Accomplishments
The Friends of Thomas Balch Library have achieved significant milestones, including the launch of their Capital Campaign and the establishment of the Friends’ Black History Committee (BHC). Additionally, the Friends have commissioned and donated various artworks to the library, including “A Loudoun County Story” mural.
Renovation and expansion
Capital Campaign
The Friends of Thomas Balch Library completed a Capital Campaign to generate public and corporate interest in support of Thomas Balch Library and its expansion. The Campaign surpassed its goal of $400,000. Funds purchased furniture and technology equipment for the 1999-2001 renovation and expansion of the facility by the Town of Leesburg. We continue to provide opportunities to honor or memorialize individuals or ancestors at Thomas Balch Library through bequests and endowments, or by purchasing brass leaves for the Tree of History or bricks for the B. Powell and Agnes Harrison Memorial Garden.
Black History Committee
The most significant product of the Capital Campaign is the creation of the Friends’ Black History Committee (BHC). This Committee was founded in 2000, and since then it has developed the community’s knowledge and understanding of Loudoun County’s African American heritage. During the Committee launch, an anonymous source donated $50,000 to the Friends, suggesting that one room of the expanded library be named after an African American from Loudoun County. The BHC is dedicated to preserving, collecting, and promoting the history of “African Americans who contributed to the emergence and development of Loudoun County, Virginia.”
Commissioned by the Friends
Mural and Other Works of Art
The Friends of Thomas Balch Library have commissioned and gifted varies pieces of artwork to the library over the years.
The “A Loudoun County Story” Mural
“Meeting the Piscataway” Painting
This oil on linen painting completed in 2003 depicts the first recorded meeting between colonists and the indigenous peoples of Loudoun County at the fort of the Piscataway.
Five Portraits Painting
Friends of the Thomas Balch Library also commissioned Kurt Schwartz, a local artist residing in Waterford, to paint portraits of five individuals who played major roles in the life of Loudoun County.