Richlands Library
Address
102 Suffolk Avenue
P.O. Box 860
Richlands, VA 24641
Phone
(276) 964-5282
FAX: (276) 963-1107
Hours
Sunday: Closed
Monday: 11am – 8pm
Tuesday: 9am – 5:30pm
Wednesday: 9am – 5:30pm
Thursday: 9am – 5:30pm
Friday: 9am – 5:30pm
Saturday: 9am – 1:00pm
The Richlands Women’s Club provided this recently installed sign, which is visible from both Front Street and Suffolk Avenue.
Directions and Map
From Tazewell
- Take 460 West to Richlands, turning right at Claypool Hill
- Exit at Rt. 67 (Jewell Ridge)
- Turn left onto Railroad Avenue
- Drive through one traffic light to end (road becomes one way)
- Turn left onto Front Street (one way)
- Library is 3 blocks ahead on left on corner of Front Street and Suffolk Avenue.
From Grundy
- Take 460 East toward Richlands
- Exit onto Front Street (past Clinch Valley Medical Center)
- Cross railroad tracks, get in left lane
- Library is 3 blocks ahead on left on corner of Front Street and Suffolk Avenue.
Staff
Jami McDonald, Branch Manager
Gregory Hubbard, Custodian
Amanda Miller, Children’s Specialist
Lena Powers, Circulation Specialist
Rhonda VanDyke, Circulation Specialist
History
Beginning in the 1960s, Freya Dalton voluntarily operated a station library in a building she owned on Washington Square in Richlands. She provided many books herself and gathered donations from the community to stock this library. Building on her early work, the Richlands Area Friends of the Library, formed in the early 1980s under the leadership of Dr. John C. Willis, worked ceaselessly to obtain a library in the community. The Friends acquired the Dr. W. R. Williams house on Suffolk Avenue, and privately raised the funds to renovate it. Constructed in 1890 for the offices of Clinch Valley Coal and Iron Company, this building later became the residence and hospital of Dr. W. R. Williams. In 1983, the Williams family donated this property, listed on the Virginia Historic Landmarks Register, to the Town of Richlands for use as a library. This facility opened 1 October 1984. Architect for the renovation of this building was Cameron Wolfe and contractor was Henry Nickels, Inc. It was first known as the Western District Branch, then as the Maiden Spring Branch and, now, as the Richlands Branch of Tazewell County Public Library.