Central Library

Central Library Hours:
Monday - Thursday : 9am - 9pm
Friday - Saturday : 9am - 5pm
Sunday - 1pm - 5pm
(Closed Sundays Memorial Day to Labor Day)

Phone: 434.979.7151
Fax: 434.971.7035
central@jmrl.org

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Programs for Adults

Connecting @ Your Library

The Reference staff will provide one-on-one tutorials on basic computer skills and online job searching and applications. Participants must get a JMRL Library Card. For an appointment call 979.7151 ext 4.

Documentary Film Series

Films are shown on the 4th Thursday of the month, starting Jan 2012. Come view and discuss documentary films on current issues. Light refreshments will be provided. Sign up to be added to the film email list: central@jmrl.org

Want a list of the films already shown? Try Searching the calendar. After being shown, check the online catalog to borrow the film. Program listings are below.

Regional Author Series

A series featuring regional authors. Come support the homegrown writers and enjoy an afternoon of discussion. Program listings are below.

Brown Baggers Book Group

On the third Thursday of the month bring your lunch and discuss fiction and non-fiction books. Library staff will provide value-added content and lead the discussion. Drinks and desserts will be provided. Sign up to be added to the book email list: central@jmrl.org (RSS for Events)

Want to see what has already been read? Try Searching the calendar. Program listings are below.

Regional Author Series

African-American Cemeteries

February 05, 2012
2:00 pm

Lynn Rainville, anthropological archaeologist, founding director of the Tusculum Institute, and research professor in the humanities at Sweet Briar College, talks about her research into African-American cemeteries. Her purpose is to better understand enslaved, free black, and post-bellum communities as evidenced through their mortuary practices.

Sponsored by the Virginia Employment Commission

Job Search Assistance

February 16, 2012
10:00 am

1st and 3rd Thursdays. Sign up at reference desk but walk-ins welcome: 10am-noon

SERVICES PROVIDED:

  • Career Exploration
  • Job Search Assistance
  • Resume Writing Assistance
  • Interviewing Skills
  • Job Skills Development
  • Other Work/Career Related Services

Brown Baggers Book Group

HOTEL ON THE CORNER OF BITTER AND SWEET by Jamie Ford

February 16, 2012
12:00 pm

When artifacts from Japanese families sent to internment camps during World War II are uncovered during renovations at a Seattle hotel, Henry Lee embarks on a quest that leads to memories of growing up Chinese in a city rife with anti-Japanese sentiment. Check the Catalog arrow

Documentary Film Series

MovieTRACES OF THE TRADE: A STORY FROM THE DEEP NORTH by producer/director Katrina Browne

February 23, 2012
7:00 pm

The filmmaker discovers that her New England ancestors were the largest slave-trading family in U.S. history. She and nine cousins retrace the Triangle Trade and gain powerful new perspectives on the black/white divide. more info

JMRL Board Meeting

February 27, 2012
1:00 pm

The Board of the Jefferson-Madison Regional Library usually meets the 4th Monday of every month. Some months this will change. The location is usually at the Central Library but the agenda (PDF) will show if the meeting is at a different location.

First Friday Opening

Beyond the Bars
part of THE BIG READ

March 02, 2012
5:00 pm

Art created by inmates from the Albemarle-Charlottesville Regional Jail and influenced by the themes of Bless Me, Ultima. All March, 3rd floor. more info
part of THE BIG READ

Brown Baggers Book Group

BLESS ME, ULTIMABLESS ME, ULTIMA by Rudolfo Anaya
THE BIG READ

March 15, 2012
12:00 pm

Antonio Marez is six years old when Ultima comes to stay with his family in New Mexico. She is a curandera, one who cures with herbs and magic. Under her wise wing, Tony will test the bonds that tie him to his people, and discover himself in the pagan past, in his father's wisdom, and in his mother's Catholicism. And at each life turn there is Ultima, who delivered Tony into the world-and will nurture the birth of his soul. Check the Catalog arrow

Future Readings:

Virginia Festival of the Book at Central Library

March 21, 2012

The Virginia Festival of the Book is a 5-day festival of mostly free literary events that are open to the public to honor book culture and promote reading and literacy. Some of the events are held at the Central Library.
March 21,22,23,24,25

Documentary Film Series

MovieCHICANO ROCK! THE SOUNDS OF EAST LOS ANGELES: produced, written, directed and edited by Emmy Award-winning filmmaker Jon Wilkman
part of THE BIG READ

March 29, 2012
7:00 pm

Tells the lively and inspiring story of how generations of young people in America's largest Mexican American community created a unique musical voice and in the process found and proudly expressed their cultural identity. PBS more info


Regional Author Series

A SLAVE IN THE WHITE HOUSE: PAUL JENNINGS AND THE MADISONS by Elizabeth Dowling Taylor

April 29, 2012
2:00 pm

The author, Director of Education at Montpelier, will talk and give a book signing. Paul Jennings, born a slave at Montpelier, served as manservant to James Madison and helped rescue George Washington's portrait before the British burned the White House during the War of 1812. He later wrote the first White House memoirs, "A Colored Man’s Reminiscences of James Madison."

History of McIntire and Central Library

Albemarle Library Society
Albemarle Library Society

The first known library in downtown Charlottesville was created in 1823 by a group of citizens that included Thomas Jefferson. The “Albemarle Library Society” boasted an initial collection of 238 titles. This village library was located at “Number Nothing” in Court Square (a site now occupied by 224 Court Square). A public subscription library, the society was incorporated by the Virginia General Assembly and lasted at least until 1834. It was not until 1919 and the generosity of Paul Goodloe McIntire that a truly public library was formed. McIntire donated not only the land and the construction costs, but the furniture and the first 5,000 books for the new library as well. The cornerstone was laid in November, 1919, and the new “Charlottesville Public Library” opened its doors to the public on May 30, 1921.

The Regional Library Evolves

Original site of the library, now the Historical Society
Original site of the library, now the Historical Society

With the development of bookmobile service to Albemarle County in 1947, the name of the library was changed to the “Charlottesville-Albemarle Public Library”. In 1958, six years after the death of Mr. McIntire, the main library building and the system itself became known as the “McIntire Library.”

Additional branches in Scottsville, Crozet, and on Gordon Avenue in Charlottesville took some of the pressure off of the small McIntire Branch in the early 1960s, and, in 1972, with the addition of branches in Louisa and Nelson counties, the library system became the Jefferson-Madison Regional Library. Greene County joined the system in 1974.

Market St. Post Office Building
Market St. Post Office Building

In October 1977, the Market Street Post Office building was purchased by Charlottesville and Albemarle County. Under Director Christopher Devan, a 17-month renovation project took place. Total cost of the project reached $2.25 million. After moving the McIntire collection of 90,000 volumes into the building on Market Street, the new Central Library opened on February 2, 1981 to patrons eager for a larger facility. Along with administration and technical services, the third floor of the new building offered the community three meeting rooms, one of them dedicated to Mr. McIntire.

In May 1987, the Albemarle County Historical Society's Library and the Central Virginia Genealogical Association consolidated their resources with those of the Central Library and moved the newly formed Charlottesville-Albemarle Historical Collection to the mezzanine of the Central Library where it remained until 1994. That year, after extensive restoration and renovation, the Historical Collection moved out of the Central Library and into the former McIntire Library.

Beyond the Printed Page

In the late 80s, the Library Board and Director Bill Swinson had committed the library system to obtaining the benefits of emerging modern technology. By February 1989, under Director Donna Selle, the card catalogs at all branches were replaced with on-line computer catalogs for the public and J-MRL fully implemented its automated circulation system.

In order to continue to integrate technology into the library system, the Central Library was again renovated in 1995. The opening of a public computer lab for internet access and the development and implementation of a community information network, Monticello Avenue, were initiated. The public lab currently houses many internet stations and access is also available in the Central Reference Department where extensive electronic resources complement the print and microform collections.

Current Director John Halliday oversees the entire J-MRL system from his office on the third floor of the Central Library.