Educator Services

We provide relevant and useful educational material on Virginia’s history, culture, and people to the Commonwealth’s educators, students, and lifelong learners of any age.

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Professional Development

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Brown Teacher Institute

Our Brown Teacher Institute offers professional development for teachers in history and civics for all public, private, and homeschool K-12 educators in Virginia.

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Brown Teacher Fellowship

Virginia educators can join us for a summer research opportunity to produce educational resources in support of the Library of Virginia’s ongoing exhibition and education programs.

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Race and Ethnicity in Virginia: Transforming K-12 Teaching Through Local Histories

Are you ready to transform how you teach Virginia history and culture? Join us in July for this Professional Development Institute for Virginia Educators, jointly sponsored by Virginia Commonwealth University, the Library of Virginia, and Virginia Humanities. Explore the rich, complex stories of African American, Latina/o/e, Asian American and Pacific Islander (AAPI), and Native American communities that have shaped the Commonwealth. This institute will equip educators with the knowledge, resources, and confidence to teach Virginia's full, complex story—centering voices that have too often been marginalized or erased.

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Online Classroom

Document Bank of Virginia

Document Bank of Virginia (DBVa) is filled with images of primary historical sources ready for use in the classroom. Each item is keyed to Virginia Standards of Learning and provides historical context as well as suggested questions or activities for students.

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image collage with battle-damaged U.S. flag, map, portrait of George Washington, photograph of white police arresting black demonstrators, 19th century engraving, poster of Uncle Sam, and 19th century certificate

Shaping the Constitution

Shaping the Constitution features important primary source documents and images from the Library of Virginia and the Library of Congress related to America’s Founding era and the U.S. Constitution. This educational resource for teachers and students explores the beginnings of the U.S. government and Virginia’s connections to those events, as well as amendments to the original document that have continued to shape the course of our nation's history.

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Union or Secession: Virginians Decide

Union or Secession uses letters, newspapers, official documents, and maps to understand Virginia's secession crisis as it unfolded between the 1860 presidential campaign and the First Battle of Manassas in July 1861. By using the words of Virginians in approximately 200 documents Union or Secession allows Virginians to speak for themselves as they experienced the crisis.

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Virginia Changemakers

Virginia Changemakers is filled with short biographies of men and women who have changed Virginia’s history. It brings together the remarkable lives of Virginians who have made a difference in their community, state, and nation and have been honored through the Library of Virginia’s signature programs Strong Men and Women in Virginia History (celebrating Black History Month), Virginia Women in History (celebrating Women’s History month), and New Virginians (celebrating the state’s diverse immigration history).

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map of Virginia showing residence locations of the four 2026 Strong Men and Women in Virginia History honorees

Strong Men & Women in Virginia History

The Library honors distinguished Virginians each year during Black History Month in this program sponsored by Dominion Energy Virginia. Find this year's honorees, request posters for your classroom or library, participate in our annual student contest, or nominate an honoree.

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Field Trips and Tours

Learn about our rich history and explore primary source documents from the Library’s collections while touring our facilities and exhibition gallery.