Richmond Public Library is a

public library A public library is a library, most often a lending library, that is accessible by the general public and is usually funded from public sources, such as taxes. It is operated by librarians and library paraprofessionals, who are also Civil servic ...

Richmond, Virginia Richmond ( ) is the List of capitals in the United States, capital city of the Commonwealth (U.S. state), U.S. commonwealth of Virginia. Incorporated in 1742, Richmond has been an independent city (United States), independent city since 1871. ...

History

While many other

libraries in the United States A library is a collection of books, and possibly other materials and media, that is accessible for use by its members and members of allied institutions. Libraries provide physical (hard copies) or digital (soft copies) materials, and may be a p ...

were provided initial funding by

Andrew Carnegie Andrew Carnegie ( , ; November 25, 1835August 11, 1919) was a Scottish-American industrialist and philanthropist. Carnegie led the expansion of the History of the iron and steel industry in the United States, American steel industry in the late ...

, the City of Richmond famously rejected Carnegie funding twice. After the City of Richmond's finance committee rejected the first Carnegie offer in 1901, Carnegie offered to donate $100,000 to the city of Richmond, Virginia, for a public library. The city council had to furnish a site for the building and guarantee that $10,000 in municipal funds would be budgeted for the library each year. Despite the support from the majority of Richmond's civic leaders, the city council rejected Carnegie's offer. A combination of aversion to new taxes, fear of modernization, and fear that Carnegie might require the city to admit black patrons to his library account for the local government's refusal. A Richmond Public Library did open in 1924 with alternative sources of funding. Richmond formed a Richmond Public Library Association in 1905. The Association did not gather sufficient funds to open a library until 1922, when

John Stewart Bryan John Stewart Bryan (October 23, 1871 – October 16, 1944) was an American newspaper publisher, attorney, and college president. He was the nineteenth president of the College of William and Mary, serving from 1934 to 1942. He also served as ...

became president of the Association. The next year, in 1923, Bryan became chairman of the Richmond Public Library Board, and in 1924, the Board chose the former home of

Lewis Ginter Lewis Ginter (April 4, 1824 – October 2, 1897) was an American businessman, financier, military officer, real estate developer, and philanthropist based in Richmond, Virginia. Ginter acquired his fortune through his various business ventures a ...

as the site of the first Library. The first branch opened in 1925 as the Phyllis Wheatley Branch of the YWCA to serve African-Americans. In 1925, Sallie May Dooley died and left $500,000 to the City to construct a public library in memory of her husband, Major James H. Dooley. The Dooley Library (at the same location as the current Main library) opened in 1930 and the contents of the original library were moved in. In 1947, RPL Board opened all branches of the library system to black people. Richmond Public Library Black History Month 2025 Richmond Public library has monthly and annual events that focus on various themes. The 2025 Black History Month Theme focused on Afro-Americans and their labor plight. It brings to light how slave labor, voluntary, unskilled, skilled among other experiences within the community are linked with this group as a whole. They were a multitude of events. One called “Read Up Richmond: The History of Black Nurses in Virginia” discusses the experiences of Afro-American nurses in current times as well as their experiences in the past. There was also the “Annual Black History Month Social” and the “10^th Annual Black History Month Virginia Author Celebration.” This included a book fair, author tables, speakers and presentations. Another event was the “Weekend Film Fest: A Spike Lee Joint.” This was hosted on February 15^th & 16^th. This movie event was hosted at the West End Branch and featured various movies with affluent director/producer Spike Lee, as well as various Afro-American actors.

Locations

References

{{authority control 1924 establishments in Virginia Library buildings completed in 1924 Government of Richmond, Virginia Public libraries in Virginia