Back to the Future for Norfolk Library

In 1959 the Hampton Roads Community Foundation (then The Norfolk Foundation) was a

Kirn Library in 2962 (Sargeant Memorial Collection)

9-year-old community foundation that primarily awarded scholarships.

But, with a new library being planned for downtown Norfolk, Virginia, the community foundation's board awarded its first major grant -- $100,206 grant to help build Kirn Memorial Library. This main library for the city opened in the early 1960s. Funding came from the new Munro Black Fund started from an estate gift from a lifelong Norfolk resident who always enjoyed libraries.

Slover Library (Hyunsoo Leo Kim/Virginian-Pilot)

Kirn Library served its community well until 2008 when it was demolished and plans started formulating for a new downtown library. In January 2015 the new Col Samuel L. Slover Library opened in downtown Norfolk as the most technologically advanced library in the country. 

Once again, the Munro Black Fund and many others administered by the Hampton Roads Community Foundation were on hand to help. More than $1 million in grants have been awarded to the Slover Library Foundation to help build and equip the new library.

The community foundation's support of the library will be ongoing through the Virginian-Pilot Fund it administers. This field-of-interest fund designed to support technology at the Slover Library so that it always keeps pace with community needs.

(The Hampton Roads Community Foundation is a regional community foundation started in 1950 as the first community foundation in Virginia. It is among nearly 750 community foundation around the country serving specific geographic regions. It is the largest grant and scholarship provider in southeastern Virginia and manages more than 400 charitable funds created by donors from all walks of life. Over the decades it has provided more than $195 million to improve life for residents living in the Hampton Roads region of Virginia, including the cities of Chesapeake, Franklin, Norfolk, Portsmouth, Smithfield, Suffolk and Virginia Beach. It also serves people in Isle of Wight and Southampton counties and the Eastern Shore of Virginia, including Accomack and Northampton counties. Learn more at hamptonroadscf.org. You can click here to locate a community foundation near you. )