Jefferson-Madison Regional Library Central

Public library service here began in 1823 as the Albemarle Library Society. Paul Goodloe McIntire funded a revival in 1919; the first municipal library opened in 1921. In 1934, the system opened a Colored Branch at Jefferson School — its first branch, built because Charlottesville wouldn't let Black readers through the main door. Fourteen years later, the libraries integrated. The regional system formed in 1972, when the Virginia General Assembly authorized it, combining Charlottesville with four surrounding counties. The Central Library serves that same geography today.