An ‘anchor.’
That’s how Charles Johnson, a member of the Norfolk Public Library Board of Trustees described the Blyden Branch, which celebrated it’s 103rd anniversary Saturday morning.
Since 1957, the Blyden Branch has sat at it’s current location at 879 E. Princess Anne Road.
But it got its start in 1921 as a single-room library at Booker T. Washington in High School. The Blyden Branch moved to Johnson Avenue and Church Street in 1938.
“It provided library service for the city’s approximately 43,000 African American residents, and was the first library for African Americans supported by a municipality in Virginia,” according to the library’s website.
To the people who love this library, it’s more than just a place to check out books.
“This is a place where people can still come and do research, they can get education, and they can, of course see their history,” Johnson said. “It has become a community hub and I hope it will remain a community hub.”
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