Library History

David K. E. Bruce

Despite being born in Baltimore, Maryland in 1898, David Kirkpatrick Este Bruce considered himself a native of Charlotte County, Virginia, where his family home was located. His family has lived in the area on and off for generations in a beautiful home called Staunton Hill. Built before the Civil War, it is still in the family today.

After leaving Princeton University to fight in World War I, David attended law school when the war ended, attending both the University of Virginia and the University of Maryland. Upon graduating law school and passing the state bar, he practiced law for a few years. By the late 1920s, he was serving in the Maryland State House of Delegates. Upon leaving Maryland and returning home to Staunton Hill, Mr. Bruce maintained his family farm and worked in the business world throughout the 1930s. It was during this decade that he began to provide rural counties in Virginia with funding and supplies for public libraries.

By 1942, he had helped to found public libraries in eleven rural counties around the Commonwealth, most of which were in the south-central region of Virginia, near his home county of Charlotte. The counties whose libraries he helped to establish are: Appomattox, Brunswick, Charlotte, Franklin, Halifax, Hanover, Lunenburg, Mecklenburg, Nottoway, Patrick, and Pittsylvania. Although he initially tried to support the founding of the libraries anonymously, his generosity was soon revealed.

All libraries received a new library building (except Charlotte County), a basic book collection, furnishings, and equipment necessary for the operation of libraries – all funded by Mr. Bruce. He spent between $25,000-$40,000 on each of the eleven libraries (equivalent to $547,000-$875,000 in 2024 dollars). Unlike the other libraries, which received architectural plans for the library they should build, Charlotte County received a former private home that was converted into a library. This building is still in use today as a library and is named in honor of its donor.

David Bruce led a very interesting life after he finished establishing libraries. During World War II, he served in the Virginia House of Delegates until 1942, when he became involved in the Office of Strategic Services (OSS), a precursor to the CIA. He served in London, where he supervised the London OSS office and helped with espionage activities behind enemy lines. After the war, he helped to implement the Marshall Plan before serving in several diplomatic posts. He was ambassador to France, Germany, and the United Kingdom.

Ambassador Bruce passed away in Washington, D.C. in 1977.

The Beginnings of Charlotte County Public Library

In January 1937, Mr. Bruce donated a renovated former private home to Charlotte County for the purpose of establishing a public library for the county. The county government immediately agreed to permanently support the library. The Bruce Building is still in use today as one of the buildings at the Main Branch in Charlotte Court House. As with the other libraries he founded, he also donated books, furnishings, and library equipment.

In February 1937, the county decided to appoint its first library board, although the names were not announced until July of that year. Mr. and Mrs. Bruce then gave the deed to the property to the county in September, along with another $5,000 (just over $109,000 in 2024 values) for the beautification of the property, furnishings, and support for the first year of the librarian’s salary.

On November 2, 1937, the library’s doors opened for the first time. Mary Barksdale was the first librarian.

In 1989, the Library Board of Charlotte County Library used funds from its endowment to purchase the private home next door to the original Bruce Building. As the original Bruce Building needed more room, the purchase and renovation of what is now known as the Hoy Building was much needed. The Bruce Building now houses the children’s collection, the genealogy and local history room, and library administration. The Hoy Building houses the adult collection and public computers.

This began a period of great expansion for Charlotte County Public Library. The Town of Phenix began hosting the Phenix Branch Library inside its town municipal building around the same time. In 1993, after decades of moving in and out of various buildings in town, the Keysville Branch library opened in a more permanent location in a former church that is owned by the Town of Keysville. Similarly, the Wylliesburg Branch Library had several different locations over the years but was finally able to utilize a renovated gas station and former general store which it has been in since 2002. This building is rented from its owner.

Some of the information for this page was obtained from:

David K. E. Bruce’s Gift of County Libraries to Rural Virginia by Jane Stuart Conner, a master’s paper submitted to the faculty of the School of Library Science at the University of North Carolina, 1984.