Blackwater Regional Library system serves the counties of Isle of Wight, Southampton, Surry, Sussex, and the city of Franklin in Virginia.
[1] According to FY 2015 Statistical Data for Virginia Public Libraries, the Blackwater Regional Library serves a population of 82,763.
[3] Southampton citizens Walter Cecil Rawls and his friend Junious W. Pulley planned what would become the Walter Cecil Rawls Library and Museum, which is the first of what would become the currently nine branch Blackwater Regional Library.
[4] The Walter Cecil Rawls Library and Museum opened for public use on June 13, 1958.
The bookmobile routes eventually led to the opening of the branches in the other counties.