Recognizing Outstanding Achievements
Fairfax County Public Library's staff, branches and programs earn county, state, national and industry recognition for outstanding achievements and contributions to our customers and communities. The growing list below includes awards and grants for everything from individuals' support of fellow staff members and demonstrations of subject matter expertise to technology workshops and branch renovations.
2019
June
Professional Associates Award | Sherwood Regional Branch Manager Linda Schlekau
Linda Schledau, branch manager of Sherwood Regional Library, was presented the Outstanding Professional Associates Award at the Virginia Library Association’s June Council Meeting. The award recognizes excellence among the library Professional Associates in the Commonwealth of Virginia, honoring those who foster communication among library employees throughout the Commonwealth and advance and strengthen the image of Professional Associates. Linda received the award for providing significant support to her staff and championing library support staff in a Virginia library.
Volunteer Service Award | FCPL Volunteer Program
The Fairfax County Public Library Volunteer Program won the 2019 Volunteer Service Award for best Fairfax County Government Volunteer Program. This award is a testament to the library’s amazing volunteers as well as its volunteer coordinators and supervisors.
April
Hometown Media Awards | "You’re Making Me Read What?" Podcast
Channel 16 received seven Hometown Media Awards from the Alliance for Community Media, including one in the Audio Programming category for Fairfax County Public Library’s “You’re Making Me Read What?” podcast. The podcast features lively book discussions between FCPL Director Jessica Hudson and Deputy Director Christine Jones — two librarians who love a great book but almost never agree on what makes a book great.
March
Public Library Association Leadership Academy | Early Literacy Services Coordinator Tina Mraz
Tina Mraz, Early Literacy Services coordinator, was selected to participate in the Public Library Association (PLA) Spring 2019 Leadership Academy. She joined 27 other exceptional librarians in Chicago, Ill, for the dynamic, four-day event of interactive education and networking. The PLA Leadership Academy empowers public library professionals to become innovative and successful leaders of change, shifting their libraries from an internal approach—focused on organizational operations—to an external approach—focused on community needs.
Allie Beth Martin Award | City of Fairfax Regional Library Youth Services Manager Sondra Eklund
Sondra Eklund, youth services manager at the City of Fairfax Regional Library, has been awarded the PLA’s 2019 Allie Beth Martin Award. This award recognizes a public librarian for demonstrating a range and depth of knowledge about books and other library materials, as well as the distinguished ability to share that knowledge. Sondra maintains a book review blog and has personally reviewed more than 3,000 titles. She recently completed her work as part of the 2019 Newbery Award Selection Committee — which selects the “most distinguished contribution to American literature for children” each year — and started a Newbery Book Club for young readers at her library which will start up again in October. The 2018 Newbery Medal went to Hello, Universe by Erin Entrada Kelly. Find other Newbery winners online.
Gordon M. Conable Award | FCPL Media Literacy Workshops with GMU
Fairfax County Public Library was awarded the PLA’s 2019 Gordon M. Conable Award of $1,500, which honors a public library staff member, a library trustee or a public library that has “demonstrated a commitment to intellectual freedom and the Library Bill of Rights.” Fairfax County Public Library partnered with the George Mason University School for Conflict Analysis and Resolution to develop and present a series of public workshops around media literacy and civil communication, aimed at decreasing political polarization. The popular workshops, called “News, Blues and How to Defuse,” launched in 2017 and continue to teach media literacy skills and respectful dialogue techniques to encourage civil discussions of hot-button issues.
The library would like to recognize the committee for all its work on these community workshops. Committee members from FCPL include JJ Dickinson, Sarah Souther Rebecca Wolff and former employee Lorri Culhane. Committee members from George Mason include Julie Shedd and Samantha Borders.
Grow with Google Free Workshops | Herndon Fortnightly Library
Google and the American Library Association (ALA) hosted free workshops at Herndon Fortnightly Library — one of three sites in Virginia — aimed at creating economic opportunities through improving digital skills. The initiative, called Grow with Google, recognizes the critical role that libraries play in supporting workforce development. On Wednesday, March 6, 2019, Grow with Google staff led four different in-person workshops for job seekers and small business owners as well as library staff members. Read more.
American Public Works Association Project of the Year Award | John Marshall Library Renovation
The renovation and expansion of John Marshall Library was awarded the 2019 American Public Works Association Mid-Atlantic Chapter’s Project of the Year Award. When the branch reopened in October 2018 after the 18-month, $6.3 million renovation, visitors were welcomed to a library with expanded public meeting space, newer and better technology (including a teen gaming station), a brighter and more open interior layout and numerous LEED®-qualifying green features. Read more.
ASRT National Library Partnership Grant | FCPL
The library was awarded $2,000 from the American Society of Radiologic Technologist’s (ASRT) National Library Partnership grant program. This allows the library to purchase books on medical imaging and radiation therapy to educate the public about radiologic technologists’ role on the health care team, patient safety measures and the science behind radiological procedures. Chantilly Regional, Kingstowne, Reston Regional, Sherwood Regional and Thomas Jefferson will host displays that focus on the subject area of Radiology—including books on Marie Curie, the Radium Girls and more.
January
ALA Mini-Grant and Promising Practice Award | Thomas Jefferson Library
Thomas Jefferson Library was one of 250 school and public libraries awarded with $500 in microfunding from the ALA’s Libraries Ready to Code initiative, sponsored by Google, to help plan and implement coding activities during Computer Science Education (CS Ed) Week 2018 (Dec. 3-9). For its staff’s success in designing and hosting this Ready to Code program focused incorporating youth interests, engaging with communities and families, and demonstrating impact through outcomes, Thomas Jefferson Library subsequently received a “Promising Practice Award.” An ALA task force selected the Promising Practice recipients from the pool of 220 school and public libraries who participated in the grant-supported CS Ed Week programming, and Thomas Jefferson was one of only 10 libraries in the nation and one of only four public libraries recognized with this award.
2018
“The Great American Read” Grant | Reston Regional Library
Reston Regional Library received a community programming grant from the ALA and PBS to host programs around “The Great American Read,” an eight-part television series and multi-platform initiative that celebrates the joy of reading and the books we love through the prism of America’s 100 best-loved novels. More than 220 public libraries applied for the $2,000 grants, which support public programs around the series. Reston Regional Library was one of just 50 libraries nationwide to be selected. In addition to advance screenings of the series, Reston Regional offered special programs with authors, a green screen photo booth for people to place themselves in their favorite books, and monthly literary trivia nights concerning the 100 books on the list and a five-part lecture series exploring themes from episodes of The Great American Read.