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August 2025 | |
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Adult Services Notes |
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Recently Added LVA Training
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Virginia Unclaimed Property
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The Virginia Treasury Unclaimed Property Program has successfully returned over $1.2 billion to citizens in unclaimed property.
Public libraries can play a role in this remarkable success story! Learn more about the collaboration between the Virginia Department of the Treasury and local libraries, designed to help citizens find their missing unclaimed funds.
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Diana Shaban, of the Virginia Department of the Treasury's Unclaimed Property Division, discusses how Virginia Treasury can work with public libraries to help citizens find their missing money.
This partnership empowers libraries, which are already connected to their communities, to assist patrons in retrieving their unclaimed property by guiding them to the Virginia Treasury's free search site. This initiative emphasizes the importance of libraries as vital sources of information, support, and trusted resources.
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Niche Academy is open to all Virginia library staff members and library associates such as trustees and Friends board members. If you do not have a Niche Academy account, please use your library email address to sign up. If you do not have a library work email, you may register with a personal email, and we will contact you to confirm that you are affiliated with a Virginia library.
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News from Library Development
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AI in VA Libraries Staff Survey
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In order to assist library planning around AI, and develop effective training opportunities, we are conducting a short survey of Virginia library staff to get a sense of the current state of AI implementation, concerns, and training needs in Virginia libraries.
We appreciate you filling out the survey and encouraging your colleagues to do so as well. A report on AI in Virginia libraries will follow once we have analyzed the survey data.
The survey closes on 8/15/25. |
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Getting Ready for the School Year
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August is a great time to think about how you will market your student-focused Find It Virginia resources in the 2025-26 school year.
If you have contacts in your local schools, make sure that they know that your library's digital resources are there to complement what the schools offer and to support both students and teachers. |
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Here are some resources to be aware of and to share with your colleagues and users. Remote access may require a library card from your institution, so it is a great opportunity to promote library card sign ups!
Gale in Context Elementary meets the research needs of students in grades K-5, with content covering current events, the arts, science, health, and beyond. Explora Middle and High School designed for secondary school students, Explora provides a trustworthy tool for finding articles and facts for research papers, class projects, and homework. Homework HelpNow connects K-12 students with a certified tutor from 2-11 pm daily for help with assignments, research and writing. Also find practice tests, writing help, videos and games, and lots more. NoveList K-8 Plus is a great resource for younger readers; whether they are hungry for a story about sports, superheroes, or not-so-scary monsters, NoveList K-8 Plus has you covered! Transparent Language complements language classes with lessons in over 120 popular languages including American Sign Language. You can also find ESL/ELL materials for speakers of 34 different languages, as well as KidSpeak classes for younger learners. Universal Class offers online classes in computers and coding, Microsoft Office, business, writing, and more to supplement classroom learning. Access Video: Just for Kids enables young viewers the opportunity to enjoy TV shows like Arthur, Sesame Street, Odd Squad, SciGirls, and much more, including: read-along storybooks and learning videos to explore topics like reading, writing, math, arts and science.
Check out the links to vendor-provided marketing resources for the Find It Virginia collection on the LVA Info Center.
All of these resources should be available in your library website's collection of digital resources. If you have questions, contact Barry Trott. |
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Save the Date: Adult Services Jam Session
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The Library of Virginia’s new exhibition is open until February 28, 2026. “House to Highway: Reclaiming a Community History” explores the history of Richmond’s Jackson Ward neighborhood, the historic district that was once the center of Richmond’s Black community, through the lens of the Skipwith-Roper family.
Using a combination of archival records, maps and photographs, the exhibition covers a period from the 1760s to the 1950s, when eminent domain displaced many residents and businesses for the construction of the Richmond-Petersburg Turnpike.
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Virginia Folklife Travelling Photo Exhibit
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Virginia Folklife, part of Virginia Humanities, the state humanities council, has awarded hundreds of Folklife Apprenticeships to artists, community leaders, and cultural practitioners across the Commonwealth since 2002.
Virginia Folklife works closely with each apprenticeship team to document their project in context. |
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The resulting photographs are now available — at no cost — for display in Virginia’s public libraries, schools, and other community and cultural institutions. Organizations can apply to host a selection of photographs they choose (5 photo minimum) for up to 12 months (3 month minimum).
For more information, and to review the catalog and make a request use the button below. |
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Readers' Advisory Tips and Tricks
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Natural Language Search in NoveList Plus |
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Like everyone else, database vendors are investigating how AI technology can support their users in useful, productive, and secure ways.
In the new NoveList Plus user experience, the NoveList team has incorporated "an experimental AI feature that enables you to conduct searches using everyday language."
When you open NoveList, you will see a toggle switch under the search bar for Natural Language Search. The natural language search option is turned off by default, but you can turn it on either before or after searching. Try running a search without using natural language searching, and then turn it on and compare the results. |
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As an example of how natural language searching can assist, a basic search in NoveList for "humorous mysteries featuring amateur detectives" gives 66 results. Turning on natural language searching expands that list to over 1,500 results. In the natural language search results, you can click the "Show refined query" to see exactly what the search that ran looks like, in this case, it was (humorous OR funny) AND (mystery OR detective) AND (amateur OR "non-professional").
Here are some basic details about EBSCO's use of AI:
AI Use in Feature When a search is executed using Natural Language Search (NLS) mode, the query is sent to a Large Language Model (LLM). This model interprets the natural language input and EBSCO’s search capability generates relevant search results based on the AI's understanding. Importantly, no user data is stored or used for training the AI, maintaining privacy and security throughout the process. AI Data Use NLS does not use user data for training. The data provided to the AI is based on the user's natural language query at the time of the search. No user information is stored during this process. The AI processes the query to enhance search results without retaining any personal data.
For more information about EBSCO and AI, see: |
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Virginia Library Projects
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“Mindful Reads” No-Return Library
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From the editor: This feature in the newsletter is an opportunity for libraries to share interesting projects that they are implementing to improve access to resources or improve services. If you are interested in sharing a project your library is doing, please reach out to Barry Trott, barry.trott@lva.virginia.gov, to discuss writing it up.
In this month's installment, Sheena Johnson, sjohnson@pclibs.org, presents the Pulaski County Library System's Mindful Reads project. |
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Our library has worked to offer a “Mindful Reads” no-return library at our Pulaski Branch. This shelf of books and pamphlets may be accessed by any member of the community and it consists of 100% free materials that we feel could be about topics considered taboo. The shelf is stocked with books about addressing substance use, supporting mental wellbeing, building resilience and self-sufficiency, and building healthy relationships, and it supports community members to begin the recovery and self-improvement journey on their own terms.
We felt that it was important to offer this type of literature comfortably, with no pressure or judgement, and within a safe environment because these are the topics that matter and make a difference in the lives of our citizens.
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Many people need access to these materials but do not feel comfortable seeking them out with others knowing that they have done so. These materials and their readers could be perceived in a certain light or put into a box, and we want to take those inhibitions away so that this information can be accessed truly freely.
In order to offer these materials, we partnered with Katie Thompson, the Director of the Office of Prevention and Recovery, a relatively new Pulaski County department. The Office of Prevention and Recovery has a mission to empower our citizens to thrive through whole-family support with connections to meaningful opportunities and a community of care and increased prevention--building resilience, lasting healing, and overall well-being for generations.
This Office was established to help identify both successes and gaps in offerings and address those gaps, to support a thriving community. This project utilized funding from the county’s Opioid Abatement funds to begin and maintain this no-return library.
We feel that this project will be a wonderful resource to have in addition to our libraries many other offerings. We look forward to checking in as we restock our no-return library and seeing how many materials go out into the hands of our citizens over the next few months. |
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The Livingston County Library in Missouri developed an intriguing and tasty program in collaboration with three local restaurants.
Library staff describe the program: "We pick three books and come up with dish ideas based on recipes or food mentioned in the story. Then we team up with three local restaurants, and each one creates a dish inspired by one of the books. |
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At the event, we chat about the books and get to taste the dishes that go with them."
This type of program not only offers library users an interesting look into food adn cooking, it can also be a great opportunity to build realtionships with local businesses that can lead to other programming possibilities. |
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Featured Virginia Programs
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Fairfax County Public Library
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Fairfax County Public Library's George Mason Regional Library hosts free plant swaps every other month, where visitors bring in unwanted, healthy plants and select new-to-them plants to grow. There are so many plants that anyone can find something, even if they come empty-handed.
Plant swaps require minimal set-up (tables, signs, gardening books, labels), as participants bring all materials. The event encourages sustainability and community building, focusing on finding resources within the community.
The program features master gardeners from the nearby Green Spring Gardens, who provide gardening advice and showcase George Mason Regional Library's seed library, where visitors can check out seeds to grow at home. Other guest co-presenters have included nature photographers displaying their artwork, and local nonprofit Hands On Harvests.
Other Fairfax County Public Library branches also host plant swaps. The response to the program has been wonderful. The program receives between 50 and 75 attendees, with many familiar faces returning for each event. |
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For more info, contact Deborah Khuanghlawn, deborah.khuanghlawn@fairfaxcounty.gov
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Pamunkey Regional Library
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"Come prepared to learn and have fun" is the advice offered by Dorria Walker of the Boot Scooters of Ashland. Beginning in January, the Boot Scooters have provided monthly beginning line dancing lessons at the Ashland Branch of the Pamunkey Regional Library.
From teens to seniors, some in boots, and some in tennis shoes, library patrons have enjoyed the opportunity to learn basic line dance steps set to classic country, new country, and popular songs. Typically the Boot Scooters teach three dances per session, with plenty of time for practice. Line dancing will continue at the Ashland Branch through the summer. |
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For more info, contact Joanne Jones, jjones@pamunkeylibrary.org
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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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