July 2020 Newsletter

Welcome Back!
Library of Virginia Reopens to Researchers by Appointment

The Library of Virginia happily welcomed researchers back to its reading rooms on Tuesday, July 7, 2020. During our initial reopening phase, researchers will be able to use the collections by advance appointment Tuesday–Friday, 10:00 AM–4:00 PM. To make an appointment, please call 804.692.3800.

COVID-19, which prompted the Library's closing to the public in mid-March, continues to pose a serious public health risk. The visitor experience now includes new health and safety protocols based on the latest guidance from the Governor's Office, the Virginia Department of Health, and the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention including:

• Face coverings required in the building at all times
• Physical distancing of six feet required in all public spaces
• Face masks and hand sanitizer available for the public
• Frequent cleaning of restrooms and surfaces in public areas throughout the day
• Returned books quarantined for three days before being available for use again

For additional information about what to expect on your visit, please see our COVID-19 Update: Guidelines for Researchers, which will be updated regularly. And watch our new "Reopening Guidelines for Visitors" video on our About Page. Thank you for your continued patience as we navigate this unprecedented situation together.

Voting Opens July 15 for the 17th Annual People's Choice Awards

Cast your vote for the Library of Virginia's 17th Annual People's Choice Awards, part of our annual Literary Awards Celebration. Selected by input from Virginia librarians and independent booksellers, the finalists represent the most-requested titles by Virginia authors in fiction and nonfiction published in the past year. For nonfiction, books on a Virginia subject are also eligible.

The winners will be chosen by votes from the public from among five finalists in each category. Readers may vote online at the Library of Virginia's web page. Voting begins on JULY 15 and runs through AUGUST 31, 2020.

This year's fiction finalists for the People's Choice Awards are:
MARTIN CLARK | The Substitution Order
BRUCE HOLSINGER | The Gifted School
ANGIE KIM | Miracle Creek
TOSCA LEE | The Line Between
SONJA YOERG | True Places

This year's nonfiction finalists for the People's Choice Awards are:
TRESSIE MCMILLAN COTTOM | Thick: And Other Essays
DAVID L. ROLL | George Marshall: Defender of the Republic
CRAIG SHIRLEY | Mary Ball Washington
ALAN TAYLOR | Thomas Jefferson's Education
KATHERINE WINTSCH | Slay Like a Mother

The winners will be announced at a virtual event on Saturday, October 17, 2020, at the 23rd Annual Library of Virginia Literary Awards Celebration presented by Dominion Energy. Each winner will receive an engraved crystal book and a monetary prize of $2,500. For more information, please visit our Literary Awards web page.

Weinstein Author Series Virtual Event
SARAH MILOV
The Cigarette: A Political History

The Library is excited to continue the Carole Weinstein Author Series with a free virtual book talk on Monday, July 20, 2020, at noon. Author and historian Sarah Milov will discuss her book The Cigarette: A Political History, which reveals the surprisingly vital role tobacco played in the political economy of the United States over the course of the 20th century.

Milov is an assistant professor of history at the University of Virginia and a former fellow of the Virginia Foundation for the Humanities. In this engaging and meticulously argued work, she shows that the story of the tobacco industry reflects the nature of our political system and the development and transformation of corporatism. By looking at tobacco's place in public life, we can better understand who governs.

The Carole Weinstein Author Series supports the literary arts by bringing both new and well-known authors to the Library of Virginia, now via both virtual events and physical book talks once the Library reopens to the general public. The series focuses on Virginia authors and Virginia subjects across all genres.

The virtual event will launch at 12:00 PM and includes a Q&A session. For registration and more information, go to https://bit.ly/3f8iauF. You can pre-order the book here.

Attention, Teachers:
Anne & Ryland Brown Teacher Institute Coming August 3 & 4!

The eleventh annual Brown Teacher Institute will focus on the legacies of slavery and racism in the commonwealth, offering tools, resources, and content to aid educators in teaching these topics in the classroom. This free, online-only program will feature live presentations and Q&A sessions. Teachers will discover new digital resources and explore how to use primary sources to enhance student learning.

This year's keynote event, sponsored by Virginia Humanities, will feature Dr. Hasan Kwame Jeffries in conversation with Chris Mathews, who teaches 4th grade in Norfolk. They will discuss Jeffries's work with the Southern Poverty Law Center's Teaching Hard History initiative, which has designed a framework for teaching about the subject of slavery in K–12 classrooms.

Attendance is limited to 50 teachers. Click here for registration and more information.