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August 2026 | |
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Adult Services Notes |
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Build Your Romance Genre Skills |
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Understanding genres is a crucial readers advisory skill. Knowing the key genre appeals can help you connect with readers, even in genres that you don't find appealing yourself.
In this first on our series of genre trainings, Kris Bock and Susan Dunlap, both part of the Romance Writers of America, will talk about how you can get up to speed with helping romance readers, including: |
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Defining the genre and why readers enjoy it Exploring key authors and up and coming writers, and Discussing how to connect with romance fans Use the button below to register for the webinar. |
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What: Romance 101
When: Tuesday, 8/4, 1 PM ET
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Build your Science Fiction Genre Skills |
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Join Library Development's Reagen Thalacker for the second program in our genre skills training program, looking at one half of the speculative fiction coin (we will cover the fantasy genre later in the series.
Reagen will be covering the tools you need to help guide your science fiction readers to new authors and titles. The program will explore:
Defining the genre and why readers enjoy it Exploring key authors and up and coming writers, and Discussing how to connect with romance fans Use the button below to register for the webinar. |
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What: Science Fiction 101
When: Tuesday 8/18, 1 pm ET
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News from Library Development
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Despite advances in home connectivity, public libraries are still a critical source of broadband access for users who live in rural parts of the Commonwealth that are not yet provided with reliable internet access as well as those who are unable to afford home internet access even if it is available.
Read more about how libraries play an |
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essential role in keeping their communities connected in this community spotlight from the Virginia Department of Housing and Community Development's (DHCD) recent newsletter featuring Library Development's CE Consultant Cindy Church. Cindy works closely with DHCD staff on issues around broadband access in Virginia.
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Back to School with Find It Virginia Resources |
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Late summer is a great time to reach out to your local schools to let them know about the resources that the library has to help students, parents, and teachers succeed in the coming school year.
You can get ready to support your students and teachers by refreshing your skills with resources from the Find It Virginia collection from LVA. Find it VA provides a core set of digital resources to all public libraries in the Commonwealth, including some great tools for students K-12 and their families.
All of the FindIt VA resources can be found on your libraries website (reach out to Barry Trott (barry.trott@lva.org for help getting access set up if needed). |
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Find It VA provides trusted, accurate information on topics that students need from nature to politics to the arts, as well as language learning, live tutoring and writing assistance, and self-paced learning tools. Here are the student-focused resources that you might want to share with students and teachers:
Both Explora and Gale in Context Elementary offer a variety of accesibility tools, including text to speech, translation into a range of languages, and font scaling, as well as citation tools for all the major style guides (Chicago, APA, Turabian, etc.).
In EBSCO Connect, under Tools & Resources > Promotional Materials, you can search for Explora and find flyers, lesson plans for teachers, scavenger hunt ideasm and more resources to help market Explora. Similarly, the Gale Support page has lesson plans and activities for Gale in Context Elementary as well as a host of marketing content.
Homework HelpNow offers free live tutoring in both English and Spanish for K-12 students seven days a week from 2-11 pm. There is also a writing center where students can gethelp with papers and projects, a wealth of self-paced tutorials, lessons, and practice tests artranged by grade level on math, science, literature, social studies, and more. Free college prep practice tests and study guides are also available. Transparent Language provides self-paced instruction in 140+ foreign languages including over 20 indigenous languages, American Sign Language, and Citizenship Prep, and also includes ESL/ELL materials for speakers of 34 different languages, and is a great resource for supplementing classroom lessons for students.
Marketing materials for all the Find It VA resources can be found on the Library Development Info Center's Find It Virgina page, where you can also sign up for monthly marketing emails to get ready to use promotional materials sent directly to your in-box.
If you want to get a quick refresher on any of the Find It VA resources, check out the Refresh Your Find It VA Skills pathway in the LVA Niche Academy. |
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Brown v. Board: Virginia Responds |
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In August 1956, Virginia’s General Assembly began meeting in a special session to enact legislation designed to prevent the desegregation of Virginia’s public schools in the wake of the Supreme Court’s 1954 Brown v. Board of Education ruling.
Virginians’ responses to Brown v. Board and massive resistance can be found in a variety of collections at the Library of Virginia, some of which can be viewed in our recently updated online resource Brown v. Board: Virginia Responds.
The image below is a map showing the legal status of segregation in public schools published in Southern School News, Sept. 3, 1954. |
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Readers' Advisory Tips and Tricks
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Exploring Genres with NoveList |
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As a suplement to our upcoming summer/fall training series on Genre Skills, NoveList's Genre Terms Index is a great resource to continue to explore the rich field of genre fiction.
Within each major genre area, the index lists all the subgenre terms used by the NoveList team to categorize fiction titles, including a section on titles for young readers. |
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The index can be filtered by age group, and each subgenre term or phrase links to a list of titles using that descriptor. There are over 200 subgenre categories to explore.
Just browsing the index can be a great way to learn more about the breadth of a paritcular genre and introduce you to new terms to use when working with readers. Looking at the linked lists and sorting by publication date can be a resource for collection building as well as for connecting readers with the latest titles in their favorite genres.
Be sure to check out all the great resources for building your reading community in your library's subscription to NoveList, part of the Library of Virginia's Find It VA collection. |
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Featured Virginia Programs
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Nottoway County Public Library
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Last fall, Literacy Director Kathy Oliver started a monthly Knit and Crochet group to give area crafters an opportunity to enjoy the company of others with similar interests.
The idea of a "Fiber Tasting" grew from there, and after a considerable amount of planning and coordinating, the event was held in early March. The program included demonstrations of spinning, crocheting and knitting, and Kathy herself showed how fiber is processed on a drum carder.
One volunteer demonstrated weaving then encouraged those in attendance to try using the loom themselves, and another shared projects made using the suri alpaca she keeps on her farm in Meherrin. Visitors of all ages and backgrounds were introduced to new |
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skills and--potentially--a new community of friends, and they were given a chance, too, to feel more than 20 examples of fiber, some of it plant-based, and others coming from an assortment of animals.
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For more info, contact Jackie Zataweski, jzataweski@nottlib.org
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Lancaster Community Library
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On Thursday, July 16, Lee Taylor from Sew Lovely (Irvington, VA) presented the program Sip’n Sew, Make a Wine/Treat Bag at the Lancaster Community Library.
At this fun and creative sewing class, participants made a stylish handled fabric gift bag perfectly sized to hold a wine bottle, olive oil bottle, or small gifts. Whether completely new to sewing or a seasoned stitcher, everyone completed the project and brought home an attractive bag. Taylor brought everyone needed, including sewing machines, a variety of fabric and thread.
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“We are so grateful for the support of our community to provide this year’s Summer Reading Program themed Unearth A Story,” said Library Director Alice Cooper, “This has been a wonderful summer at LCL with activities for all ages.”
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For more info, contact Alice Cooper, acooper@lancasterlibrary.org |
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Powhatan County Public Library
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Based on an idea from one of our part-time employees to promote the Powhatan County Public Library's puzzle collection, the library decided to hold a jigsaw puzzle showdown.
We asked patrons to register with 1 other person, or if they'd like, they could go at it themselves. Each group had a table with the exact same puzzle. The group picked a name for their group. We set a timer. The first group or individual to finish wins. in case of photo finishes, we had a person writing down the exact time each table finishes.
The number 1 prize got an awesome puzzle stand and brand-new puzzle. Second place got a brand-new puzzle. The library provided snacks and coffee to the participants.
We had 8 tables and the event was so popular we had to start a waitlist. We personally emailed each patron a week before to make sure they were coming because the spots book fast and the waitlist was also full. |
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For more info, contact Michelle Wells, mwells@powhatanlibrary.net
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Recent articles on topics of interest to Adult Services |
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This newsletter is made possible by a grant from the U.S. Institute of Museum and Library Services. It is published by the Library of Virginia Library Development Division.
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