703-324-3100
TTY 711
Jessica Hudson,
Director
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Fairfax County Public Library Has Loaned Two Million eBooks and Audiobooks in 2019 | Top 25 public library system worldwide in total digital circulationFairfax County Public Library reached a new milestone in 2019, achieving a record-breaking two million digital book checkouts in one year. This accomplishment illustrates the continued growth and importance of library lending of eBooks and audiobooks along with the creative ways the library has served its community with digital services. Fairfax County Public Library is one of only 73 systems around the world that surpassed one million checkouts in one year through Rakuten OverDrive (complete list here). “FCPL is thrilled to reach 2 million checkouts for our digital library,” said Dianne Coan, Technical Operations Director at Fairfax County Public Library. "Hitting this milestone is a reflection of both our selection staff’s knowledge of our community and the voracious reading habits of that community! The library has such an amazing and supportive readership who provides feedback and suggestions regularly. We are honored to be among the few libraries in North America to reach this level of use.” Fairfax County Public Library has been providing readers 24/7 access to eBooks and audiobooks for nearly 15 years. Reader interest and usage has grown every year, reflecting popular trends and interests both locally and across the country. In the last decade, the highest-circulating title across both formats that Fairfax County Public Library readers borrowed through OverDrive was The Life-Changing Magic of Tidying Up by Marie Kondo. The top-circulating genre, thrillers, represents the most popular in a vast catalog that also includes romance, fantasy, children and young adult. The top 5 eBook titles borrowed through Fairfax County Public Library's digital collection in 2019:
The top 5 audiobook titles borrowed through Fairfax County Public Library's digital collection in 2019:
Readers in Fairfax County just need a valid library card to access digital books from Fairfax County Public Library’s OverDrive-powered digital collection. Readers can use any major device, including iPhone®, iPad®, Android™ and Windows®. With OverDrive’s Libby app, readers can also “send to Kindle®” devices and apps (US only). All titles will automatically expire at the end of the lending period and there are no late fees. Readers can also download titles onto Libby for offline use. Also in 2019, Fairfax County Public Library introduced its new instant-access eAudiobook collection offered by RBdigital. This acquisition includes more than 34,000 always available, no waiting eAudiobooks for readers of all ages. Visit fairfax.overdrive.com or download the Libby app to get started and borrow ebooks and audiobooks anytime, anywhere. |
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Read full article | January 9, 2020 | /library/sites/library/files/Assets/images/news/LifeChangingMagicTidyingUp-1080x1080.png | 1 | |||||||||||||||||||||||||
Fairfax County Public Library Takes a Stand Against Unfair eBook Practices by Macmillan Publishing | Due to new restrictions on libraries’ purchase of eBooks and eAudiobooks produced by Macmillan Publishing, the Fairfax County Public Library stopped purchasing eMaterials from Macmillan and its imprints November 1. The Fairfax County Public Library (FCPL) is the 17th largest library, by circulation, in the United States according to the American Library Association. When FCPL’s eBook collection via Overdrive surpasses 2 million annual downloads this year, as predicted, it will be one of only about 20 libraries in the country to do so. Macmillan Publishing began limiting library access to its eBooks and eAudiobooks on November 1 by:
The decision to stop purchasing eBooks and eAudiobooks from Macmillan was “not a decision we made lightly,” Library Director Jessica Hudson said. “But this new eBook policy unfairly impacts selected populations in the county and would have a significant negative impact on the library’s purchasing abilities by requiring us to spend additional funds on one format per title.” Digital material has changed the reading landscape over the last few years. The ability to manipulate font size and choose fonts has helped readers with vision loss and dyslexia. Library materials also provide equal opportunity for low income residents. The new restrictions impact the library’s ability to offer equal access to information for all. “We understand publishing is a business, and it’s not our objective to tell businesses how they can and should profit; however, libraries already pay higher costs than the general public, Hudson said. “The new policies would have increased the costs exorbitantly for titles under Macmillan, so our decision allows us to use those funds to expand the library’s collection where our dollar goes further. We have a duty to make taxpayer dollars go as far as possible in serving our over 400,000 cardholders.” FCPL will continue to purchase Macmillan titles in print and on compact disc, as federal law protects sales to libraries in those formats. FCPL joins many public libraries nationwide that have elected not to purchase eMaterials from Macmillan including
More information including the list of imprints and authors under the Macmillan umbrella is available in the library’s online guide: eBooks: Inside the Industry. More information about library responses and impacts can be found on the American Library Association website, including the eBooks For All petition currently supported by nearly a quarter million signatures. |
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Read full article | December 2, 2019 | /library/sites/library/files/Assets/images/news/ebooksforall.jpg | 1 | |||||||||||||||||||||||||
Library Collects Donations in December for Popular Food for Fines Program | A recent Fairfax County study revealed 8.4 percent of students reported going hungry in the past month due to a lack of food in the home, a factor which impacts a child’s ability to learn. With the library’s commitment to literacy and learning, it made perfect sense to partner with Food for Others, a not-for-profit food pantry and food rescue operation, during the month of December to serve Fairfax County families living with food insecurity. Anyone, including customers without fines and community members without library cards, can support their neighbors by bringing canned goods and other non-perishable items to their nearest library branch. Donations can also reduce or eliminate fines accrued on an individual’s library card account. Each item donated will erase $1 from a patron’s overdue fines up to a maximum of $15 per account. Jessica Hudson, Director of Fairfax County Public Library, hopes this year’s food drive will be even more popular than 2018’s. “Last year was the first time we offered this program, and we collected 12,000 pounds of food for Food for Others,” said Hudson. “We’re hoping to top that this year.” A little interbranch competition could provide additional incentives in the community. “The branch that collects the most amount of food earns a pizza party for the staff,” said Hudson. Non-perishable food items most needed include canned meats and tuna, macaroni and cheese, cereal, peanut butter, stew and chili (canned), pasta and rice, pasta sauce, canned fruit, beans, fruit juice and vegetable oil. This year non-food items such as shampoo, deodorant, diapers, paper towels and toilet paper are also welcome. Find your nearest library branch. Jessica Hudson talks to Fairfax County Channel 16 about this year's Food for Fines (video). |
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Read full article | December 1, 2019 | /library/sites/library/files/Assets/images/news/food_for_fines-1000x480.jpg | 1 | |||||||||||||||||||||||||
Library Now Offers Children’s Books in Chinese, Arabic, Urdu and Tamil |
Worried about reading to children in your native language? Don’t be. It is easy for children to learn to read, write and speak English if they have a strong foundation in any language. For adults who may be more comfortable reading to children in Arabic, Chinese, Urdu or Tamil, the library offers World Languages Bags, a project funded by the Fairfax Library Foundation, Friends groups and other community donations. These bags are available with picture books, board books and easy readers. Each bag contains eight books that adults can read again and again to and with children. The library’s collection already supports children and adult books in Spanish, Korean and Vietnamese. “The library is committed to ensuring residents in Fairfax County and the City of Fairfax have equitable access to library materials,” said Dianne Coan, Director of Operations for the library. “By starting with early literacy materials, including bi-lingual books, the new World Languages Bags support parents, grandparents and caregivers who want to read to young children — a proven strategy for ensuring children are ready to read by the time they enter kindergarten.” The World Languages Bags are one more element in the library’s comprehensive support of early literacy education. In addition to its popular early literacy storytimes the library offers early literacy outreach, the 1000 Books Before Kindergarten program, picture books and other educational books and resources — including the Ready-to-Read newsletter — for families raising young children. The library’s 1000 Books Before Kindergarten program encourages families to read 1,000 books to children before they start elementary school. Studies show the more vocabulary and oral language children have, the better prepared they are to learn how to read and write when they enter kindergarten. Instructions for placing a hold on the World Languages Bags in the library’s new catalog:
If you need additional assistance, please ask at the library information desk where staff are happy to connect you with the World Languages Bags in your preferred language. |
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Read full article | November 19, 2019 | /library/sites/library/files/Assets/images/news/world%20languages%20bags.PNG | 1 | |||||||||||||||||||||||||
'Tis the Season to Get Crafty with Library Activities for All Ages | Warm Up to Crafts in November and DecemberAs the temperatures outside drop, head to your library for fun indoor activities to keep your hands warm and your creativity flowing — and maybe even DIY a few gifts to start crossing names off your holiday shopping list! From social gatherings and jewelry making to DIY wrapping paper, ornaments and more, many branches have crafting projects and events for kids and adults alike taking place throughout the season. See the full, up-to-date list of events in the library calendar, and check out some crafting highlights below. Asterisk (*) indicates registration required. Learn, Make and Take
Stories and Crafts
Hang Out and Create
Celebrate the Season
Knitting
*Registration Required |
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Read full article | November 8, 2019 | /library/sites/library/files/Assets/images/news/Crafting1a.jpg | 1 | |||||||||||||||||||||||||
28,000 eAudiobook Titles Ready for Listening | According to a consumer survey, 74 percent of audiobook consumers listen in their car. Residents know what traffic can be like around the county and, though the library cannot do much about that, we can certainly help on the audiobook front. RBdigital UnlimitedOn May 1, Fairfax County Public Library introduced RBdigital Unlimited—its new instant access eAudiobook collection. This acquisition includes more than 28,000 always available, no waiting eAudiobooks for readers of all ages. You can find the new titles mixed in with all the other material available from RBdigital. Last year, Fairfax County readers checked out more than 1.7 million eBooks/eAudiobooks from the library. Readers also placed over 790,000 holds for digital copies. The library recognized waiting for eAudiobooks was a growing pain point and continued to look for ways to add to the collection while staying within the system’s budget for materials. Enter RBdigital Unlimited. This new offering provides instant access to eAudiobooks—no holds, no waiting. This acquisition is made up entirely of eAudiobooks from five publishers (Recorded Books, Tantor Media, Christian Audio, Gildan Media, and HighBridge Audio) and are twelve months old or more. So, while waiting on hold for a library eAudiobook released last week, you can find something of interest available right now. Sample titles from the new collection include:
The library works with multiple vendors for books and audiobooks, both print and digital. Many Fairfax County Public Library card holders are already familiar with OverDrive, and RBdigital is another digital vendor. Content in the RBdigital app comes from both the Library of Virginia and selections by Fairfax County library staff. It includes eMagazines, digital Great Courses, eBooks, eAudiobooks, and now also the instant access eAudiobooks. See all 28,000 newly added eAudiobooks on the RBdigital app, and start enjoying wait-free reading today! Loading...
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Read full article | May 15, 2019 | /library/sites/library/files/Assets/images/hero-slideshow/rbdigital-book-a-day_0.jpg | 1 | |||||||||||||||||||||||||
Library Awarded Two National Awards | Fairfax County Public Library and its award-winning staff were recently recognized for their work in library services.Allie Beth Martin AwardSondra Eklund, youth services manager at the City of Fairfax Regional Library, has been awarded the 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. Eklund 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. The Newbery committee selects the “most distinguished contribution to American literature for children” each year. She also started a Newbery Book Club for young readers at her library. (This club will start up again October.) The 2018 Newbery Medal went to Hello, Universe by Erin Entrada Kelly. Gordon M. Conable AwardFairfax County Public Library was awarded the Gordon M. Conable Award, 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.” The award includes $1,500. 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: FCPL
Mason’s School for Conflict Analysis and Resolution
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Read full article | March 26, 2019 | /library/sites/library/files/Assets/images/news/award-275x183.jpg | 1 | |||||||||||||||||||||||||
Four Ways to Celebrate Presidents Day with the Library | Did you know that John Tyler had 15 kids? Or that Warren Harding wore a size 14 shoe? Whether or not you’re a presidential history buff, the library has many resources for Presidents Day. The library will be closed on Monday, February 18, in honor of George Washington Day (which is what the Commonwealth of Virginia officially calls Presidents Day—Washington was born in Virginia, after all). But there are still ways you can celebrate the day with the library. 1. Read Up on Presidential HistoryThere’s no shortage of historical nonfiction about American presidents. The library has more than 2,800 books about American presidents in its catalog. Need to narrow it down? Here’s a suggested biography of every single U.S. president. From Washington: A Life by Ron Chernow to Lincoln by David Herbert Donald, many award-winning titles are represented. There are also several presidential biographies available as eBooks, from Calvin Coolidge to Ronald Reagan. Using your library card, you can check these eBooks out online at any time through the library’s digital collections on OverDrive. Prefer your presidents in fictional form? There’s also the themed book list of Fictitious Presidents and Events. You’ll find plenty of Tom Clancy presidential thrillers but also the Man Booker prize-winning novel, Lincoln in the Bardo by George Saunders. 2. Conduct Presidential Research of Your OwnIf all of the presidential books above have you inspired to launch your own research effort, the library offers access to online databases for all library card holders. Biography in Context offers resources for every American president, including websites, academic journal articles, news stories, videos, images, primary source documents and more. You can search several different online newspapers to read news accounts about presidential events and news. The Washington Post archives go back to 1987 and The New York Times dates back to 1980. An historical archive exists for both papers, with Post coverage back to 1877 and Times coverage dating back to 1851. 3. Attend an Event About Presidents from VirginiaDon’t miss a chance to hear from a historian, archaeologist and author in person. Richard Byrd Library will be hosting Patrick O’Neill on Monday, February 25, from 7 p.m. to 9 p.m. He will be talking about the birthplaces and homes of the eight Virginia-born presidents at Virginia’s Presidential Homes. 4. Help the Kids with Their Presidents Day HomeworkOf course there are many Presidents Day resources available for kids, too. Many titles are available in the branches to teach children about the history behind the holiday and even more are available on George Washington or Abraham Lincoln. Plus, kids can read more about their favorite presidents online through the library’s subscription to Scholastic Go! There, children can see articles, images and videos on American presidents. The Gale Virtual Reference Library also offers resources on American presidents. |
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Read full article | February 7, 2019 | /library/sites/library/files/Assets/images/news/Presidents-Day-Mount-Rushmore.jpg | 1 | |||||||||||||||||||||||||
ROI Report: A Business Case for the Fairfax County Public Library's Value to the Community |
For every one dollar invested in the Fairfax County Public Library, the community receives $6.51 in the form of access to resources, programming, services and technology. This figure was calculated by dividing the total value of library resources and services delivered ($244.6 million) by the FCPL FY2017 full budget of $37.6 million. The value of library materials and services was determined using a Value Calculator based on the American Library Association’s (ALA) Library Value Calculator, average estimated valuations for books and digital media by other large library systems, and by input from its staff collections experts. Below are examples of library programs and resources that are improving the quality of life for library customers. A Diverse, Well-Rounded Collection Available in Varied Formats and LanguagesFCPL circulates more than 10 million physical items and more than 1.5 million electronic items each year with the latter number continually growing. According to data collected for FY2017, 3.45 million adult books were borrowed at a value of $58.76 million; 395,078 young adult books borrowed ($4.74 million value); 5.53 million children’s books borrowed ($94.02 million value); 1.52 million eBooks and eAudiobooks downloaded ($22.92 million value); 197,539 audiobooks borrowed ($2.56 million value); and 5,938 Interlibrary Loan items borrowed ($148,450 value).
Among fairfax county’s nearly 1.2 million residents, almost 40 percent speak a language other than english at home. The library offers books and periodicals for adults and children in multiple languages. The library also offers storytime programs in languages other than English as well as bi-lingual conversational classes and language learning classes. Sensory storytimes designed for children on the autism spectrum or with sensitivity to sensory overload are also available.
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Read full article | January 2, 2019 | /library/sites/library/files/Assets/images/library/ROI%20INFOGRAPHIC.jpg | 1 | |||||||||||||||||||||||||
Donations Pour in During Library’s Food For Fines Program |
A recent Fairfax County study revealed 8.4 percent of students reported going hungry in the past month due to a lack of food in the home, a factor which impacts a child’s ability to learn. With the library’s commitment to literacy and learning, it made perfect sense to partner with Food for Others, a not-for-profit food pantry and food rescue operation, during the month of November to serve Fairfax County families living with food insecurity. Miriam Smolen, Chair of the Library’s Board of Trustees, says the Food for Fines program “helps the library raise food for a worthy cause while raising awareness of an important issue affecting children and learning in the United States.” “The community has been so generous,” said Smolen. “Since November 1, more than 4,000 items have already been dropped off at our branches.” Anyone can support their neighbors by bringing canned goods and other non-perishable items to their nearest library branch. Donations can also reduce or eliminate fines accrued on the individual’s library card account. Each item donated will erase $1 from a patron’s overdue fines up to a maximum of $15. Non-perishable food items most in need include canned meats and tuna, macaroni and cheese, cereal, peanut butter, stew and chili (canned), pasta and rice, pasta sauce, canned fruit, beans, fruit juice and vegetable oil. Visit the branch locations webpage for a list of library branches.
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Read full article | November 16, 2018 | /library/sites/library/files/Assets/images/news/BOT-group-shot-%20FFF-2484x1800.jpg | 1 |