Monday, April 15, 2013
Thousands of library users signed petition.
Residents appeared before Alexandria City Council Saturday to ask for the restoration of proposed budget cuts at the library branches and fund repairs at Beatley Central Library. City Manager Rashad Young is proposing to cut library hours by two hours per week at the city’s branches in Old Town, Del Ray and the Seminary Hill area. At the hearing, several residents stood in support of remarks from Eileen Bradley, president of Friends of Beatley Central Library. • See: Library Hours Cut in Budget Proposal The Friends group launched a petition drive to support the library budget on March 20 and collected 2,339 signatures to approve a custodial contract and a set-aside of $565,000 in the Capital Improvement Program to fix deterioration at …
Friday, April 5, 2013
This year’s book is “Listening is an Act of Love: A Celebration of American Life from the StoryCorps Project.”
StoryCorps will be in Alexandria May 20 through 22 as part of a month-long celebration of community reading through the All Alexandria Reads program. This year’s featured book will be “Listening is an Act of Love: A Celebration of American Life from the StoryCorps Project.” The book is a collection of compelling excerpts from more than 10,000 interviews recorded and was selected by the library planning committee, said Renee DiPilato, central library manager “We chose this particular book because we really liked all of the different themes,” DiPilato told Patch. “We thought we could have a number of community programs to complement the themes in the book. They’re great stories about family, stories from immigrants. It’s just a great book …
Saturday, February 23, 2013
Davis recalls Civil Rights sit-in.
In honor of Black History Month, the Alexandria Library system is paying tribute to Gladys Davis, who worked at the institution from 1947 to 2008, more than 60 years. Davis witnessed much transformation during her tenure. Library Director Rose Dawson sat down in Davis' home to interview the Alexandria native, who was raised in a row house on Queen Street just blocks from the Barrett Branch Library. In sharing her story, Davis reflected on growing up as a child in the 1930s, being reared in a family that embraced education and deciding on a library career, where her role in the juvenile department would help enhance learning for Alexandria’s children and their posterity. Her first-hand recollection of one of the nation's earliest Civil …
The $8,000 grant is from the American Library Association with support from the Dollar General Literacy Foundation.
The Alexandria Library system has received an American Dream Grant to expand literacy services for adult English language learners. The $8,000 American Dream Grant, awarded by the American Library Association with support from the Dollar General Literacy Foundation, was awarded to 45 public libraries in 21 states across the country. The one-time grants range from $5,000 to $15,000. The grants help libraries build their print and digital English as a Second Language collections, increase computer access and raise the visibility of library services for immigrant populations. “The library is very pleased to receive this award since it supports our efforts to help those individuals in our community for which English is a second language," said…
Wednesday, October 31, 2012
Materials due back to Alexandria Library branches now will be due next week. All branches are open Wednesday.
The Alexandria Library system has announced that materials due back to a library branch this week will now be due next week. Materials originally due from Monday, Oct. 29 through Thursday, Nov. 1, now will be due on Monday, Nov. 5. All Alexandria public library branches are resuming normal hours on Wednesday, Oct. 31. For more information, see the Alexandria library website.
Thursday, July 26, 2012
Alexandria Library system asks library patrons to share their vacation experiences and favorite reads through the "Take Your Library With You" project.
Join "The Weather is Here, Wish You Were Beautiful" and other great postcard sentiments by participating in Alexandria Library's travel postcard campaign this summer. The "Take Your Library With You" project allows library patrons to share their vacation spots and favorite reads while they trek around outside of their usual haunts. Available at any of Alexandria library's four branches including Old Town's Barrett branch and Del Ray's Duncan branch, the brightly-themed postcards can also be found at participating businesses that have joined this community-centered initiative. Whether it be a stone throw's away or somewhere much further, Alexandria Library anticipates the written feedback about travel and books, or ebooks–possibly borrowed …
Friday, May 25, 2012
New online resources includes nearly 70 searchable databases.
The Alexandria Library is one of several city-affiliated organizations that’s unveiling a new website and enhanced social media this spring. Alexandria Library recently launched its new site as it celebrates its 75 years as a public institution. The recently streamlined site now includes a new catalog as well as 68 extensive searchable databases, with collections covering everything from culinary arts to military journals. The site is at www.alexandria.lib.va.us. Residents also have the opportunity to submit questions online to “Ask a Librarian,” without a phone call or trip to their local branch. “The new site is more robust,” says Lynda Rudd, the library’s technical services manager. Unlike the older and more static site, the latest one …
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Caleb Cody-Beckham
11:39 am on Monday, April 15, 2013
So true. It's problematic in two ways. First, sheltering the homeless in a library is much more costly than a similar shelter without tens of thousands of books (and no, I'm not saying homeless shelters should be completely without books). Second, the significant homeless population in the libraries deters many patrons who would otherwise use the library as ... a library. more ›