Updated Library of Virginia Website Offers a User-Centric Digital Experience

The Library has launched an update to www.lva.virginia.gov! The new website offers a modern, streamlined digital experience to Virginians and users nationwide who access our vast online resources.

Updates include improved user-centric navigation; an enhanced search function; more relevant content; accessible, responsive design to work across devices; and more images and graphics that enrich the site’s aesthetics and help to visually present the Library’s story and people. The Library will update the site regularly guided by user feedback. You can help us by providing feedback with this user survey.

Virginia Literary Awards Finalists Announced

The Library has announced finalists for the 2025 Virginia Literary Awards, presented to outstanding Virginia authors in the areas of fiction, nonfiction, poetry and children’s literature. The nonfiction category includes any author whose book is on a Virginia subject.

The fiction finalists are Isabel Banta, “Honey”; Christopher Tilghman, “On the Tobacco Coast”; and John Vercher, “Devil Is Fine.” The nonfiction finalists are Justene Hill Edwards, “Savings and Trust: The Rise and Betrayal of the Freedman’s Bank”; Erika Howsare, “The Age of Deer: Trouble and Kinship With Our Wild Neighbors”; and Earl Swift, “Hell Put to Shame: The 1921 Murder Farm Massacre and the Horror of America’s Second Slavery.” The poetry finalists are Remica Bingham-Risher, “Room Swept Home”; Jennifer Chang, “An Authentic Life”; and January Gill O’Neil, “Glitter Road.” The Children’s Virginia Literary Award finalists are Kwame Alexander, “Black Star”; Carter Higgins, “Round and Round the Year We Go”; and Joanna Lapati, “Guts for Glory: The Story of Civil War Soldier Rosetta Wakeman.”

The winners will be announced at the Virginia Literary Awards Celebration on Saturday, Sept. 20, hosted by award-winning author Adriana Trigiani. The ticketed event and a silent auction raise support for the Library’s conservation, education and community outreach initiatives. The awards are presented by Dominion Energy and supported by Carole and Marcus Weinstein.

Book by Library Staff Members Earns Richard Slatten Award

Library of Virginia editors John G. Deal and Marianne E. Julienne and historian Brent Tarter have been awarded this year’s Richard Slatten Award for Excellence in Virginia Biography from the Virginia Museum of History and Culture for their book “Justice for Ourselves: Black Virginians Claim Their Freedom After Slavery.”

Reserve Your Seats Now for Our Popular Weinstein Author Series Talks

Seats for this year’s Carole Weinstein Author Series lineup are filling up quickly! July 24’s talk by bestselling author Adriana Trigiani on “The View from Lake Como” and 25 years of “Big Stone Gap” is full, but a waitlist is available. Register now for award-winning poet, author and professor Crystal Wilkinson’s talk on “Praisesong for the Kitchen Ghosts: Stories and Recipes from Five Generations of Black Country Cooks” on Thursday, Aug. 14 at 6 p.m. Part memoir, part cookbook, it presents a lyrical culinary journey that explores the hidden legacy of Black Appalachians.

Deborah Parker Offers a Virtual Talk on Her Kotz Award-Winning Book

Join author Deborah Parker, the 2025 winner of Library of Virginia and Virginia Museum of Fine Arts’ annual Art in Literature: The Mary Lynn Kotz Award, for an online talk about her book “Becoming Belle da Costa Greene: A Visionary Librarian Through Her Letters” on Friday, July 25 at 12 p.m.

Belle da Costa Greene was Pierpont Morgan’s personal librarian and the first director of the Morgan Library. She was also the daughter of two mixed-race parents and passed for white. Parker identifies Greene’s energetic pursuit of exceptional opportunities, her vibrant responses to books and art, and her pathbreaking work as a librarian. This free event is presented by Virginia Humanities in partnership with the Library of Virginia.

Spaces Still Available in Aug. 8 Virtual Genealogy Workshop on Newspaper Research

Join us for a virtual workshop on Friday, Aug. 8 at 10 a.m. to discover how to access and use a broad array of digital newspaper resources from the Library of Virginia and other institutions to help with your genealogical research.

LVA On the Go Continues its Tour in August

The Library of Virginia’s On the Go van is touring the state to bring some of the Library’s resources, staff expertise and programming to locations across the Commonwealth. Visitors will engage with local history, family history, educational materials and more.

August visits include Franklin County Public Library’s Rocky Mount Branch on Tuesday, Aug. 5 and Wythe-Grayson Regional Library’s Wytheville Branch on Wednesday Aug. 6.

Signed Books Make Great Gifts!

Find autographed titles online here or stop by the Virginia Shop at the Library to browse our full selection. 

Get free shipping on any online order over $50 with code VA250, valid through July 31, 2025. Visit the Virginia Shop in person Tuesday to Friday, 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. — or shop online anytime at thevirginiashop.org.