HomeMy Public PortalAboutTOL NR 2022-04-29 Thomas Balch Library Celebrates 100th Anniversary of Opening
Town of Leesburg
News Release
For Immediate Release
April 29, 2022
Media Contact:
Leah Kosin, Assistant Public Information Officer
pio@leesburgva.gov 703-771-2781
Thomas Balch Library Celebrates 100th Anniversary of Opening
Leesburg, VA (April 29, 2022) – This year marks the
100th anniversary of the opening of the Thomas Balch
Library.
Named after Leesburg native Thomas Balch, a
prominent Philadelphia attorney in the mid-19th
century, the library building was dedicated in May,
1922. In 1960 it became a free, though segregated,
public library and in 1965, following desegregation, its
services became available to all persons.
In 1974 it joined as a branch of the recently established Loudoun County Public Library system
serving the community as a full service public library. When the county’s new Rust Library
opened in 1992, the Town acquired the Thomas Balch Library building, taking over its
operation, and renaming it the Thomas Balch Library of Local History and Genealogy.
A special exhibit will be on display in the Margaret Mercer room and at the digital kiosk in the
Divine Room at Thomas Balch Library throughout the month of May. Artifacts, photographs,
and documents from the history of the library will be featured as well as an interactive timeline.
Of note are items donated by the Balch family, original minutes and ledgers of the Leesburg
Library Society, and memorabilia from the library’s first 100 years.
Other celebratory events will be held through May 2023. To learn more, call 703-737-7195 or
visit www.leesburgva.gov/departments/thomas-balch-library.
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