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Rita Dove has served as Poet Laureate of the United States and consultant to the Library of Congress and as Poet Laureate of Virginia. She holds honorary doctoral degrees from more than 20 American universities. She has won the Pulitzer Prize in Poetry and numerous other literary awards and honors, including the Library of Virginia’s Literary Lifetime Achievement Award. Now another prestigious honor is going to the multitalented poet. Dove, Commonwealth Professor of English at the University of Virginia, is the recipient of the 2014 Carole Weinstein Prize in Poetry. Established in 2005, the prize is awarded each year to a poet with strong connections to the commonwealth of Virginia. The $10,000 annual prize recognizes significant recent contribution to the art of poetry and is awarded on the basis of a range of achievement in the field of poetry. Dove was selected by the current curators of the Weinstein Prize—Elizabeth Seydel “Buffy” Morgan, David Wojahn, Ron Smith, and Donald E. Selby Jr.—who wrote, “For more than four decades, Dove has been a vital presence in American verse, both by virtue of the ambition and resonance of her verse, and for her role as a public spokesperson for poetry during a time when its potential audience has never been larger. We are delighted to honor a poet of such accomplishment, sensitivity, and music. Rita Dove eschews the narrow and embraces the human. She speaks to all of us.” A native of Akron, Ohio, Dove won the 1987 Pulitzer Prize in Poetry for her book Thomas and Beulah, based on her maternal grandparents. Her many other collections of poetry include American Smooth, Mother Love, On the Bus with Rosa Parks, Grace Notes, and Selected Poems. She has also published a collection of stories, Fifth Sunday; a novel, Through the Ivory Gate; a collection of her Poet Laureate lectures, The Poet's World; and a verse drama, The Darker Face of the Earth. Previous recipients of Weinstein Prize include George Garrett, R. T. Smith, Henry Hart, Elizabeth Seydel “Buffy” Morgan, Ron Smith, Kelly Cherry, Eleanor Ross Taylor, Charles Wright, and Lisa Russ Spaar. Dove will receive the Weinstein Poetry Prize at the 17th Annual Library of Virginia Literary Awards Celebration on October 18. To purchase a ticket, visit www.thevirginiashop.org/literaryawardscelebration.aspx. |
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“Fire, Flour and Fork” is Richmond's upcoming culinary gathering for the food curious—and the Library of Virginia is hosting! On Friday, October 31, and Saturday, November 1, experience Fire, Flour and Fork's culinary track series at the Library of Virginia, where ticket holders will experience one-of-a-kind demonstrations, book signings, film screenings, artisanal tastings, and more. Gregg Kimball, the Library of Virginia’s director of public service and outreach and the author of American City, Southern Place: A Cultural History of Antebellum Richmond, will set the table on October 31 with tales of Richmond's place in food history, including milling, trade, and Civil War shortages and bread riots. The day also features demonstrations by Christina Tosi of New York's Momofuku Milk Bar, Paul Virant, Kelly Walker, Jason Alley, and other chefs both locally and nationally renowned. So bring out your inner foodie for a weekend to savor. A single-day pass is $70 and a two-day pass is $100. For the full lineup and event schedule, visit www.fireflourandfork.com. |
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The Museum Stores of Richmond Holiday Shoppers’ Fair is a unique event that offers the Richmond region more than a dozen of the best local museum stores under one roof. This year’s event, hosted by the Library of Virginia, is the 20th anniversary of the fair held each November. To celebrate the 20th anniversary, the fair will host a birthday party on Friday evening with 20 percent off all merchandise, an engaging story time for children on Saturday morning, and Virginia author meet-and-greets throughout the weekend. Shopping the booths will give visitors a feel for each museum and historical site while they find educational, engaging, and local gifts for loved ones. All proceeds from the event support and expand the missions of the participating organizations. If you’re the kind of person who always stops at the gift shop at a museum or historic site, this event is for you. Please join us on Friday, November 7 and Saturday, November 8 at the Library of Virginia in downtown Richmond for this festive and fun event. SHOPPERS’ FAIR SCHEDULE Friday, November 7, 2014 Saturday, November 8, 2014 Limited free and secure parking is available in the Library’s underground deck, which is accessible from either Eight or Ninth streets, with elevator access to the event. Participating museums: –submitted by Laura Curzi, the Virginia Shop |
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The Library of Virginia has a well-deserved reputation as the best place to research your family history if your ancestors were born in Virginia or the territory that once comprised the Virginia colony. It also is the place researchers come to investigate the arcane workings of Virginia government or to search for the obscure or not-so-obscure details about events and personalities related to Virginia history and culture. Researchers are drawn to the Library by its unmatched collections of materials about Virginia, which continue to grow as new items are purchased, donated, or sent to the archives by state and local governments. As of August 2014 the Library's collections of books, periodicals, government publications, and microforms totals 1,905,669 items, including 51,705 reels of newspaper microfilm and 687,961 federal government publications. The Library's archival collections now total 79,391.7 cubic feet of approximately 119 million items. The archival collection also includes 49,527 reels of microfilm, an estimated 68,000 maps, and 13,062 architectural plans and drawings. The Library's Special Collections contain 52,614 rare book titles, dating as far back as the 15th century and collected over the past 175 years; fine art including paintings and sculptures located largely in Capitol Square area–buildings, such as the Library, State Capitol, Executive Mansion, and Supreme Court; and more than 310,000 prints, photographs, postcards, posters, and ephemera in the Prints and Photographs Collection. Come visit us to see what we have, or check us out online at www.virginia.gov or www.virginiamemory.com/. |
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Points of Personal Privilege, a collection of essays based on the personal experiences of Virginia’s state senators and presiding officers, has been designated as a 2014 Notable Document by the Legislative Research Librarians staff section of the National Council of State Legislatures. The award recognizes excellence in documents that explore topics of interest to legislators and staff, and that present substantive material in an outstanding format. Points of Personal Privilege is a publication of the Virginia Senate Clerk’s Office under the guidance of Susan Clarke Schaar, clerk of the senate. The historic series within the book, entitled “Yesterday’s Senate,” begins with remarks from Senator Harry F. Byrd to the Virginia Senate in 2002, recounting his first days as a senator. As the most senior statesman to contribute to the publication, Senator Byrd provided a look back in time to when the Senate was a very different body. In 1948, the Senate met biennially. Today, the Senate meets every year, and Virginia now has a population of eight million. Recently elected Senators reflect the changes in Virginia but also the continuing traditions of the Senate. Thirty-one documents were submitted from 11 states for consideration as a 2014 Notable Document. Winners were selected in nine categories. The submissions were reviewed by a panel of experienced legislative librarians, rated using uniform standards, and ranked according to their scores. Points of Personal Privilege shared top honors in the historical and cultural resources category with Tennessee State Capitol: Grounded in Tradition (video) produced by the Tennessee Secretary of State and the Tennessee State Library and Archives. |
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October is here and so is Archives Month. At the Library of Virginia we are celebrating with free tours featuring our wonderful archival staff and incomparable archives. To sign up for a tour, visit http://tinyurl.com/lvaarchtour. Archives Month in Virginia is part of a nationwide commemoration of the value of archives and archival collections and of the dedicated professionals who care for our shared history and make it accessible to all. Archives preserve the records of an open democracy and safeguard the rights and freedoms of all citizens. Virginia’s archival treasures document the history and accomplishments of the commonwealth and its people through more than four centuries. To celebrate Archives Month, the Virginia Caucus of the Mid-Atlantic Regional Archives Conference (MARAC) and the Library of Virginia have partnered to produce a handsome poster focused on the theme for 2014—Archives Are for Virginians! To highlight this theme, the 2014 poster features a selection of images submitted by 26 different archives, libraries, and historical organizations from across the state. Images submitted for inclusion on this year’s poster as well as pictures of past posters are available on the Library’s Flickr page at www.flickr.com/groups/2687190@N21. A special thank you goes to the hard-working volunteers who served on the Archives Month Planning Committee as well as to the Virginia State Historical Records Advisory Board, the National Historical Publications and Records Commission, and the Friends of the Virginia State Archives for their financial support of the Archives Month poster and activities. —submitted by Sandra G. Treadway, Librarian of Virginia and State Archivist |
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The Library of Virginia offered scholarships to 10 public librarians to attend the Lead the Change! What Great Library Leaders Know and Do workshop presented through Library Journal in late September at the Chesterfield Public Library. Lead the Change! is an interactive workshop that guides attendees through a series of collaborative exercises to help them harness their ideas, clarify their goals, and create a personal leadership plan. “The Library of Virginia is pleased to be able to underwrite the cost for these librarians to attend the workshop,” said Librarian of Virginia Sandra G. Treadway. “Virginia’s public libraries play pivotal roles in their communities in economic development, literacy, and education. Offering library staff the opportunity to further their leadership skills strengthens our libraries to better serve citizens.” Participants received an action planner and worked both individually and in groups during reflection and discussion periods to build a framework for innovation and change. Program developer David Bendekovic and his co-facilitators—Wayne Crocker, Petersburg Public Library’s director of library services, and Eva Poole, executive director of Virginia Beach Public Library—provided insights, best practices, and leadership tools that helped the group tap into personal leadership qualities to transform their careers, their libraries, and their communities. The public librarians who received scholarships for the workshop were: Dana Bomba, Campbell County Public Library; Teralee ElBasri, Chesterfield County Public Library; Rita Scrivener, Hampton Public Library; Adrienne Davis, Handley Library; Hannah Robinson, Lynchburg Public Library; Gregg Grunow and Rachel Enrich, Portsmouth Public Library; and Kellye Carter, Keirstin Flythe, and Tamara Sarg, Virginia Beach Public Library. |
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