Special Collections Room
Located on the second floor, this room is home to several physical collections, as well as access to a variety of electronic resources. Some of the older and more vulnerable physical resources have been relocated to the Petersburg Archive; ask a staff member for these materials.
Physical Collections
Petersburg Collection
This collection is made up of titles concerning the history of Petersburg itself and includes several illustrated works.
Virginia Collection
These titles were donated by the Petersburg Women’s Club and are made up of titles relating to the state of Virginia, as well as titles by and about Virginians. Many titles were donated in memory of members of the club and include book plates acknowledging the memorial gift.
Newspapers
The Progress-Index and its predecessors. Dates back to 1865 continuously, with additional newspapers dating back, intermittently, to 1803 They are available on microfilm, but articles may be saved to USB drive or printed out for fifteen cents per page.
Go here for the online index to the Petersburg Newspapers, 1797-1877. You may also search the Progress-Index back to 2001 here if you have a Petersburg library card.
Local authors
Books by authors from Petersburg and the surrounding area. Local authors are encouraged to contact the Technical Services Librarian about donating their titles.
Petersburg Directory Collection
Dating back to 1873. Also includes Cross Reference Directories and old phone books.
City Government Publications
Includes the City Code, City budget and annual financial reports, as well as documents relating to City development and planning.
Bound periodicals for Virginia history and genealogical research
Tyler’s Quarterly (1919-1952)
Virginia Quarterly Review (1994-2006)
Virginia Calvacade (1958-2001)
Virginia Magazine of History and Biography (1893-2001)
William & Mary Quarterly (1892-2005)
Online Collections
Ancestry
The library version of the popular online genealogy research tool. Link is only accessible in the library.
Yearbooks
The Petersburg High School and Peabody High School yearbooks are available here.
Peabody Lion 1952-1962, 1966-1970
Peabody Peabodian 1963-1965, 1973-1977
Petersburg High School Missile 1912-1916, 1919, 1922-1941, 1944-1977
Petersburg High School Roulette 1920, 1923-1927, 1929