The UncommonWealth – Voices from The Library of Virginia

New Books – May 2025

The Library of Virginia's first-floor lobby and Exhibition Gallery are open Monday-Saturday, 8:30 a.m. to 5:00 p.m. The second-floor Reading Rooms are open Tuesday-Friday, 9:00…

Jessi BennettMay 26, 2025

Manuscripts & Special Collections

Newly-Available Archival Accessions, January 1-March 31, 2025

The Library of Virginia maintains the most comprehensive collection of information about Virginia’s history, culture, and government. We hold more than 200 million manuscript items,…

Trenton HizerMay 23, 2025

Archives Education & Programming Manuscripts & Special Collections

“A Very Excellent Trip” : Governor Linwood Holton’s Trade Mission to Japan and Australia

On April 12, 1972, at 11:00 a.m., Governor Linwood A. Holton and 24 representatives of Virginia’s state government and private businesses left from Richmond’s Byrd…

Cara GriggsMay 21, 2025

Education & Programming Manuscripts & Special Collections

“The best for military purposes of any map available”: The Ludwig von Buchholtz revisions to the Wood–Bőÿe map and the Civil War

Within a short time after it was published in 1826, John Wood’s and Herman Bőÿe’s map became outdated. The population growth of Virginia in the…

Peter NorthMay 19, 2025

Archives Education & Programming

Was the First Filipino American Citizen Naturalized in Norfolk County?

While working on records in the Naturalization Records Digital Collection, I came across one that made me stop and do a double-take. It was the…

McKenzie LongMay 14, 2025

Public Libraries The Stacks

IMLS, LSTA, and Public Libraries

In 1996, then-president Bill Clinton signed the Library Services and Technology Act (LSTA). This act provides federal funding for libraries through the Grants to States…