Samuels Public Library - Kitti McKean

Welcome to Samuels Library! We’re so glad you plan to visit us on your virtual walking tour. Samuels is a stand-alone library (i.e. we’re not part of a larger library system) located in the Shenandoah Mountains of Northern Virginia. Although Front Royal is a small town (15,000 residents in the city, and less than 40,000 total in Warren County), Samuels is a BIG library. The building is approximately 30,000 square feet encompassing study rooms, two conference rooms, a small meeting room, and a large meeting room which can accommodate 150 people. There is also a café area and a kitchen. One side of the library houses a large childrens’ area and teen room. The other side of the library houses a large adult collection, reference services, a computer lab with 12 computers and a projector for teaching classes, a local history room, and more than 20 public access computers. Although Front Royal is a largely urban environment, our location next to the Shenandoah National Forest makes visits from wildlife a common occurrence. Although I’ve never seen a bear in the parking lot we regularly see deer. Front Royal has the distinction of being the only town along the Appalachian Trail where the trail actually crosses a road inside city limits. Because of this, many hikers have supplies sent to the post office here and many of those hikers also visit the library to check their email and enjoy the a/c before heading back out on their journey. If you visited while it was warmer, you could swim and tube down the Shenandoah River. The river has thawed now, so going for a canoe trip is possible. Front Royal is “The canoe capital of Virginia.”Samuels Library

Crystal Parker and Jordan Fowler's Gettysburg visit!

While our drive from Virginia Beach to Gettysburg, PA was dreary, our visit to the Gettysburg branch of Adams County Public Library (ACPL) was anything but.  When you approach the massive building, you may think it is some sort of courthouse, but the book-drops outside quickly reveal its true identity.  Nearby, the statue of Abraham Lincoln invites you into the building with open arms.  The foyer of the building has a rather beautiful marble staircase that adds to the historic and classic feel of the building.

The building itself is three stories.  The bottom floor currently holds their adult, teen, and children's fiction collection, as well as their Friends Book Shop.  The children and teen non-fiction is shelved near their fiction counterparts and each have their own separate sections.  The children's area in particular is both very large and very cozy.  

The first floor has their adult nonfiction, reference, and audio/visual collection.  They have about ten public computers and their computers have different privileges available depending on whether you have an adult card or a juvenile (youth) card.  There is one computer dedicated to Genealogy which, as you can imagine, is heavily used in such a historical town.

Their top floor is dedicated to Library Administration and their meeting rooms.  Their largest meeting room is called the Eisenhower room and then nearby are two smaller study rooms.  Remembering that the library was formerly used as a secondary White House during the Eisenhower Administration really allows you to think about who may have been in these rooms years ago.  Eisenhower used one of the rooms as an office for a brief time.

Despite the chilling and rainy weather, the library was still busy.  The staff was very helpful and gave us a great tour.  We even got to look at their storage area in the back which held the older periodicals and Civil War letters.  We also got to take a look at their Book Mobile which was parked near their donation area waiting to go out on some more outreach missions. 

The library was a very welcoming place with a wonderful staff.  They were very excited to be able to show off their wonderful library and it was so interesting to see how different but how similar our libraries are from each other.  If you ever happen to be in Gettysburg, we recommend stopping by the library for a very friendly and great historical experience.

Check out their brand new website www.adamslibrary.org and make sure you say hello to our great tour guide Lori Yarwood.  We would also like to thank Susan Bunch and Sara Edmiston (Community Relations Librarian) for  helping arrange our visit.

Also, after a visit to the ACPL Gettysburg Library, make sure you have lunch or dinner the Dobbin's House Spring Tavern and keep a weather eye out for ghosts!

On the Go.....

Adams County Public Library's

Outreach Van

Left to Right

Jim Martin, County Commissioner; Rob Lesher, Library Director; Ron Jones, President of the Board of Trustees

Our latest endeavor, our Outreach Van, which we just revealed to the public on February 28th. We will be using this van in conjunction with our bookmobile to offer service throughout the county. The van will be going to institutions whose locations are too small for the bookmobile to visit.

And, here we go again.......

Gettysburg Library

The building that is the current home of the Gettysburg Library turned 100 years old in 2013.  It was originally built as a post office, and was a gift to the residents of Adams County from the Federal Government for everything they had to deal with during the Civil War.  Construction was originally supposed to be completed in time for the 50th Anniversary of the Battle of Gettysburg, however, with construction delays, completion was about 6 months late.  

During Eisenhower's time in office, the building was, for a short period of time, used as a secondary White House.  Eisenhower had a farm in the area.  While he was in office, he suffered from a heart attack and went to the farm to recoup.  Being the only close Federal building, the building's office space was used as a temporary White House while he recovered.

We celebrated the anniversary of the building with a gala event, hosting David Eisenhower as our guest speaker.  At that event, we also unveiled our new library logo.

2015 actually marks the 70th anniversary of the library system here in Adams County.So far this year we have unveiled a new Outreach Van (February 28th) and on March 2nd unveiled a new website (www.adamslibrary.org).

We have arrived!  Wow what a walk to

Chinn Park Regional Library!  

We are enjoying a nice break with "Squirt."

Chinn Family

Portrait of Mrs. Chinn located in the lobby of Chinn Park Regional Library

Mary Jane was born a third-generation slave ca. 1794 on a plantation near what is now Lake Ridge.  She married fellow slave Thomas Chinn, with whom she had 8 children: Henry, James, Oscar, John, William, George, Robert, and Fielder.  Like many slaves at the time, Mary Jane and Thomas continued to work on the plantation after emancipation, where Mary Jane served as a cook in the main house, and Thomas worked in the stables.  In 1889, after their former master, Henry F. Roe, died, the Chinn family purchased around 500 acres of land near the plantation for $3 an acre.  The family built houses on the land, and flourished through the generations in Prince William County, despite the difficulties created by racism and segregation at the time. 

When deciding what to name the new recreation center and park in 1989, the Prince William County Park Authority received a petition with hundreds of signatures to name the park after one of the few pre-Civil War families still residing in the county. 

REFERENCES:

Masters, B. (1989, December 14). Memorial to a Matriarch: Park Named for Woman Born a Slave in County. Washington Post, p. VA-1.

(1969, September 17). A Milestone for Mrs. Chinn. Potomac News, p. C-1

Mr. John and Squirt!

Mr. John, our male children's librarian, is very popular with storytime attendees.  Squirt, our branch turtle, is a celebrity in our library.  Often children are overheard saying, "I have to say bye to Squirt before we leave" or "Let's go see Squirt!"  Squirt even has his own Facebook page which is well liked.  

Mr. John

Squirt attempting to "accompany" Mr. John at storytime with his banjo!