Guest Contributor – Page 4 – The UncommonWealth

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

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…

Guest ContributorJuly 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…

Guest ContributorJune 18, 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…

Guest ContributorMay 10, 2021