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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
contact Central Library

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Programs for Adults

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 email list. (RSS for Events)

Want to see what we've already read? Try Searching the calendar.

Brown Baggers Book Group

RUNRUN by Ann Patchett

January 15, 2009
12:00 pm

Struggling with single parenthood and a scandal that cost him his political career, Bernard Doyle fights his disappointment with his adopted sons' career choices before a violent event forces the members of his family to reconsider their priorities.
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Brown Baggers Book Group

THEIR EYES WERE WATCHING GODTHEIR EYES WERE WATCHING GOD by Zora Neale Hurston (THE BIG READ)

February 19, 2009
12:00 pm

An enduring Southern love story sparkling with wit, beauty, and heartfelt wisdom. Told in the captivating voice of a woman who refuses to live in sorrow, bitterness, fear, or foolish romantic dreams.
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Documentary Film Series

The fourth Thursday of the month, come view and discuss documentary films on current issues. Light refreshments will be provided. Sign up to be added to the film email list. (RSS for Events) New projection system!

Documentary Film Series

SLED DOGS - AN ALASKAN EPIC: Narrated by Peter Coyote (1999)

January 22, 2009
7:00 pm

MoviePart of the NATURE series on PBS, this program shares the intensity, precision teamwork and emotional nuances of the 1,200-mile Iditarod race through the Alaskan wilderness. The annual event, which grew out of a celebrated medical rescue mission by sled dogs early in this century, honors the heroic traditions of sled dogs in northern settlements. Focusing on the mutual dependence of human and animal, this film underscores the extraordinary degree to which each relies on the strength and spirit of the other to overcome the harsh environment.

Documentary Film Series

ZORA'S ROOTS: THE LIFE OF ZORA NEALE HURSTON. Written and directed by Tom Lowe (2008) (THE BIG READ)

February 26, 2009
7:00 pm

MovieTells Hurston's story through the people who knew her and the places and events that she brought to the world through her research and writing. This PBS documentary presents the life of this extraordinary woman of letters against the backdrop of the subtropical paradise that shaped her childhood and her life's work—a place to which she returned again and again over the seven decades of her life for research, inspiration and solace.

Lecture on Hurricanes (THE BIG READ)

ROAR OF THE HEAVENS: SURVIVING HURRICANE CAMILLE by Stefan Bechtel

March 15, 2009
2:00 pm

In Their Eyes Were Watching God, Janie & TeaCake were caught up in the deadly Sept. 1928 Okeechobee hurricane. Listen to local author Stefan Bechtel read from his book to learn how Nelson County residents fared during the devastating 1969 Hurricane Camille.

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 first major change in library service occurred in 1934 when the Library Board opened the “Fourth Street Branch” for the purpose of serving the “colored race.” Controversy surrounded the operation of this branch throughout its fourteen-year history. Although the Board, in 1947, allowed the Fourth Street patrons to borrow books from the main library, they continued to deny them reading room privileges. The branch was finally closed in early 1948 when blacks were allowed full access to the main library.

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.