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Library to Award Honorary Patron of Letters Degree to Damien Geter |
| The Library of Virginia will award the honorary Patron of Letters degree to acclaimed American musician Damien Geter during the 28th Annual Virginia Literary Awards Celebration on Sept. 20, 2025. The Patron of Letters degree, granted by the Library Board, is the Library of Virginia’s highest honor and recognizes individuals who have made an outstanding contribution in the realm of arts, history, humanities, or information, library or archival science. Our 2025 honoree has distinguished himself through his transformative impact on music, fusing classical forms with influences from the Black diaspora to compose works that further the cause for social justice. |
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| Make Plans to Attend the 28th Annual Virginia Literary Awards Celebration |
| Reserve your seats now for Virginia’s biggest night honoring its authors and their stories! The Library presents the 28th Annual Virginia Literary Awards Celebration on Saturday, Sept. 20, hosted by award-winning author Adriana Trigiani, who will present the Commonwealth’s highest prizes for fiction, nonfiction, poetry, children's literature and art in literature. Join us for an awards ceremony, cocktails, dinner, a dessert bar and a silent auction to raise support for the Library’s preservation, education and research initiatives. The Virginia Literary Awards are presented by Dominion Energy and supported by Carole and Marcus Weinstein. |
| | | | | | Library Appoints Scott B. Weingart as Chief Technology Officer |
| The Library of Virginia is pleased to announce the appointment of technology leader and acclaimed scholar Scott B. Weingart as its inaugural chief technology officer, effective Sept. 25, 2025. Joining the Library’s senior leadership team, Weingart will provide strategic vision and operational leadership for the Library’s information technology and digital initiatives, including digital collections, web applications, digital engagement, and the management of critical systems like Alma, Primo and Rosetta. The divisions maintain and provide access to over 130 million digital collection files. Weingart brings more than a decade of leadership experience in library technology, data strategy and digital scholarship, and most recently served as the chief data officer and inaugural director of the Office of Data and Evaluation at the National Endowment for the Humanities. |
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| Shown left to right are Board member Chris Braunlich, Board member Kimberly Dove, chair Malfourd Trumbo, and vice chair Betsy Fowler. |
| Board Members Appointed, New Officers Elected |
| The Library is pleased to welcome two new Library of Virginia Board members appointed recently by Gov. Glenn Youngkin: The Honorable Chris Braunlich, of Fairfax County, senior advisor for the Thomas Jefferson Institute for Public Policy and a former member of the Fairfax County School Board; and Kimberly Dove, of Rockingham County, a teacher with Rockingham County Public Schools. In June, the Library Board elected its new officers for the year. Malfourd Trumbo, of Williamsburg, was elected chair, and Betsy Fowler, also of Williamsburg, was elected vice chair. |
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| Visual Studies Collection coordinator Dale Neighbors accesses architectural records in the Library’s stacks. |
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| Library Receives NEH Grant for Major Storage Upgrade of Archival Materials |
| The Library of Virginia Foundation has been awarded a $349,888 grant from the National Endowment for the Humanities to fund a critical storage upgrade to support collections growth and maintain the highest standards in safeguarding historic materials at the Library. The award is part of $34.79 million in NEH grants for 97 humanities projects across the country announced earlier this month. Awarded through NEH’s Sustaining Cultural Heritage Collections program, the grant will fund the purchase and installation of storage equipment and furniture to safeguard archival records, the State Art Collection and large-format cartographic and architectural materials documenting Virginia’s history and culture. A reconfiguration of the Library’s 4th floor stacks will improve staff and researcher access to collections, relieve overcrowding, and enhance long-term preservation outcomes. |
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| This year’s Brown Fellows, shown left to right, are Stephanie Taylor, a history teacher at Scott County Public Schools; Claudia Reinhardt, a teacher at the Charlottesville Waldorf School; and Mari Faircloth, a history teacher at Frank W. Cox High School in Virginia Beach. |
| Brown Teacher Research Fellows Explore the Jackson Ward District |
| The Library of Virginia’s 2025 Anne & Ryland Brown Teacher Research Fellows have joined us for the summer to explore the history of Richmond’s Jackson Ward neighborhood in support of the Library’s current exhibition, "House to Highway: Reclaiming a Community History.” Brown Fellows work with staff members to pursue research, produce educational resources to support our exhibition and education programs, and make presentations on their projects. The Library also conducted four Anne & Ryland Brown Teacher Institutes this summer, in Wise, Harrisonburg, Fredericksburg and Newport News. Participants learned about Library resources for use in the classroom, listened to guest presenters, and enjoyed excursions to local museums or archival organizations. |
| | | | August Weinstein Author Series Talk Rescheduled for Nov. 13 |
| The Carole Weinstein Author Series talk on Thursday, Aug. 14, with Crystal Wilkinson, author of "Praisesong for the Kitchen Ghosts," has been postponed and is rescheduled for Thursday, Nov. 13. Current registrations will carry over automatically. If you are unable to attend on Nov. 13, please contact education@lva.virginia.gov. |
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| | | Talk on Dunmore’s War of 1774 Explores Its Importance to the Revolutionary Era |
| Join us on Wednesday, Aug. 20 at noon for a free talk by historian and author Brent Tarter, who will discuss Dunmore’s War of 1774. Consisting of one battle only, the event was either the last of the colonial Virginia wars with members of First Nations tribes or the first battle of the American Revolution. The talk will explore the event’s meaning and its importance to the Revolutionary era. This presentation is part of the Library’s programming commemorating Virginia's role in the 250th anniversary of American independence. |
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| | | LVA On the Go Visits Fort Monroe’s African Landing Day Commemoration |
| Stop by and say hello at the LVA On the Go van if you’re taking part in Fort Monroe’s commemoration of the landing of the first Africans to English North America on Saturday, Aug. 23. We’ll be at the event at Fort Monroe’s Continental Park in Hampton from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. offering information about family history research and resources like Virginia Untold: The African American Narrative database and VirginiaChronicle.com, which provides access to over 5 million newspaper pages. |
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| | Weinstein Author Series Talk Examines the Creation of Early Black Archives |
| Join us on Wednesday, Sept. 3 at 6 p.m. for a free talk by author and historian Laura E. Helton on her book “Scattered and Fugitive Things: How Black Collectors Created Archives and Remade History.” During the first half of the 20th century — a time when dominant institutions cast doubt on the value or even the idea of Black history — a group of bibliophiles, scrapbookers and librarians created an enduring set of African diasporic archives. "Scattered and Fugitive Things” tells the stories of these Black collectors, traveling from the parlors of the urban North to historically Black college and university reading rooms and branch libraries in the Jim Crow South. |
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| | | Book Discussion With David Poole Will Highlight Civic Engagement |
| Join us on Tuesday, Sept. 9 at 6 p.m. for a free talk with journalist David Poole, founder of the Virginia Public Access Project (VPAP), who will discuss his new book, “Trusted Source: How a Virginia Nonprofit Gained Bipartisan Support in an Era of Political Polarization.” VPAP is a trusted resource that addresses some of the most vexing issues of our time: money in politics, the crisis of American newspapers, the fracturing of information sources, and the precipitous erosion of confidence in our institutions. “Trusted Source” serves as a chronicle of recent Virginia political history, bringing to life key players, elections and events. Aligned with the Library’s strategic objective to strengthen civic engagement throughout the Commonwealth, this program will emphasize audience Q&A for an extended dialogue about journalism, politics and civic interaction. |
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| Get a Signed Book Even If You Missed the Author’s Talk |
| If you missed any recent author appearances at the Library, it’s not too late to get signed copies of their books. 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 $25 with code LAKECOMO, valid through Sept. 7, 2025. Visit the Virginia Shop in person Tuesday to Friday, 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. — or shop online anytime at thevirginiashop.org. |
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