From the Richmond Commercial Bulletin, 8/1/1865, p. 3, c. 1

THE STATE LIBRARY. – Although no librarian yet officiates at this institution, and no books are allowed to be withdrawn, visitors are still admitted and leisure hour cannot be more agreeably spent than in a quiet ramble among the alcoves, which have, however, been stripped of many of their most valuable treasures. Many books were out in the hands of citizens at the time of the surrender of the city, and during the evacuation soldiers and others made sad havoc, leaving the Library – once the pride of every Virginian – only a wreck of its former self. We hope that when the wheels of civil government begin to revolve smoothly again, every effort will be made to repair the injuries inflicted by the war, and that it may again become the resort of the student and the statesman as in the days of yore.

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