Guest Contributor – Page 4 – The UncommonWealth

Opportunities to Socialize Essential for Guests of the YCPL Memory Café

Upon learning that Alzheimer’s disease and other dementia conditions were a growing health crisis in Virginia and across the country, I began looking for ways…

Guest ContributorSeptember 12, 2022

Archives Education & Programming Manuscripts & Special Collections

Elevating the Art and Culture of Freedom in Post-War Richmond

When I arrived as a Virginia Humanities Fellow at the Library of Virginia in September 2021, I did so with the intent to research the…

Guest ContributorAugust 10, 2022

Public Libraries

Kiwanis Kids Idea Studio: Where Innovation, Fun, and Books Meet

Folks popped into the James City County Library to grab materials, but they didn’t always stay long. All that changed in 2021 with a pioneering…

Guest ContributorAugust 8, 2022

Public Libraries

Around the World with Libraries

As a teenager working in the library at Tabb High School in York County, Virginia, I came across a book in a career exploration series…

Guest ContributorJuly 11, 2022

Public Libraries

Floyd Free Fridge

Shortly after Lisa Thompson became the Assistant Branch Manager at the Jessie Peterman Memorial Library, she and I started talking about the idea of a…

Guest ContributorJune 13, 2022

19th-Century Henrico County Records Offer Clues on the Lives of Free Black Individuals

Shortly after we published our story about William Pemberton, Lisa Denton from Henrico County Recreation and Parks reached out to me to share about her…

Guest ContributorMay 25, 2022

Public Libraries

Work Like a Girl Chesapeake

To celebrate International Women’s Day back on March 8th, the Chesapeake Public Library embarked on their first annual Work Like a Girl Chesapeake program. Work…

Guest ContributorMay 9, 2022

Archives Digital Projects Education & Programming Virginia Authors

Finding Family

Editor’s Note: A version of this article first appeared in Broadside, the magazine of the Library of Virginia, Issue No. 1, 2022 Writer Barbara Diggs discovered…

Guest ContributorMay 4, 2022

Virginia Authors

National Poetry Month Blog: Week 4, Annie Kim

For the final week of National Poetry Month, we are pleased to present our LVA Virginia Literary Award winning poet, Annie Kim, as our guest…

Guest ContributorApril 22, 2022

Public Libraries

Unequal Access: The Desegregation of Public Libraries in Northern Virginia

It all began with a question. The Fairfax County Public Library (FCPL) Board of Trustees had over the past year onboarded a cohort of new…

Guest ContributorApril 11, 2022

Public Libraries

A New Branch for Pocahontas

Pocahontas, Virginia, is a tiny town in the mountains of Southwest Virginia. Formerly a large coal-mining town, its population has dwindled since the last coal…

Guest ContributorJanuary 10, 2022

Public Libraries

Life as a Library Fellow: My Experience in Dakar, Senegal, West Africa

I fling open the black metal front gate, and the bright morning sun greets me. I begin walking down the bustling street, passing taxi cabs,…

Guest ContributorDecember 13, 2021

Public Libraries

Providing Service While Straddling Two States

I have never read the book A Tale of Two Cities by Charles Dickens, but I feel that I am currently living my version of…

Guest ContributorNovember 8, 2021

Public Libraries

Hopping the Pond: A Sister Library in England

The J. Robert Jamerson Memorial Library decided to take a trip across the pond...virtually, of course. In February of 2020, we took our first steps…

Guest ContributorOctober 13, 2021

Public Libraries

Public Library Spotlight: There’s a Dinosaur in the Library

If you want to shake up your community’s perception of the public library, I strongly suggest you consider getting a giant dinosaur skeleton. An 18-foot…

Guest ContributorAugust 9, 2021