When you support the Virginia Center for the Book, you help ensure that K-12 students, readers, writers, artists, and book lovers across the Commonwealth have access to resources celebrating the enduring power of literature, storytelling, and the book arts.
Our year-round programming, for all ages and interests, would not be possible without your support and the support of our Book Arts members. You help us engage Virginians in public dialogue around important topics and promote intercultural understanding through the Virginia Festival of the Book; build empathy through creative self-expression and improve job preparedness with our Book Arts programming and training; and ensure that everyone has access to literacy resources and is given the opportunities they need in order to develop a love for books.
We appreciate every single gift, regardless of amount. All donors are published in the Virginia Humanities annual report and help ensure the continuation of the unique opportunities provided to all Virginians by our work.
Ways to Give
Give Online
Make a gift using our secure, online form.
Send a Check
Checks may be made out to Virginia Humanities and sent to:
Virginia Humanities
Attn: Virginia Center for the Book
946 Grady Ave Ste 100
Charlottesville, VA 22903-4629
Questions? Email books@virginiahumanities.org and we can help.
Specific Funds
You may also consider designating your gift to a specific fund in support of the Virginia Center for the Book:
Frank Riccio Fund
Frank Riccio began his career as an illustrator in Bridgeport, CT, before moving to Charlottesville, where he spent 19 years painting, illustrating, and volunteering actively for WTJU and as a Book Arts member artist in the Virginia Center for the Book (then known as the Virginia Arts of the Book Center). Though he died in 2014 after a courageous battle with cancer, Frank’s passion and creativity live on at the Center, through the members he collaborated with over many years as well as his influence on our outreach and education.
The Frank Riccio Fund honors his memory, recognizes his legacy as a talented and tireless practitioner and educator among Virginia’s creative community, and builds upon his loyal and generous support for the work of book artists.
All donations given to this Fund will support the Riccio Residency, providing an opportunity for the Book Arts community to host an illustrator, printer, or book artist who will receive a stipend, travel, and lodging while they complete a collaborative and community-focused project during an in-person residency at the Virginia Center for the Book. Envisioned as a new way to engage youth and adults alike in public demonstrations, projects, and presentations related to Book Arts, the Residency will celebrate the vibrancy of our creative community and encourage wide-ranging participation.
Raucous Auction
Our annual Book Arts fundraising event is known as the Raucous Auction and typically takes place each November. The event celebrates the work accomplished by member artists in the past year, and traditionally marks the successful completion of the annual Members’ Project. Live and silent auctions feature one-of-a-kind art items and experiences for bidding, donated by artists, businesses, and other community groups.
Donations of auction items are happily accepted, after review. Sponsorships are also available for a variety of levels of support. To learn more, please email books@virginiahumanities.org.
Virginia Festival of the Book
Gifts may also be made directly to the Virginia Festival of the Book, to support virtual and in-person programming, year-round. Donations support statewide dialogue on important themes, foster the next generation of readers, and ensure that the majority of Festival programming each year can be presented free of charge and for all to enjoy.
How Money is Spent
Donations to the Virginia Center for the Book enable us to continue to grow the resources we provide across the Commonwealth.
Your financial support helps us keep the lights on and the door open in Charlottesville, but also supports the development and distribution of virtual learning tools to public libraries and classrooms across the state. Your gift provides in-person opportunities for K-12 students in Central Virginia to learn about bookmaking and explore their own lives through art, but also ensures that virtual programming from the Virginia Festival of the Book, Route 1 Reads, and Great Reads reach as broad a viewership as possible, to share a love of reading with everyone.
