BOOK EVENT WITH CHUCK ROBB
In the Arena: A Memoir of Love, War, and Politics
Wednesday, October 6, 2021 from 5:30 PM–7:00 PM 
Lecture Hall 
Free, but registration required. Please join us for a conversation with former U.S. Senator and Virginia Governor Chuck Robb about his new memoir, In the Arena: A Memoir of Love, War, and Politics. Former Secretary of Education Anne Holton will join Senator Robb on stage to reflect on his extraordinary life and career.
In the Arena offers the first political memoir of the noted statesman’s extraordinary life, tracing his path from early days as an anonymous Marine to his fairytale wedding (to Lynda Bird Johnson, the daughter of President Lyndon B. Johnson), from night movements in Vietnam to engaging in the height of Democratic politics in the Virginia State Capitol and U.S. Senate, and from experiencing personal highs and lows to becoming a principled fighter and exemplar of today’s moderate Democrat. Full of honest reflections, the book pulls back the curtain on one of America's proven political leaders.
A book signing will follow the talk. The book is available at the Virginia Shop. For more information, contact Courtney Bryce at courtney.bryce@lva.virginia.gov or 804.692.3524.
Library of Virginia Literary Awards: Nonfiction Discussion Panel
Tuesday, October 12, 2021 from 6:00 PM–7:30 PM Online Free At 6:00 PM join the Library of Virginia live on our Facebook or YouTube pages to hear a conversation with Nonfiction Award finalists Chip Jones, author of The Organ Thieves: The Shocking Story of the First Heart Transplant in the Segregated South; Ryan Smith, author of Death and Rebirth in a Southern City: Richmond's Historic Cemeteries; and Nicole Myers Turner, author of Soul Liberty: The Evolution of Black Religious Politics in Postemancipation Virginia. The winner will be announced during the Literary Awards Virtual Celebration on Saturday, October 16, 2021.
Literary Awards week is a great time to help support the Library’s programs, special projects, and exhibitions. So much of our work is made possible because of individuals like you. Click here to make your gift today.
Literary Virginia Book Group
Wednesday, October 13, 2021 from 6:00 PM–7:30 PM Orientation Room or Online Free Beginning this fall, our meetings will be hybrid—you can join in person at the Library or online through Zoom. Please log in at 6:00 PM through either the Zoom link or the phone number below:
Zoom Meeting:
https://zoom.us/j/93740664507?pwd=aUc4cXoyeGxFZW5YbXdudzBXVU12dz09
Meeting ID: 937 4066 4507
Passcode: 469804
One tap mobile
+13017158592,,93740664507#,,,,*469804# US (Washington DC)
Dial by your location
+1 301 715 8592 US (Washington DC)
Find your local number: https://zoom.us/u/aeAihCyrav
Read and discuss the best of today's Virginia literature—including books by Library of Virginia Literary Award winners and finalists in fiction and nonfiction. On the second Wednesday evening of each month, join a book group discussion either in person or online. This month, we'll discuss You Never Forget Your First: A Biography of George Washington by Alexis Coe (a nonfiction finalist for the 2021 People’s Choice Award and the subject of our November 2021 Weinstein Author Series talk)
Next month, we'll discuss Crooked Hallelujah by Kelli Jo Ford (a fiction finalist for the 2021 People’s Choice Award).
Library of Virginia loaner books are unavailable at this time, but check your local public library for curbside checkout or digital download. This book is available at the Virginia Shop online and other online retail outlets. For more information, contact Nan Carmack at nan.carmack@lva.virginia.gov or 804.692.3792.
Library of Virginia Literary Awards: Fiction Discussion Panel
Wednesday, October 13, 2021 from 6:00 PM–7:30 PM Online Free At 6:00 PM join the Library of Virginia live on our Facebook or YouTube pages to hear a conversation with Fiction Award finalists Rachel Beanland, author of Florence Adler Swims Forever; Brian Castleberry, author of Nine Shiny Objects; and Alma Katsu, author of The Deep. The winner will be announced during the Literary Awards Virtual Celebration on Saturday, October 16, 2021.
Literary Awards week is a great time to help support the Library’s programs, special projects, and exhibitions. So much of our work is made possible because of individuals like you. Click here to make your gift today.
Library of Virginia Literary Awards: Poetry Discussion Panel
Thursday, October 14, 2021 from 6:00 PM–7:30 PM Online Free At 6:00 PM join the Library of Virginia live on our Facebook or YouTube pages to hear author and journalist Anna Scotti moderate a discussion with Poetry Award finalists Bill Glose, author of Postscript to War; Annie Kim, author of Eros, Unbroken; and Kiki Petrosino, author of White Blood: A Lyric of Virginia. The winner will be announced during the Literary Awards Virtual Celebration on Saturday, October 16, 2021.
Literary Awards week is a great time to help support the Library’s programs, special projects, and exhibitions. So much of our work is made possible because of individuals like you. Click here to make your gift today.
Art In Literature: The Mary Lynn Kotz Award
Friday, October 15, 2021 from 6:00 PM–7:30 PM Marble Hall, Virginia Museum of Fine Arts $8 ($5 for Library of Virginia & VMFA members) The Library of Virginia and the Virginia Museum of Fine Arts present the Art in Literature: The Mary Lynn Kotz Award. This year’s honoree is Gaylord Torrence for his book Continuum: Native North American Art at the Nelson-Atkins Museum of Art. This landmark publication brings North American Indigenous art to the fore with the presentation of 280 objects from the culturally and aesthetically rich collection of the Nelson-Atkins Museum of Art. Join us for a presentation exploring the relationship between literature and the visual arts. A book signing and reception will follow the program.
This unique award, established in 2013, is named in honor of Mary Lynn Kotz, author of the award-winning biography Rauschenberg: A Life. The award recognizes an outstanding book published in the previous year that is written primarily in response to a work (or works) of art while also showing the highest literary quality as a creative or scholarly work. Torrence will also be recognized on Saturday, October 16, 2021, during the Literary Awards Virtual Celebration.
Literary Awards week is a great time to help support the Library’s programs, special projects, and exhibitions. So much of our work is made possible because of individuals like you. Click here to make your gift today.
24th Annual Library of Virginia Literary Awards Virtual Celebration
Saturday, October 16, 2021 from 6:00 PM–7:30 PM Online Free At 6:00 PM join the Library live on our Facebook or YouTube pages as we celebrate the Library of Virginia Literary Awards virtually again this year with award-winning Virginia author Adriana Trigiani, who returns as host. This annual event, sponsored by Dominion Energy, attracts library supporters, authors, publishers, and those who enjoy the written word.
Literary Awards week is a great time to help support the Library’s programs, special projects, and exhibitions. So much of our work is made possible because of individuals like you. Click here to make your gift today.
Common Ground Virginia History Virtual Book Group
Tuesday, October 19, 2021 from 6:00 PM–7:30 PM Online Free, but registration required. Read and discuss compelling nonfiction books handpicked by Library staff that explore Virginia history, society, and culture. This month, we'll discuss Dopesick by Beth Macy. Next month, we'll discuss Fearless: How a Poor Virginia Seamstress Took On Jim Crow, Beat the Poll Tax and Changed Her City Forever by Charlene Butts Ligon. Check your local public library or the FindItVA OverDrive collection to borrow titles, or purchase through the Virginia Shop or other online retailers.
We invite attendees to sign up for our monthly email list. Get meeting reminders as well as unique historical resources from the Library's collections selected to accompany upcoming discussions. To sign up for the list or request more information about this event, contact Becky Schneider at rebecca.schneider@lva.virginia.gov or 804.692.3550.
GENEALOGY WORKSHOP
Immigration Records at the Library of Virginia
Friday, October 22, 2021 from 10:00 AM–11:00 AM Online $15 ($10 for Library of Virginia members) ***Due to numerous requests for our genealogy workshops to remain virtual with concerns stemming from COVID-19, the Library has decided to convert our in-person genealogy workshops back to virtual events for the remainder of 2021. We apologize for any inconvenience. Dates and registrations will remain the same.***
Library of Virginia reference archivist Cara Griggs leads this workshop focused on records from 1607 to 1929 concerning the immigration of individuals who came to Virginia. Learn about passenger lists and naturalization records as well as strategies for identifying birthplaces through records that relate to immigration and naturalization, vital records, obituaries, cemetery records, the records of religious organizations, and records from an individual’s country of origin. Contact Ashley Ramey at ashley.ramey@lva.virginia.gov or 804.692.3001 for more information.
Making History with LVA
Saturday, October 23, 2021 from 12:00 PM–2:00 PM Online Free Crowdsource with us! The Library of Virginia acquires, preserves, and promotes access to unique collections of Virginia’s history and culture. With more content and research moving online, we seek to make digital documents as accessible as possible by crowdsourcing their contents. Volunteers will transcribe handwritten pages and historical newspapers by reading the text and typing it into digital form. Join us for a virtual volunteer session to learn how you can help make historical documents more searchable and usable for researchers now and in the future.
Each session will focus on one or more of these three crowdsourcing projects (depending on document availability):
From the Page: WWI Questionnaires
After Library of Virginia staff members introduce the platform and demonstrate the activity, volunteers will work independently for the remaining time. Participants can share their screens and ask questions about specific documents or issues. Information about joining through Zoom will be emailed the week of the event.
Participate in enhancing access to collections of over 400 years of Virginia history, people, and culture. From peace to wartime, wedding announcements and world-changing events, and court records to letters home, there will be something for everyone. Help us tell the narrative of all Virginians—the famous, infamous and even anonymous—and join us in Making History.
Contact Sonya Coleman for more information at makinghistory@virginiamemory.com or call Hands On Greater Richmond at 804-330-7400. Registration is required.
Columbia Pike: Through the Lens of Community
Tuesday, August 31, 2021–Saturday, January 8, 2022 Library of Virginia Exhibition Gallery Free Columbia Pike: Through the Lens of Community, a unique exhibition of photographs at the Library of Virginia, celebrates the extraordinary cultural diversity found within a single community in Northern Virginia. Columbia Pike originated in the 19th century as a toll road connecting rural Virginia with the nation's capital. Today, the Columbia Pike corridor is one of the most culturally diverse communities in the nation, and possibly in the world. More than 130 languages are spoken in Arlington County, with the densest concentration along the Pike. Unlike in many parts of the world, or even in our own country, however, the stunningly diverse group of people—representing every continent—who live and work there do so in relative harmony.
Columbia Pike Documentary Project photographers, whose personal connections to the community allowed them to capture the strength, pride, resilience, elegance, and beauty of so many overlapping cultures, created the works on view. More than 70 of the thousands of photographs transferred to the Library of Virginia’s collections this spring will be highlighted in Columbia Pike: Through the Lens of Community. The exhibition will also include information about the neighborhood, the residents, and the photographers themselves. As the nation seems more divided than ever, this collection shows how one community is making diversity work.
Columbia Pike: Through the Lens of Community
Tuesday, August 31, 2021–Saturday, January 8, 2022 Library of Virginia Exhibition Gallery Free Columbia Pike: Through the Lens of Community, a unique exhibition of photographs at the Library of Virginia, celebrates the extraordinary cultural diversity found within a single community in Northern Virginia. Columbia Pike originated in the 19th century as a toll road connecting rural Virginia with the nation's capital. Today, the Columbia Pike corridor is one of the most culturally diverse communities in the nation, and possibly in the world. More than 130 languages are spoken in Arlington County, with the densest concentration along the Pike. Unlike in many parts of the world, or even in our own country, however, the stunningly diverse group of people—representing every continent—who live and work there do so in relative harmony.
Columbia Pike Documentary Project photographers, whose personal connections to the community allowed them to capture the strength, pride, resilience, elegance, and beauty of so many overlapping cultures, created the works on view. More than 70 of the thousands of photographs transferred to the Library of Virginia’s collections this spring will be highlighted in Columbia Pike: Through the Lens of Community. The exhibition will also include information about the neighborhood, the residents, and the photographers themselves. As the nation seems more divided than ever, this collection shows how one community is making diversity work.
