Public Libraries – Page 5 – The UncommonWealth

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…

Your Local Public LibrarianJanuary 10, 2022

Public Libraries The Stacks

Virtual Meets and Virtual Treats: 7 Questions with Sue La Paro

This is a series introducing LVA employees and exploring what they do day-to-day. Entries in this series are collected under the tag 7 Questions. Other…

Vince BrooksDecember 20, 2021

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,…

Your Local Public LibrarianDecember 13, 2021

Archives Education & Programming Public Libraries

Garden Clubs Plant Seeds of Change

Editor’s Note: The Library of Virginia, in partnership with Virginia Humanities, sponsors residential fellows during the academic year to conduct in-depth research in the Library’s collections.…

Meredith Henne BakerDecember 8, 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…

Your Local Public LibrarianNovember 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…

Your Local Public LibrarianOctober 13, 2021

Education & Programming Public Libraries

Public Library Spotlight: Dial A Story

How many librarians does it take to read a story? Definitely more than one if it is for the Library of Virginia’s Dial a Story…

Sue La ParoSeptember 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…

Your Local Public LibrarianAugust 9, 2021

Public Libraries

Public Library Spotlight: The Great Library Bake Off

Were you a pandemic bread baker? A Great British Bake Off binger? A curator of lockdown kitchen disasters? Several staff members at the Jefferson-Madison Regional…

Your Local Public LibrarianJuly 19, 2021

Public Libraries

Public Library Spotlight: Enchanted Trails

What do you do in the middle of a pandemic that will take a family’s mind off the pandemic, but still keep everyone safe from…

Your Local Public LibrarianJune 18, 2021

Newspapers Public Libraries

Celebrating Juneteenth in 1890 and 2021

IIn 2020, Governor Ralph Northam issued an executive order proclaiming Juneteenth as a Virginia state holiday. Later that year, the General Assembly unanimously voted in…

Library of VirginiaJune 14, 2021

Public Libraries

Starting from Scratch: The Building of a New Library is More Than a Building.

Holly Ritchie is the director of the new Manassas Park City Library. It doesn’t seem to matter where we are or what we do for…

Your Local Public LibrarianMay 10, 2021

Public Libraries

Who Am I? : Local History Collections Offer Essential Answers

Public libraries have always been a safe place to facilitate challenging thought and promote community and personal growth. Many patrons have formed their identity through…

Your Local Public LibrarianApril 12, 2021

Public Libraries

Random Reference: Advertising the Public Library

In honor of National Library Week, I took a whirl through the Library of Virginia’s published holdings related to librarianship and library services. As the…

Rebecca SchneiderApril 5, 2021

Public Libraries

One Year Later

"We’ll be back in two weeks,” we said. No one could have fathomed that almost one year later we’d still be battling COVID-19.I began working…

Reagen ThalackerMarch 8, 2021