Library Alert:
| Path | Authored on | Image Path | Image Anchor | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Fairfax County Public Library Honors Friends Groups Members |
BURKE, VA – The Fairfax County Public Library Board of Trustees and community members gathered on Wednesday, Oct. 12 to celebrate the library’s Friends groups and recognize members nominated by their peers for their service. This year’s Friends’ Choice Awards took place at Kings Park Library and featured a program honoring 25 individuals and one community group for their support of the library and its mission. During the event, Board of Trustees Chair Brian Engler praised the Friends groups for their contributions to the library over the last year. “Together, the groups donated more than $430,000 from July 2021 to June 2022,” he said. These funds have been and continue to be used to support library programming, enhance the digital materials collection and provide opportunities for staff and volunteers such as scholarships and registration for professional organizations. Engler also spent time honoring each recipient for their contributions. Reading a summary of their nominations, he welcomed each honoree, presenting them with a certificate, gift card and pin as a token of the library’s appreciation. This year’s list of honorees include:
Community members wishing to become part of a Friends groups can find out more information on the library’s website. This page includes a list of the different Friends groups throughout Fairfax County as well as details on membership and how to join. |
|
Read full article | October 14, 2022 | /library/sites/library/files/Assets/images/news/Friends%20Choice%20Awards%202022-16.jpg | 0 | |
| FCPL Board of Trustees Approves Move to Fine-Free Library Service Model |
"The FCPL Board of Trustees has approved eliminating fines on most library materials and joins surrounding jurisdictions in removing this significant barrier to equitable access to information and library services," said FCPL Board of Trustees Chair Fran Millhouser. Library staff members are working to ensure the system is set to forgive fines already incurred and stop imposing most fines beginning around Jan. 1, 2022. Overdue fines remain in effect for some special collections and interlibrary loan materials. “Equity is driving our shift to a fine-free model of library services; we don’t want accrual of overdue fines to deter anyone who wants to use the library,” said FCPL Director Jessica Hudson. FCPL analysis showed that overdue fines disproportionately affected young people and those in low-income areas. Pre-pandemic, “blocked” cards (accounts not allowed to check out materials due to having more than $15 in fines) were about 17% of the total cardholder population. “Blocked” youth cards (accounts for users under the age of 18) were 23% of the youth cardholder population. “Blocked” card numbers are higher in areas served by Reston Regional Library (Hunter Mill District), City of Fairfax Regional Library, George Mason Regional Library (Mason District), Kingstowne Library (Mt. Vernon/Lee District) and Sherwood Regional Library (Mt. Vernon District). There appears to be a link between low-income communities and higher numbers of blocked library accounts. Library systems around the nation, including in all neighboring counties, have gone fine-free and experienced surges in returned materials. These systems have also found that their cardholders continue to return materials on time, even without the threat of fines, Hudson said. FCPL’s special collections that will continue to incur overdue fines include but are not limited to: interlibrary loan materials, Chromebooks and mobile hotspots. |
|
Read full article | December 9, 2021 | /library/sites/library/files/Assets/images/news/FineFree_fb_ig_post_0.jpg | 0 |
