"...all cultures—the dominant and marginalized—have always used stories to validate their existences, make sense of their worlds, and pass on to future generations what they…
Barry TrottMarch 14, 2022
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
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
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
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
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
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
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
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
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
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
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…
Guest ContributorApril 12, 2021
"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
Occasionally, we ask guest writers to share information or stories about researching in our collections, public library programming or activities, and other topics which Library…
Guest ContributorFebruary 8, 2021
