day of Issue Ceremony at the Library. The unveiling takes place at 11 AM and stamps will be available for purchase until 2 PM. The portrait for this new stamp was painted by Michael J. Deas, a veteran stamp designer. In 1989, Deas published The Portraits and Daguerreotypes of Edgar Allan Poe, a comprehensive collection of images featuring authentic likenesses as well as derivative portraits. The stamp sheet contains the following quote: Leave my loneliness unbroken! -"The Raven." This event is free and open to the public. Limited, free parking is available on a first-come basis in the Library's underground deck, accessible from either Eighth or Ninth streets.

The First Day of Issue Ceremony kicks off Poe Revealed 1809-2009, a cooperative effort among Virginia historical sites, museums, libraries, and performing arts organizations to commemorate the life and works of Poe throughout 2009. On July 20 the exhibition Poe: Man, Myth, or Monster opens at the Library of Virginia and runs through December 5, 2009.

A schedule of Poe-related events as well as information for educators, students, Poe enthusiasts, and visitors is available on the Poe Bicentennial Web site www.Poe200th.com.

Tourism Exhibition to Open at the Library of Virginia on January 12, 2009

Virginia Is For Tourists marks the 40th anniversary of the "Virginia Is for Lovers" marketing campaign. Since its introduction in 1969 "Virginia Is For Lovers" has become one of the most memorable and enduring advertising slogans. The exhibition explores the development of sightseeing and tourism in Virginia from a pastime for the wealthy to one of the commonwealth's major retail industries. Featuring tourist maps, excursion brochures, photographs and resort memorabilia from the Library's collections, the exhibition presents a lively look at the development of Virginia as a tourist destination. The exhibition will be on view from January 12, 2009, through July 4, 2009.

Richmond Public Library Transfers Jefferson Volumes to Library of Virginia

The Library of Virginia and the Richmond Public Library are pleased to announce that three titles once owned by Thomas Jefferson and part of his personal library at Monticello are being transferred to the Library of Virginia by the Richmond Public Library. The books were part of a 1922 gift to the Richmond Public Library by Dr. L. S. Randolph, a professor at Virginia Polytechnic Institute and State University.

The titles transferred are a Masonic journal, An Interesting Companion for a Leisure Hour. (1814); Monitorial Instruction. An Address (1825), an educational instruction text; and Memorie Sur la greffe Banks. (1800), an early French tree-grafting and gardening work with a lengthy manuscript inscription from the author to Thomas Jefferson. The Richmond Public Library's decision to transfer these titles was based on security and environmental concerns and a desire to make the works more readily accessible in an appropriate environment. At the Library of Virginia the books will be housed in the Special Collections Department where they will join four existing titles from Jefferson's library already owned by the Library. Special Collections materials at the Library of Virginia-including rare books, broadsides, sheet music, photographs, and fine art-are kept in a secure and environmentally controlled space, are accessible for research and general interest, and are often featured in special exhibitions and tours. It is expected that the three transferred titles will undergo extensive restoration in the near future.

The transfer of these rare Jefferson-related items from the Richmond Public Library to the Library of Virginia is not the first such transaction between the two institutions. Before the Richmond Public Library was established, the State Library was the custodian early in the 1920s of the John Banister Tabb Memorial Collection of children's books. Tabb was a native Virginian and Catholic priest as well as a distinguished poet and educator. After the Richmond Public Library was created, the Tabb collection was transferred to that institution.