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Ask me why I flew 5,000 miles to get a library card? The Library of Virginia just added a whole slew of new online databases for patrons to research digitally via their website, the only catch: you MUST have a LIBRARY CARD to be able to access them!
This was exciting news for me as I just happened to be in Richmond visiting, so I’ll give you one guess what I did? I got myself an LVA Library Card! Go me! The librarians at the reception desk were so nice and even took me step by step through the process of signing up, they even handed me this nifty flyer! Now I can access these newly-released records anytime, anywhere! (Click to enlarge).
The flyer states there are “30+ databases that can be accessed remotely” including the following categories, each with multiple, searchable topics:
- BIOGRAPHICAL AND GENEALOGICAL
- GOVERNMENT INFORMATION AND LEGAL RESOURCES
- MAPS AND ARCHITECTURE
- MILITARY SERVICE
- NEWSPAPERS AND MAGAZINES
Some of the mouth-watering highlights for me on this new list of remotely accessible genealogical material are: the papers of George Washington, James Madison, and Thomas Jefferson; the Revolutionary War pension files; the Historic Map Works Library; the American Civil War Research Database; the Fold3 Library Edition; and the Newspaper Archives. That’s some Grand Canyon-sized research opportunities from a simple library card – talk about the ultimate GIFT CARD.
You can visit the Library of Virginia’s website at www.lva.virginia.gov. You can also call them at 804-692-3777 for assistance on seeing how you can get your very own LVA library card, even if you’re from out-of-state. The LVA website has put together some neat Visitor’s Guide videos to help you best plan your visit there; I would highly recommend looking these over as it helped me to acquaint myself to the ‘lay of the land,’ so to speak (or the ‘lie of the land’ if you’re from the UK), so I could make the best use of my time while there.
Trust me, I went to the Library of Virginia thinking I would be there 2, maybe 3 hours tops . . . well, I ended up staying from opening at 9 until closing at 5! On a separate note, if you do plan a visit to the LVA go early as parking is at a premium, it is FREE for patrons of the library but on a limited, first-come-first-served basis.
This LVA Library Card is a new offering for 2018 so get on this if you can. I was fortunate because while I was in Virginia I planned a special trip to Richmond just to do some research at the Library of Virginia and now I am equipped to continue my genealogical research back home with access to these very valuable online databases. (Click to enlarge).
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