The Lora M. Robins Library includes 7,000+ titles on a range of subjects, including:

• gardening, horticulture, botany, agriculture, landscaping and sustainable practices;
• Virginia native plants and world flora;
• botanical art and illustration;
• medical botany, nature-based therapies, ethnobotany and plant lore;
• plant pests and diseases;
• children’s books, middle-grade books, games and puzzles.

We invite all Garden visitors to explore the shelves, research within the Lora M. Robins Library, and ask questions of Library staff and volunteers. Access the online catalog to search for materials by subject, title, author, or keyword.

The Special Collections include rare books, botanical art, sculptures, photographs, herbaria and the Lewis Ginter Botanical Garden Archives. Among these are 35,000 photographic slides of Virginia wildflowers, captured by local conservationist Newton Ancarrow. Some of these slides are digitally accessible via the Ancarrow Wildflower Digital Archive, a collaborative project of Lewis Ginter Botanical Garden and the Virginia Commonwealth University Libraries and VCU Rice Rivers Center. Special Collections items do not circulate; to view these materials in the library, please contact the librarian.

Library staff and volunteers are available to provide research assistance and answer questions during the open hours of 10:00 a.m. to 4:00 p.m. Tuesday through Saturday.

Drop-in questions are welcome, but we recommend scheduling an appointment for complex research requests. Please contact Kristin Thoroman, Vice President, Learning and Engagement, at [email protected] or call 804-262-9887 x275.

Library hours: 10 a.m. – 4 p.m. Tuesday-Saturday