 Access Services sponsors free support
groups for adults with vision loss. Held monthly at various sites, the
groups are open to families and friends. Their success is due to the
dynamic leadership of volunteers Thelma Sheridan, leader of Dimview; Gloria Sussman, who leads Reston VIP; Rosemary Hilsabeck, VIB Little River Glen; Hannah Lederman, VIP Greenspring Village; and Rhoda Stevens,
VIP Vienna.
Dimview began in 1980 under the stewardship of Thelma Sheridan. The group formed
to discuss recorded books, but quickly became a self-help group. Members
exchanged information and resources dealing with vision loss, and speakers
were invited to talk about technological developments. To meet increasing
demand, two more groups evolved in the 90s, VIP Reston and VIB Little
River Glen. VIP Greenspring Village and VIP Vienna were added in 2002
and 2004.
The support group leaders embody Access Services' mission to make library service
accessible to individuals with disabilities. Each month, they contact speakers,
advertise programs, and support the participants. Some of the leaders themselves
cope with vision loss, yet provide new hope to others. They receive Exceptional
Service Awards for their inspirational contributions.
 Madeleine McCoy, a Virginia
Room volunteer, is recognized for Exceptional Service for her historical
research in support of a Virginia Department of Transportation project
plan. In planning road construction, VDOT respects the significance of
old burial sites. In 2005, VDOT was planning a project at the corner
of Braddock and Guinea Roads. This area included the Guinea Road Cemetery,
the former site of an African American community in the Braddock District.
VDOT approached the Virginia Room for information about the cemetery,
and Madeleine spent over 550 hours researching the area. Her work enabled
VDOT to conduct the project with due respect for the history of the location
and also revealed a wealth of new information for the Virginia Room's
historical files.
Barbara Effron, a professional
storyteller with a masters degree in library science, has contributed
over 1,000 service hours since 1998. She volunteers at the Information
desk, freeing staff to attend meetings and complete projects. She also
organizes and merchandises the children's collection, and her knowledge
of picture books, classics and folktales has been a great asset to the
public and to staff.
Bea Wood has contributed over 3,000 hours of service since 1983. Twice a week, she processes reserved books to make them available for the public to pick up. Without Bea's diligent efforts, countless customers would not have received their "holds" in such a timely fashion, and her sense of humor is always a delight to the library staff.
 Anne Drimer has contributed over 1,000 hours of service since
1996 at Kings Park. In addition to her job as a pharmacist, she comes to King
Park every Thursday to provide friendly and efficient service at the Circulation
Desk for afternoon customers.
Gen Lester, a retired Fairfax County Public Library manager, returned to volunteer in 1996 and has contributed over 1,000 hours at Kings Park. She provides experienced public service at the circulation desk, processes reserved books, and assists with the Kings Park Friends book sale.
Irene Wright a retiree from the Fairfax County Public Schools, has contributed over 1,000 hours of service since 1998. She works at the circulation desk and helps process the daily delivery of Kings Park materials that were returned at other branches.
Jane McCurdy has volunteered at Kings Park since 1998, donating over 1,000 hours. Every Monday morning, she checks in all the books and materials that customers have placed in the book drop over the weekend. Jane also volunteers at Green Spring Gardens.
Linda Wirth, a part-time librarian from GWU,
has contributed over 1,000 hours of service since 1995. She spends every Monday
evening providing skilled customer service at the circulation desk, and also
works with Kings Park's Master Gardener to enhance the library's beautiful landscape.
Violet Quatrochi has been a dedicated library volunteer for over nine years, contributing more than 1,000 hours at the John Marshall and Kingstowne Libraries. Currently Vi takes Metro Access to Kingstowne every Wednesday to process the books and materials that come in delivery.
Diana Stein has contributed over 1,000 hours since 2000 as a circulation volunteer at Kingstowne and Richard Byrd. She joined the Kingstowne team to prepare for the opening of the branch. She now commutes from Prince William County to process reserved books and provide gracious service at Kingstowne's circulation desk.
Liz Townsend began volunteering at Kingstowne before it opened and has now contributed over 1,000 hours as a Friday morning volunteer. She processes reserved books, maintains the romance collection, and provides skilled service at the circulation desk.
Isabelle Chester, better known as Miss
Belle, receives an Exceptional Service Award for her monthly family-friendly
music programs at three library branches. Since 2000, she has performed monthly
at Great
Falls Library.
In 2005, she added Dolley Madison
Library to her monthly tour, and in 2006, Patrick
Henry. Miss Belle has offered more than 100 programs to over 5,000 children at
the three branches, and she has a devoted following of toddlers and caregivers.
While Belle's
services are free, she enjoys the hugs from many of the children present at her
programs.
Lois Dusza has contributed over 1,000 hours of volunteer
service at Pohick Regional since 2000. Lois works faithfully on the circulation
desk every Wednesday morning and enthusiastically pitches in to repair damaged
library books.
 Claire Tuley, a senior at Robinson High School, writes and directs clever, delightful, and hilarious adaptations of popular fairy tales for Pohick Library's Teen Playhouse. Each summer for four years, teen volunteers have presented Claire's plays to appreciative children who are participating in the Summer Reading Program. For her contributions, she receives an Exceptional Service Award.
Simrun Bal, a sophomore at Lake Braddock Secondary School, has volunteered as a Homework Help Tutor at Pohick Regional since 2004. She is the only teen tutor to have volunteered every semester since the program began. She has helped over 75 young children get a better understanding of their assignments and succeed at school. She is a role model they admire and her positive influence extends to all those she has helped. Simrun receives an Exceptional Service Award.
 Charles Denno has diligently volunteered at the Reston
circulation desk every Saturday afternoon from 1-4 pm, with no exceptions, since
2002. Over the years, he has also applied for volunteer incentive grants totaling
$2,500 from the company he works for, Citigroup, and these funds have enabled
the FCPL Foundation to enhance library programs and services. For his outstanding
commitment to the library, he receives an Exceptional Service Award.
Mike James has volunteered twice a week since 2004 as a technology tutor. His patient, quiet, and confident teaching style has made him an effective teacher and a favorite of new immigrants and older citizens who want to learn basic Internet and Microsoft skills. He goes the extra mile, bringing in his own laptop to help customers with issues the library's Internet pcs cannot handle and helping customers learn the English alphabet so that they can use the keyboard. For his outstanding efforts, Mike receives an Exceptional Service Award.
Lisa Osborn attends library school classes through Clarion University's online distance library science masters program. At Reston Regional, she works on projects for the information staff. Of particular note is the system she developed to sort biographies within the same last name. Lisa learned to use Sirsi, implemented the project, and customers and staff now find it much easier to locate and shelve biographies, particularly those about big families such as the Kennedys. For her outstanding work, which was not undertaken to earn academic credit, she receives an Exceptional Service Award.
Nan Rainey has contributed over 1,000 hours of service at the Reston Regional Library since 2000. She is an active member of the Reston Friends book sale team, for which she helps sort book donations. Nan's efforts have greatly enhanced the receipts from the Friends' semiannual sales, the proceeds of which are used for library programs and services.
Betty Kourkoutas has contributed over 1,100 hours of service
since 2001. She volunteers twice a week checking in books and materials that
are delivered to the library from other branches. Her contributions are much
appreciated by staff.
Dorothea Brueckner was a staff member at Sherwood for
20 years. Since retiring in 1998, she has contributed over 1,400 volunteer hours
at the circulation desk during staff meetings. Recently, Dorothea asked a customer
at the express checkout terminal if she would like to learn how to use the new
system. The customer responded that she didn't think so, she would use the full
service line. Dorothea answered "then we'll give you all the help you need!"
 Beverly Morse has been a lively presence at
Sherwood for seven years, contributing over 3,400 service hours. Twice a week,
she helps process reserved books and the book delivery from other branches. Once
when the branch was short-staffed, she handled the book drop, delivery, holds
and the pick list all in one morning. Beverly also covers the circulation desk.
She has joined the children's department as an expert "book talker", visiting
schools to promote the Summer Reading Program, and she also works on labeling
children's books.
Joan Lerner has donated over
3,400 hours since 1993. She helps the Sherwood circulation staff unload and process
the book delivery. She has often come in to help out on extra days when she knows
others are away. Recently Joan broke her arm and was in the hospital awaiting
surgery on a Thursday when she was supposed to work. When staff called to see
how she was feeling, her main concern was the volunteer she was leaving alone
to do the work without her.
Mary Ann Collingwood, a former Cataloging Department Administrative Assistant I, traveled for three years from her new home in Delaware to Technical
Operations in Chantilly to volunteer over 2,500 hours of her time and expertise.
She added thousands of gifts and other items to the catalog, prepared materials
for branch shelves and customer use, and unpacked materials in the Receiving
section. Mary Ann receives an Exceptional Service Award.
Ting Tang, a retired molecular biologist, combed through years of interlibrary loan (ILL) records to create a spreadsheet of the largest U.S. sources of ILLs and the fees they charge Fairfax County Public Library customers. She also researched the largest holders of genealogical material and created a list of institutions that the library cannot borrow from. This information can be accessed by all staff on the library intranet, thus streamlining the ILL process. Ting also volunteers at Library Administration answering phones and working on research projects. She receives an Exceptional Service Award.
Robert Bales retired as an electrical engineer in 1993
after a long career with various federal agencies. Long known to staff as a dedicated
library user, he started volunteering at Thomas Jefferson in 2003 and has since
contributed over 1,200 hours. Three mornings a week, he searches for books reserved
by customers and pitches in on other projects, making it possible for the staff
to provide additional help to customers.
Melda Sauers began volunteering at the monthly
Tysons-Pimmit Friends book sales in 2001 and is now the vice president of the
Friends. She has contributed over 1,200 volunteer hours. She sorts and prices
donated books each week, and at the book sales, she sets up, cashiers, consolidates
books, and helps dismantle the sale. She is key to the success of the Friends' sales,
which have helped raise funds for children's programming and furniture at the
branch.
 Ruth Pietrowicz began volunteering in 1999 and became the president of the Tysons-Pimmit Friends in 2000, contributing over 5,354 hours of service. She spends more than 50 hours a month coordinating the Friends book sales. Ruth recruits and trains new volunteers, works with Friends and volunteers to sort and price books, and keeps the on-going book sale organized in between the large sales. Ruth's extraordinary work has made possible many enhancements to the library.
Andrew Fauver began volunteering in 1990, contributing over 5,500 hours of dedicated service. He comes in five days a week and focuses his efforts on finding and processing reserved books. He can be depended upon to find paperbacks or juvenile series paperbacks that others may overlook.
Mae McCarty was a rural letter carrier in the Tysons area for 30 years. In 1995 she began volunteering at Tysons-Pimmit in the circulation department. In that time, Mae has processed many thousands of gift books in support of an inter-branch swap program to replace worn library copies. She has also processed delivery, served on the Friends Board, worked on book sales, and performed countless other tasks. This year Mae reached an extraordinary milestone - the 10,000 service hour mark. Her postal service heritage of dedication is obvious, and she is an inspiration to the community.
 Chris Stromme has been a regular volunteer at Woodrow
Wilson since 2005. But her greatest gift, for which she receives an Exceptional
Service Award, was to take on single-handedly a history project that was a showpiece
at Woodrow Wilson's 40th anniversary celebration on March 31st. After wading
through 40 years of files and historical documents, Chris created two scrapbooks
that took the many friends and neighbors of Woodrow down memory lane, as well
as discovering several special artifacts such as the original ribbon from the
1967 opening ribbon cutting ceremony.
Pat Jack, a volunteer at Woodrow Wilson Library since 1994, has contributed over 3,000 hours of dedicated service. Her flexibility and willingness to step in on short notice to work at the circulation desk, handle reserved books, or help with any other task makes her a valuable member of the branch team.
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