On
April 14th, 2004 the Fairfax County Public Library (FCPL)
Board of Trustees recognized Star Volunteers and Community
Service Partners at a dinner and ceremony at the Mason
Governmental Center. Thirty-eight volunteers, a teen volunteer
team, and six corporate volunteer partners were honored.
Awardees were selected from over 3,200 individuals who
contributed over 162,000 hours of service to the Library
during the previous year. Awards were given for 1,000,
3,000, 5,000, and 7,500 hours of service and for exceptional
projects and performance. Presenting awards were the Hon.
Mark Sickles, Virginia House of Delegates, 43rd District,
and Susan Thorniley, Chair, FCPL Board of Trustees.
(l-r) Susan Thorniley
and
Karen Fitzgibbon, AT&T |
AT&T has a long history of volunteer involvement
in Fairfax County. In October, we were pleased to welcome
an AT&T team at Tysons-Pimmit Regional Library for VolunteerFest,
a day of service sponsored by Volunteer Fairfax and hosted
by the Library. Led by Karen Fitzgibbon, these
energetic employees shoveled dirt and debris to widen
the service road by three feet, cleaned up the grounds,
weeded the Memorial Garden, and shelfread the branch magazine
collection. The company also made a generous donation
to the Fairfax
Library Foundation.
(l-r) Susan Thorniley
and Susan Koch, Datatel, Inc. |
Datatel, Inc. has given service to the community
over many years. Since 2002, the Library has been included
as a site for their Community Day, in which every employee
participates. Last May, Datatel employees led by Susan
Koch helped produce an open house at Fairfax City
Regional to celebrate the community's cultural diversity.
The same day, Ana Borray and her team supported
the Reston Regional Friends book sale, which earned a
record-breaking $23,000 to fund new equipment, furniture,
and resources for the Library. Datatel also made a generous
donation to the Library Foundation that was used to buy
books for the Virginia Foundation for the Humanities'
Motheread®/Fatheread® program. Datatel will return
to us on May 1st on their 2004 Community Day, and the
company is also a sponsor of the Foundation's Capital
Book Festival on May 8th.
(l-r) Susan Thorniley
and
Patrick Dexter,
ExxonMobil Corp. |
ExxonMobil has supported the Library in many ways
during the past year. Last June, a team of ExxonMobil
employees revitalized Thomas Jefferson's Virginia Native
Plant garden and donated a picnic table and nearly 1,000
books to the branch. In October, VolunteerFest teams led
by Patrick Dexter and Judy Gorman pitched
in for an indoor and outdoor spruce up of Fairfax City
and Thomas Jefferson Libraries. The company matched these
volunteer hours with a $5,500 grant to the FCPL Foundation,
as well as matching employee donations of $800. The company
gave a Community Summer Jobs grant to the Foundation for
a college student to coordinate West Side Stories, a literacy
outreach program for at-risk children in the Sherwood
Library service area. ExxonMobil supports the Children's
Foreign Language Collection, and this year contributed
$20,000 to underwrite a Spanish Children's collection.
They are also a $10,000 sponsor of the upcoming Capital
Book Festival on May 8th.
Special thanks are due to Patrick Dexter, who has worked
tirelessly as Foundation Board Chair to increase the public
visibility of the Foundation. Last year the number of
gifts to the Foundation more than doubled. Patrick's expertise
from the corporate world and a previous career as a professional
librarian has been invaluable to the Foundation and the
Library during his distinguished service on the Foundation
Board.
(l-r) Susan Thorniley
and Bill Turner,
Catholic University of
America School of Library
and Information Science |
The Catholic University of America School of Library
and Information Science has a long tradition of service
to the profession of library science. In the last twenty
years, the Library has been fortunate to host over 100
Catholic University library science graduate students
for 120-hour practicum projects in public service, reference
support, grant-writing, technical operations, and other
areas. These students have significantly enhanced public
service and kept us in touch with new developments in
the academic world. Many have continued to volunteer for
us, and a number of graduates have joined our staff.
Catholic University has also encouraged our staff to pursue
degrees in library science through the FCPL/CUA Cohort
Program, established in 2001. This program allows our
staff to pursue an MLS degree at a discounted rate and
attend classes locally at the Fairfax County Government
Center. Currently eight staff members are pursuing their
degree through the Cohort Program, and seven more have
graduated from the program. Our thanks to Bill Turner,
Assistant Dean, who is representing Catholic University
this evening.
(l-r) Susan Thorniley
and
Heather Hare, Center for
Service and Leadership,
George Mason University |
The George Mason University Center for Service and
Leadership has been a valued friend of the Fairfax
County Public Library since 1997, when the Center first
invited the Library to host "service-learners". Although
we had hosted many high school and graduate school students,
we had less experience with undergraduates. For six years,
Heather Hare, Assistant Director of the Center,
and her staff have provided Library staff with training
and guidance on how to benefit from undergraduate academic
internships and service projects, as well as opportunities
to recruit students on campus and via email. Over 20 GMU
service-learners, both academic interns and volunteers,
have contributed hundreds of hours of Internet and MS
Office tutoring, graphic design, and special projects
to the Library.
(l-r) Susan Thorniley
and
Renee Atkinson,
Volunteer Fairfax |
Volunteer Fairfax has been a major support to the
Library's volunteer program. For over 25 years, they have
referred volunteers to the Library, helped us recruit,
and provided volunteer management training to our staff.
Every spring, they provide us with the opportunity to
nominate special volunteers for recognition at the Fairfax
County Volunteer Service Awards, Many of our volunteers
and staff have participated in this delightful event,
coordinated by Renee Atkinson.
Each October, Volunteer Fairfax sponsors VolunteerFest,
an area-wide day of service. In 2003, Fairfax County Public
Library was fortunate to be selected as the host agency.
Renee Atkinson and the Volunteer Fairfax Staff coordinated
this event, recruiting more than 500 volunteers who contributed
over 1,900 hours of service to the Library on October
25th, as well as matching grants and gifts-in-kind to
the Fairfax Library Foundation. In addition,
Volunteer Fairfax provided valuable training to Library
staff on how to plan and benefit from one-time volunteer
projects.
(l-r) Dolores Barbour,
Aidalyn
Cordisco, and Susan Thorniley. |
Dolores Barbour has contributed over 1,000 service
hours at Centreville Regional since 1993, when the branch
was located in a shopping center. She mends and shelves
children's picture books, helping to keep these popular
books available to as many children as possible.
Aidalyn Cordisco also began volunteering at Centreville
in its shopping center location in 1992, and since then
has donated over 1,000 hours of service. She works at
the Circulation Desk, checking books out to customers,
and checking in returned books.
(l-r) Thomas Chinloy,
Goldie Colman,
Barbara Howlett, Deborah Gilman,
and Joseph Baker with Susan Thorniley |
Thomas Chinloy has donated over 1,600 hours since
1994 as Dolley Madison's mender extraordinaire. No broken
spine or torn cover is too much for his meticulous repair
skills, and as a result, books that would have been discarded
can be read and enjoyed by additional people.
Goldie Colman volunteers every Monday morning to
help process materials in the book drop and delivery and
send them on their way to the shelves. Since 1993 she
has given over 1,400 hours of service. She enjoys seeing
the new books as they arrive, and the branch enjoys her
warmth and sense of humor.
Barbara Howlett has been a faithful volunteer at
the Dolley Madison Circulation Desk since 1994, contributing
over 1,300 hours. She worked every Friday while she was
working on her degree, and now she comes in every Saturday
after a full work week. Dolley Madison customers enjoy
her book recommendations.
Deborah Gilman has contributed over 3,300 hours
to Dolley Madison since 1992. She provides public service
at the Circulation Desk two days a week, and even more
when asked. She is also the Treasurer of the Dolley Madison
Friends. She surprised herself, but not her colleagues,
by learning how to use the new Workflows circulation system
from the first hour it was introduced.
Joseph Baker has coordinated the Dolley
Madison Friends' Book Sale since 1994, contributing over
5,600 hours of service. Almost daily, he sorts used book
donations and makes a special effort to find homes for
books that will not sell at Dolley Madison. Over the years,
the sales have earned over $50,000 for use by the branch
and the system. At the branch, these funds covered over
$5,000 worth of professional children's programming, professionally
framed historic photographs for the meeting room, new
signage, and many other projects too numerous to mention.
(l-r) , Susan Thorniley,
Tyler Williams and Xenedee Bradley |
Xenedee Bradley has contributed over 1,000 service
hours since retiring from Fairfax County government in
1988. She has assisted Children's Services with catalog
changes, shelving, mending, and programs. During an employee's
extended absence Xenedee learned to mend cassette tapes
and put many books on tape back in circulation. She expanded
her technology skills when the new computer system was
introduced, and now uses her data entry skills in the
Virginia Room, updating the newspaper indexes for computer
access.
Maxie Hopkins has been a loyal Friend of the Fairfax
City Regional Library for over 20 years. She is a master
organizer, a knowledgeable sorter and pricer of used books
for the Friends book sale, and a savvy bookwoman. She
has contributed over 1,000 hours of energetic service
and is much appreciated by her fellow Friends, the staff,
and the community.
Tyler Williams has contributed over 1,000 hours
to the Fairfax City Circulation Department since 1994.
He helps process the morning book delivery, and the staff
enjoy his outgoing personality. When he is not at his
post, he can usually be found in the biography section
or in the Friends room looking for National Geographics
for his grandson.
(l-r) Susan Thorniley,
Richard Savage,
Betty White, and Richard Faubion |
Richard Faubion volunteers at the George Mason
Circulation Desk on Tuesday mornings, checking books in
and out. Staff and customers appreciate his friendly banter
and cheerful attitude. Since 1996, Richard has donated
over 1,500 hours of service to George Mason.
Nancy Smith has contributed over 1,500 service
hours to the George Mason Circulation Department since
1989. Customers look forward to talking to her each Monday
night when she works at the Circulation Desk. For many
years Nancy volunteered after spending stressful days
working as a lawyer for the federal government.
Betty White has volunteered over 1,500 hours for
the George Mason Circulation Department since 1997. Although
she has performed many duties, her specialty is working
with reserved books, which frees the Circulation staff
to spend more time with customers.
Richard Savage has contributed over 3,600 hours
of faithful service to the George Mason Circulation Department
since 1987. He checks in materials from the book drop
and at the Circulation Desk. His upbeat attitude raises
the spirits of everyone he works with.
(l-r) Susan Thorniley,
Nelda Lateef,
and Ernest Dane |
Ernest Dane created a terrarium for Great Falls
Library three years ago, and he visits daily to care for
this woodland habitat, which is populated with beetles,
toads, slugs, and snakes. He supplements his "show and
tell" with books on identification and classification.
Highlights this summer were the Tupperware maternity ward
he created for a Virginia ring-necked snake who laid eggs
and the praying mantises who went through their entire
life cycle. For providing many appreciative children and
adults with this view of the natural world in the library,
he receives an Exceptional Service Award.
Nelda Lateef, a member of the Friends of Great
Falls Library, created a successful series of programs
called Discover What You Want to Be, now in its second
year. The series has featured poets, architects, dentists,
a NASA space scientist, a veterinarian, and a commercial
pilot talking about their jobs and taking questions. For
her innovative work in creating this series, which draws
up to 40 children per program, Nelda receives an Exceptional
Service Award.
Roberta Ramsey has contributed over 1,000 hours
of dedicated service to the Herndon Circulation Department
since its relocation to the new building in 1995. Quickly
adapting to the new circulation system, she has become
an expert in locating reserved books for customers, and
this is very helpful in inventory control.
Dorothy Wright has volunteered over 1,000 hours
at Herndon Fortnightly since its inception in the town
of Herndon. As Herndon's master mender, she lovingly rehabilitates
books that would otherwise be discarded, restoring them
to the shelves to be enjoyed by more members of the community.
Bob Baylis has donated over 1,000 hours to John
Marshall since his wife Lou recruited him to share her
volunteer book drop duties after his retirement in 1985.
With energy and good will, Bob has arrived faithfully
after holidays and each Monday morning for 19 years to
check in mountains of book drop books and speed them back
to the shelves.
(l-r) Susan Thorniley
and
Jack Blasingame |
Jack Blasingame has contributed over 1,100 service
hours as a Circulation Department volunteer in his four
years at Martha Washington. He searches for books that
have been placed on reserve, checks them in, and routes
them to the appropriate branch for customers to pick up.
He comes in daily to perform this service, which benefits
customers throughout the County.
(l-r) Jewell Shedlock,
Muriel Hedberg,
Marlene Dubill, and Susan Thorniley |
Marlene Dubill has volunteered since 1998 for the
Patrick Henry Circulation Department. In that time she
has donated over 1,100 hours checking in materials on
the computer. She now averages five hours each time, and
often stays longer if there is a backup. She also contributes
extra work days when there is a holiday. Her committed
service is vital to the smooth operation of the branch
on Mondays.
Muriel Hedberg checks in the books that come to
Patrick Henry in delivery each Tuesday morning. She has
contributed over 1,000 hours of dedicated service since
1999, and can always be counted on unless she is on the
ski slopes!
Nancy McKnight has donated over 1,000 hours to
the Patrick Henry Circulation Department since 1994. She
works at the public Circulation Desk, checking books in
and out. A resident of Vienna, she knows many of the customers,
and provides a warm welcome to everyone she helps.
Jewell Shedlock is Patrick Henry's mender extraordinaire.
Since 1992 she has contributed over 1,000 hours repairing
books and returning them to the shelves to be enjoyed
again by the public. Replacing these books with new ones
would have cost the Library many thousands of dollars.
(l-r) Susan Thorniley
and Mary Sullivan |
Mary Sullivan has contributed over 1,600 hours
of service to Pohick Library, working on the Circulation
Desk, answering the telephone, and performing workroom
tasks. Willing to help with anything, she even hauled
books from storage and unpacked and arranged them for
the Friends book sale. Most unusual is her technical expertise
and knowledge of Microsoft Office. Using these skills,
she has streamlined the reserved books process at Pohick,
designing macros for the computer work and creating customized
holds slips with large fonts so that the books can be
more easily seen on the holds shelf by Library Aides.
Her work with this process has enabled the entire Circulation
Department to operate more efficiently at the public desk.
For her contributions, she receives an Exceptional Service
Award.
(l-r) Brian Buck, Susan
Thorniley,
and Ellen Shor |
Brian Buck is Reston Regional's man for all seasons.
Last summer Brian watered, weeded, and kept alive the
$20,000 landscaping purchased by the Reston Friends until
the sprinkler system was installed five months later.
He devised a schedule, divided the area into seven water
zones, and timed each area's watering for best results.
Brian receives an Exceptional Service Award for his dedication
in saving the Friends' investment in the grounds.
Kenneth Marty receives an Exceptional Service award
for leading Reston's popular "Spanish Chats" group for
the last three years. The group meets every Wednesday
to practice their Spanish speaking skills. Ken welcomes
newcomers, selects engaging topics for discussion, makes
sure everyone has a chance to speak, and gives advice
on fine points of the language. Spanish Chats draws speakers
from various backgrounds and from all over the County.
Kenneth, who commutes from Springfield, has made a major
contribution to the Reston Community.
Ellen Shor is semi-retired from an internationally
known language institute. She conducts a weekly writing
class for ESL students to help them develop comfortable
proficiency in written business communications and creative
writing. She continues to help the students throughout
the week by correcting work submitted via e-mail and consulting
with them over the telephone. Ellen receives an Exceptional
Service Award for welcoming new Americans through this
innovative, stimulating program.
(l-r) Amethyste Desmukes,
Pretti Krishnan,
Allie Fish, and Susan Thorniley |
Michael Chen, Tina Chen, Amethyste Desmukes, Allie
Fish, Thomas Fu, Alex Huys, Jyoti Jindal, Katie Kerr,
Pretti Krishnan, Sarah Lott, Samantha Mackenzie, Lauren
Mims, Malar Singaram, Quinn Schreiner, Alyssa Tassan,
and Dylan Zecha
These teen volunteers have made major contributions to
both Reston Regional and the system during the past 18
months. At the branch, they assisted with the date due
card project, helped children with crafts at an open house,
and created book displays which were popular with other
teenagers. For the system, they provided the trivia questions
for the Summer Reading Program web site. They read together,
write and edit book reviews, edit reviews by other teens,
and are constructing a book review database for staff
use in providing readers advisory to middle school students.
For their exceptional service, they receive an appreciation
plaque for display in their branch.
(l-r) Susan Thorniley,
Anja Mayberry,
Jean Berg, and Eva Kaufman |
Jean Berg began volunteering in 1998, after retiring
as a Library Aide at Richard Byrd. Since then she has
contributed over 1,000 hours of service to the Richard
Byrd Circulation Department. She provides friendly, efficient
service at the public Circulation Desk four hours a week,
and also helps weed and organize the magazine collection.
Eva Kaufman receives an Exceptional Service Award
for contributing her technical skills to help Richard
Byrd streamline its operations. She developed two Excel
spreadsheets, with macros, that make it possible to tabulate
monthly, year-to-date, and individual grand total hours
of volunteer service to the branch. She also created a
daily circulation statistics spreadsheet to track workload
information that will aid the branch in strategic planning.
Anja Mayberry has contributed over 1,000 hours
of faithful service to the Richard Byrd Library since
1998. She volunteers two days a week, locating reserved
books for customer pickup and processing books sent to
Richard Byrd in delivery.
(l-r) Mary Quinn, Susan
Thorniley,
Porter Sultzbaugh |
Millie Hoffman has contributed over 1,100 hours
of service to the Sherwood Circulation Department. On
Tuesdays and Thursdays, she processes the book drop, works
at the public Circulation Desk, enters new library card
information into the computer, and answers the phones.
She has also been a great recruiter of volunteers for
the Circulation Department.
Mary Quinn, a former FCPL Children's Librarian,
receives an Exceptional Service Award for leaving the
peace of retirement last summer to share her professional
expertise with Sherwood's West Side Stories program. She
assisted an ExxonMobil intern in taking the Summer Reading
Program to at-risk children on the western side of Route
One. Mary assisted with many of the 55 programs presented
during West Side stories, and helped with stories, crafts,
and book distribution to over 300 children who participated
in the program.
Porter Sultzbaugh frequently contributes more than
80 hours a month staffing the Sherwood Tech Training Lab.
Besides helping customers use the Lab for Internet searches,
e-mail, word processing and other projects, Porter coordinates
the operation of the Lab. He helps train new volunteers,
recruits new volunteers, and helps maintain the Lab. Many
Lab customers comment on his patient yet informed help
with their computer activities. The Tech Lab serves many
low-income customers who do not have access to computers
at home. Porter receives an Exceptional Service Award
for his leadership in helping these customers cross the
digital divide and become competent technology users.
Joan Wilson has donated over 1,100 hours of dedicated
service to the Sherwood Circulation Department. She processes
delivery every Monday and Friday, and does the computer
work to process new books. She helps maintain the public
displays and assists with the processing of delivery.
Joan is always ready to pitch in with any task.
(l-r) Ruth Pietrowiez,
Mae McCarty,
and Susan Thorniley |
Ruth Pietrowicz, President of the Tysons-Pimmit
Friends, has contributed over 3,300 service hours since
1999. She recruits, trains, and schedules Friends volunteers
and coordinates the monthly book sale, which welcomes
a loyal following of purchasers the first Saturday of
every month. She averages over 50 hours a month sorting
and pricing books and ensuring the success of the sales,
which have funded furniture, equipment, and numerous library
programs, especially for children.
Mae McCarty reached the 7,500 service hour milestone
last October. Mae had a 30-year career as the first female
rural letter carrier in Northern Virginia, and her dedication
to service has continued for the last ten years at Tysons-Pimmit
Regional Library. She adds gifts to the collection, labels
children's books, and assists with delivery. She is still
true to the Post Office motto; "neither rain, nor hail,
nor sleet, nor snow". Due to Hurricane Isabel, Tysons-Pimmit
closed for eight days. When the branch opened, Mae arrived
at hurricane speed to help two staff members check in
more than 50 carts of books in record time, allowing the
branch to catch up and welcome customers without worrying
about the backlog.
(l-r) Kay Dameron and
Susan Thorniley |
Kay Dameron has contributed over 5,000 hours of
service since 1991. She provides excellent customer service
and will step in at a moment's notice for any special
project. Kay handles mountains of gift material, frequently
enlisting the help of her aunt Louise. Based on her knowledge
of customers, she carefully selects books for the Friends
book sale. Kay is the president of the Woodrow Wilson
Friends and an active member of the George Mason Friends.
She and the George Mason Friends have, through their gifts
to the branch, made possible many improvements for Woodrow
customers and sponsored wonderful children's programs.
Kay's dedication and caring help make the branch a warm
and welcoming place. |
Volunteer Links
 Volunteer Homepage
Volunteer Openings
Position Descriptions
Application Form
Star Volunteer Awards
Volunteer Newsletters
Volunteer Coordinators
College Students
Volunteer Menu
"I volunteer because..."
|
