Beginning Monday, April 5, 2021, all Richmond Public Library locations will reopen to the public. Learn more about our Expanded Access and what to expect on your next visit to the library.

I was made for the library, not the classroom... The library was open, unending, free.
Ta-Nehisi Coates

2021 YAVA Award Winner



Congratulations to our 2021 YAVA Award winner - Brynne Rebele-Henry! Learn more about Brynne's book "Orpheus Girl" and check out a copy today through our YAVA page. And if you missed the award ceremony, no problem! The whole live stream is now available on our Youtube channel.

Gellman Room Concert Livestream: River City Opera


Saturday, April 24
Online - 2pm

An afternoon of diverse music, art song, and poetry that explores the many facets of the rich, human experience together presented by River City Opera with soprano, Christine Lyons, & pianist, Jonathan Heaney.

Scenic Sisters: How Garden Clubs Cultivated Virginia’s Female Political Activists


Tuesday, April 27, 2021
Online

Learn more about the political savvy of Virginia’s gardening women in this talk by 2021 Virginia Humanities Fellow Meredith Henne Baker, author of the acclaimed The Richmond Theater Fire, winner of the 2012 Jules and Frances F. Landry Award and the 2012 Phi Alpha Theta Best First Book Award.

JXN Project Summer Lecture Series – Who Is Jackson?


April 21
Online

In this first talk in a six-part series, Enjoli Moon and Dr. Sesha Joi Moon will discuss the goals that drive The JXN Project as well as the historical research that undergirds it. The public is invited to attend these lectures, comment, and become part of the process of this historic justice initiative. Registration is required.

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Indie Author Contest


Begins April 1

Attention #Virginiawriters! Are you an indie author of adult or YA fiction? The Virginia Author Project is looking to find the best indie-published fiction book in Virginia! Find out more about how you can submit your work - #VirginiaAuthorProject

Library Reopening – Expanded Access


Monday, April 5
All Libraries

Beginning Monday, April 5, 2021, the staff of RPL will reopen libraries to the public. To ensure safe access for all and make social distancing easier, library locations will provide limited hours and reduced access. We will continue reopening in phases, and will keep offering digital programs for those who cannot visit a local library. Visit our reopening page to learn more about our expanded services and what to expect for your next visit to the library.

Master Gardener Virtual Help Desk



Online

Get gardening help from Master Gardeners through our virtual help desk! Simply post your question through our online form, and a Master Gardener will get in touch. And browse our question and answer forum for more gardening tips and tricks straight from the masters.

Latest from the Blog

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Poetry Has Gone to the Dogs

Meg Raymond
April 19, 2021
adult
book-reviews
holidays
poetry
poetry
reading-recommendations

April is both National Poetry Month AND National Pet Month.  What better way to celebrate than with poetry about dogs, for dogs, and by dogs.  Check out the Academy of American Poets and The Poetry Foundation for great poems and inspiration.   Eating Poetry by Mark StrandInk runs from the corners of my mouth.There is no happiness like mine.I have been eating poetry.The librarian does not believe what she sees.Her eyes are sadand she walks with her hands in her dress.The poems are...

2021 Teen Reading Challenge: Protecting Our Environment

Jennifer Deuell
April 16, 2021
#activism
#activist
#gogreen
#saveourplanet
#teenactivism
#teenactivist
2021rplteenreadingchallenge
booksforteens
currentevents
ireadya
readingchallenge
teenreadingchallenge
teenreads
environment
fiction
nonfiction
reading-recommendations
teens

It's hard to believe it but we are already in our fourth month of the 2021 RPL Teen Writing Challenge. That means, if you've been completing one prompt a month, you're a quarter of the way through! This month I focused on readings about protecting our environment. Unless you've been living under a rock, you know that our planet is in trouble. In December of last year, the UN Secretary-General, António Guterres gave an address at Columbia University titled "The State of Our Planet."  The whole speech is staggering yet inspirational and is...

By Teens, For Teens - War Storm by Victoria Aveyard

Jennifer Deuell
April 13, 2021
book recommendations
book recs
book reviews
booksforteens
byteensforteens
ireadya
teenreads
volunteen
book-reviews
reading-recommendations
teens

Welcome back to our new(ish) series "By Teens, For Teens." In these special blog posts, we'll be sharing recommendations made by some of our VolunTEENS. This month we have an AMAZING book trailer to share made by Robyn O., age 15 and featuring the book War Storm by Victoria Aveyard.  War Storm is the fourth book in Victoria Aveyard's Red Queen YA fantasy series. If you are interested in checking out any of the books in the Red Queen series, check out our online catalog! This will show you all the holdings we have for physical books,...

Aries Book Horoscope

Robyn Webb
April 9, 2021
astrology
book horoscopes
book recommendations
book recs
reading suggestions
book-horoscopes
reading-recommendations

Every month of 2021 we will be sharing a tailored horoscope blog post for the current sun sign plus something extra so the rest of us aren’t left out! This post has been hard to write. Well, not hard to write exactly, but hard not to just make it a callout post for all the Aries babies in my life! I’ve had lovingly combative relationships with all of them, including my older sister. (Two differently fired-up personalities clashing–I’m a Leo–so it’s not unreasonable to expect some eruptions.) The Fire Never Goes Out by Noelle...

Days of Remembrance of the Victims of the Holocaust

kathryn Coker
April 8, 2021
Adolf Hitler
Days of Remembrance of the Victims of the Holocaust
Genocide
Holocaust
Judaism
law
Nazi ideology
Nazi Party
World War II
events
history-and-preservation
law-library

In 1979, Congress designated the Days of Remembrance of the Victims of the Holocaust (DRVH), an annual 8-day commemoration with tributes and special educational programs to help us remember and learn lessons from the Holocaust. This year Days of Remembrance are between Sunday, April 4, and Sunday, April 11, coinciding with the Israeli observance of Yom HaShoah. The The U.S. Holocaust Memorial Museum leads the observances. The museum is offering a live virtual event on April 8, 2021, 11:00 a.m.–11:30 a.m. EDT. What Was the...