On
April 9th, 2003 the Fairfax County Public Library Board
of Trustees recognized Star Volunteers at a dinner at
Squire Rockwell's Restaurant and ceremony at George Mason
Regional Library. Thirty-five volunteers and three corporate
volunteer partners, Datatel, Inc., ExxonMobil Corp., and
Volunteer Fairfax, were honored. Awardees were selected
from over 3,200 individuals who contributed over 157,000
hours of service to the Library in FY 2003. Awards were
given for 1,000, 3,000, and 5,000 hours of service and
for exceptional projects and performance.
Back to page one of Star
Volunteer Awards
Anne Dewey receives an Exceptional Service Award
for her innovative techniques in coordinating Kingstowne
Library's popular English Conversation group, a group
of new Americans who gather weekly to practice their language
skills. Using teaching techniques learned as an English
tutor in Korea, Anne leads discussions on social security,
insurance, shopping, recipes, and current news topics,
and the group recently read the best seller Suzanne's
Diary for Nicholas together. Anne has also taken the group
for lunch, shopping, and to her own home for a baby shower
for one member, providing transportation to those who
need it. The group has become a social unit, which accepts
newcomers warmly, and participants feel less isolated
and more connected to the community and to library services
as a result of Anne's outstanding efforts in developing
this group.
 P.
R. Ray, a retired Navy captain, has already reached
the 7,500 hour mark as a Library volunteer, and is closing
in on 8,000 hours of service. Since 1986, he has volunteered
at Access Services, Sherwood Regional, and Martha Washington
Libraries. His specialty is the public service circulation
desk, where he offers expert reader's advisory to his
customers, and over the years, he has been a strong advocate
for Library service for the disabled. All of P. R.'s branches
appreciate his outstanding commitment to the Library community.
Chris Shukis has contributed 1,230 hours as a Circulation
volunteer at Pohick Library since 1998. She helps with
the book drop on Mondays and Tuesdays, processes delivery
on Fridays, and assists at the Circulation Desk. The staff
greatly appreciates her valuable service to the Library
community.
Ken Woods has donated 1,100 hours since 1995 at
Pohick as a Circulation volunteer. He checks books out
on the Circulation Desk and helps with the book drop on
Monday mornings. The staff are very grateful for his continued
dedication even though surgery on his knee has made the
job a little more challenging.
Taylor Bronaugh, a retired Coast Guard officer,
has created many user-friendly databases for Pohick librarians
and customers during his 3000+ hours of service since
1992. Some of these databases relate to Pohick Library
holdings, making them invaluable to Pohick customers.
Others, such as the annual alphabetical and shelf lists
of FCPS summer reading books, are distributed to all branches
via the Library's network server. Recently Taylor developed
an extensive, annotated Teen Historical Fiction database
which has even been requested by a librarian in Prince
William County. He not only researches and updates the
content for these projects, but also has taught himself
the necessary database software. Taylor receives an Exceptional
Service Award for his innovative contributions.
Emily Swenson, coordinator of Volunteers for Change,
and her group of volunteers receive an Exceptional Service
Award for establishing a monthly "Library Detailing Day"
at Pohick Library. Volunteers for Change is a Volunteer
Fairfax program for people who want to volunteer during
weekend or evening hours as part of a group. On a Wednesday
evening each month, a team of as many as nine volunteers
arrive at Pohick to help with tasks that are outside the
branch's custodial contract. They clean refrigerators,
shelves, carts, carrels, and drawers, organize kitchen
cupboards, oil hinges, dust, scrub, polish, vacuum, remove
graffiti, recycle, and care for plants. Pohick staff are
thrilled to have this valuable support, and Volunteer
Fairfax has offered to extend the program to other branches.
In appreciation for the team's outstanding contribution,
the Library Board presents this plaque to Emily and the
Pohick Detailing Team.
Dianne Coan, a former Reference Librarian and Circulation
Manager at Reston Regional, volunteers on Saturday morning
on both the public Information Desk and the Circulation
Desk, a rare and valued combination. In addition, she
has drawn from her professional background in integrated
library systems to provide skilled assistance to the Reston
staff during last year's transition to the new SIRSI circulation
system. She receives an Exceptional Service Award for
this valuable gift to the Reston community.
Brandie and Farook Dadi receive an Exceptional
Service Award for their outstanding contribution as the
project managers for the construction of the Reston Friends'
12 foot by 20 foot book shed. Drawing on Farook's expertise
as a senior facilities officer at the World Bank, they
worked as a team to steer the process through design,
permits, and inspection. As a result, the Reston Friends
can now store their books on the property and save on
costly storage fees in between their book sales.
Charly Karlsson and Melody Warner coordinate the
Reston Friends' book sales. In January they hosted a Networking
Luncheon Forum attended by twelve book sale chairs from
other Library branches. The group appreciated the opportunity
to share practices, procedures, and concerns, and the
attendees all gained valuable information to use in planning
future sales at their branches. For their leadership and
enthusiasm in coordinating this event, Charly and Melody
receive Exceptional Service Awards.
Jean Taczak, the Treasurer of the Reston Friends,
also coordinates the disposition of unsold books from
the semi-annual sales. Last fall, Jean distributed over
150 boxes of books to correctional institutions, Barrios
Unidos of Northern Virginia, and other needy groups. The
testimonials the Library has received attest to the great
value of Jean's efforts, and she receives an Exceptional
Service Award for extending Library resources to the greater
community.
Lorraine Horwath has contributed over 1,000 hours
of service to the Richard Byrd Circulation Department.
She processes the book drop on Mondays and Wednesdays
and also handles delivery. When a holiday falls on one
of those days, she reschedules herself for the following
day so that she will not miss her opportunity to work.
The staff very much appreciate her dedication.
Michael Gravino, a Technology Volunteer in the
Sherwood Tech Training Lab, has assumed a leadership role
in the Lab, which is open seven days a week and serves
over 2,000 customers a month. In addition to helping people
establish e-mail accounts, type resumes, write reports,
and make business cards and flyers, he has also recruited
and trained volunteers. Recently he drafted a training
manual for new Lab volunteers and a troubleshooting manual
of frequently asked questions. In addition, he designs
and produces Lab publicity. For his major contribution
to the Lab's successful operation, he receives an Exceptional
Service Award.
 Jane
Minogue has donated 1,037 hours of service to the
Sherwood Circulation Department since 1997. She mends
books and other materials, processes reserved books for
customers, and also processes the daily mail as a part
of the periodicals team. Her commitment and enthusiasm
are greatly appreciated by the Sherwood staff.
Beverly Morse has contributed 1,328 hours as a
volunteer at Sherwood. For the Circulation Department,
she works on the public desk, answers phones, processes
reserved books and delivery, sorts carts, and files school
publications and tax forms. For the Children's Department,
she goes to the schools to "book talk" for the Summer
Reading Program, helps with children's programs, weeds
the collection, processes gift books, and helps with all
labeling projects. Sherwood staff are very grateful for
her energy and versatility in providing so many services
to the community.
Richard Palaschak has donated 1,337 hours of service
to the Sherwood Circulation Department. He stamps date
due cards, processes book sale items, and assists with
the yearly book sale. His willingness to do whatever is
needed is much appreciated by the staff.
Richard Higgins has contributed 3,160
hours as the driving force behind Sherwood's popular Friends
book sales. Not only does he work on all the aspects of
the sale, but he also trains and oversees the other book
sale volunteers. The ongoing and special sales he coordinates
have raised substantial funds for service enhancements
like professional programming for children and adults,
new shelves for recorded books, and added technology for
the Tech Lab. Most recently the Friends also made a major
contribution for new public service desks for Sherwood.
 Carolyn
Kearney, a retired FCPS teacher, has donated over
1,000 hours as a Library volunteer since 1996. At Thomas
Jefferson, she processes the Friday delivery, organizing
and checking in hundreds of materials. She also volunteers
for Access Services, visiting several branches to pick
out Large Print materials for local nursing homes, where
she has befriended many residents during her weekly visits.
The Library much appreciates her dedicated service.
 Mary
Niebuhr has contributed over 1,000 hours to both the
Circulation and Information Departments at Tysons-Pimmit
for the last eight years. At the Circulation Desk, her
warm smile and pleasant demeanor are a big hit with customers.
She also reshelves reference books for the Information
Department, making it possible for staff and customers
to locate high-demand materials. The staff are very grateful
for her faithful service.
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