Thomas Balch Library

Laura Christiansen named Director of Thomas Balch Library

March 16, 2024

Laura Christiansen has been named the new Director of the Thomas Balch Library. She will succeed Alexandra Gressitt, who has served as Library Director since December 2003 and will retire at the end of June. Christiansen has served as the Library’s Curator of Manuscripts and Archives for the past 10 years. During that time, she…

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Thomas Balch Library offers “Mapping in Loudoun County”

April 27, 2023

Kristin Brown will teach “Mapping in Loudoun County” on Thursday, May 4, beginning at 10 a.m. The class will be held both in-person and virtually. Brown, director of the Loudoun County Office of Mapping and Geographic Information, will provide an overview of historic maps, aerial photography, and other resources that may be of use in…

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New summer hours at Thomas Balch Library

July 26, 2022

As of  Monday, Aug. 1, the Thomas Balch Library will transition to summer hours. The library will be available by appointment only Monday, Wednesday, and Friday from 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. Click here to access the appointment request form. The library will be open regular business hours on Tuesday from 10 a.m. to 8 p.m., Thursday from…

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Exhibit highlights education in Loudoun’s past

June 1, 2022

A new exhibit from Loudoun County Clerk of the Circuit Court Historic Records and Deed Research Division, “Back to School: Education in Loudoun’s Past,” is available for viewing at Thomas Balch Library. This exhibit features facsimiles of historic court records on the early and primitive free education system that existed in Loudoun County from 1789-1861.…

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Nokes Farm Equipment exhibit at Thomas Balch Library through April

April 7, 2022

A new exhibit from Loudoun Heritage Farm Museum, “The Nokes Family Farm Equipment,” is available for viewing at Thomas Balch Library through April. This exhibit includes photos, advertisements, and pieces of a 1930’s New Idea model manure spreader. This manure spreader was recovered from the Nokes farm property in Sterling only weeks before the historic…

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Thomas Balch Library to host virtual conversation with local author Ellen Crosby

April 10, 2021

Thomas Balch Library Director Alexandra Gressitt will host a virtual conversation with local author Ellen Crosby on her latest wine county mystery, “The French Paradox” on Wednesday, April 28, beginning at 1 p.m. In this volume, Lucie Montgomery’s discovery of her grandfather’s Parisian romance unlocks a series of shocking secrets. The book was released in…

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The Lost Empire

Registration open for “The Lost Empire: Black Freemasonry in the Old West” Lecture

February 21, 2021

The upcoming lecture, “The Lost Empire: Black Freemasonry in the Old West (1867-1906)”, is now open for registration. Historian James R. Morgan III will discuss his award winning debut book, which tells the history of African American Freemasonry in the Old West as seen through the lens of Captain William D. Matthews and the King…

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