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Alert

Central Library Holds Pickup Service Closing at 4pm Sunday and Closed Monday; Will reopen on Tuesday, January 26 More Info

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Web Editor

ALERT: Scheduled Library System Downtime Wednesday, Jan. 13 Starting at 7 p.m.

On Wednesday, January 13 at 7 p.m. the Library catalog and accounts system will undergo a scheduled upgrade.

During this time you will be able to search the catalog, but access to the eCollection and patron accounts on the web and in the Library App and will be unavailable.

Items already checked out in the OverDrive, Libby and RBdigital apps will not be affected.

January 13, 2021 by Web Editor Leave a Comment

Filed Under: Service Updates

Video: Multiracial Coalitions in the Civil Rights Era

The Poor People’s Campaign, held in Washington, D.C., during the spring of 1968, has long been overshadowed by the assassination of its architect, Dr. Martin Luther King Jr., and the political turmoil of that year.

But while the campaign did not achieve its lofty goals — including a rededication to the War on Poverty and an end to rampant police brutality — it did prove to be an illustrative moment of a “long” civil rights movement that highlighted the essential yet oft-forgotten objective of economic justice and everything that entailed. This multiracial campaign also shed lights on the interdependent relationship between racial identity and political coalition among African Americans and Mexican Americans. While the fight against poverty held great potential for Black-Latino cooperation, such efforts also exposed the complex dynamics between the nation’s two largest minority groups.

Presenter Gordon K. Mantler is Executive Director of the University Writing Program and Associate Professor of Writing and of History at the George Washington University. Mantler has taught writing and history since 2006 at GW, Duke University, and Guilford College in North Carolina. Since 1999, Mantler has specialized in the history and rhetoric of 20th century social justice movements and the African American and Latino experience in the United States, as well as public, oral, and film history. He has received numerous awards and grants, including financial support from the Mellon Foundation, the American Council of Learned Societies, the Black Metropolis Research Consortium, and the Lyndon Baines Johnson Presidential Library.

January 12, 2021 by Web Editor Leave a Comment

Filed Under: App, Authors

HOLIDAY SCHEDULE: The Library will be Closed Monday, Jan. 18 and Wednesday, Jan. 20

The Library and all Arlington County Government offices and services will be closed on Monday, Jan. 18 for Martin Luther King Jr. Day, and Wednesday, Jan. 20 for Inauguration Day.

Central Library will be open Tuesday, Jan. 19 on our regular schedule for holds pickup.

Arlington’s annual tribute to Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. is virtual in 2021! Join us for a free online experience where you can choose what you want to see, when you want to see it. From music and dance to spoken word and community dialogues, there will be something for everyone. Help us carry on Dr. King’s legacy by remembering our history and joining us in a call to shape our future.

January 12, 2021 by Web Editor Leave a Comment

Filed Under: News

RESOLVED: eBooks and eAudiobooks from OverDrive are Temporarily Unavailable

Resolved December 29, 2 p.m.

If you continue to have issues with your OverDrive account, contact OverDrive help and support.


We are experiencing a temporary OverDrive outage.

eBooks and eAudiobooks currently do not appear in the Library catalog, and login access to the OverDrive and Libby apps is unavailable.

We apologize for the inconvenience, and hope to fix the outage as soon as possible.

December 28, 2020 by Web Editor

Filed Under: Service Updates

Great Books You Might Have Missed in 2020

Have You Read These Books?

Sadly, this year left little time or opportunity for browsing the shelves... So we've created a new kind of year end book list!

These are our recommendations for 2020's well-reviewed books - the ones that might have flown under your radar.
For a complete list of the most checked out books in 2020, read our Top Books of 2020 blog post.

December 28, 2020 by Web Editor

Filed Under: App, Collection, News

The Top Books of 2020

The Books That Made Us Think and Feel This Year

Books helped Arlington readers feel a little more normal this year.

In the words of skilled writers we sought safe spaces in a year of unpredictability. We embraced calm in a year of upheaval and reached for learning in a year of strife. And we found company in a year of solitude.

These are the books Arlington readers turned to the most in 2020. Unsurprisingly, many top fiction titles were part of a series, and many top nonfiction titles reflect a yearning for social justice and a desire for human connection.
Looking for something new? We also put together lists of well-reviewed books that might have flown under your radar in 2020.

December 28, 2020 by Web Editor

Filed Under: App, Collection, News

HOLIDAY CLOSINGS: The Library will be closed January 1

Central Library will close at 5 p.m. on Thursday, Dec. 31, and be closed on Friday, January 1 for New Year’s Day.

Central Library will be closed for holds pickup on Thursday, Dec. 24 and Friday, Dec. 25 for the Christmas holiday.

Book returns will remain open at all locations except the Columbia Pike Branch, which is under construction.

 

December 21, 2020 by Web Editor

Filed Under: Service Updates

Edible Books: Cookie Bookie Contest

Cook Up a Tasty Tome!

Submission deadline: Tuesday, Dec. 29, 11:59 p.m.

Cookies on a blue background, with the words Cookie Bookie Contest.

Prizes will be awarded for best edible books made by Adults, Teens and Kid/Family creators.

The Cookie Bookie Contest is an edible book contest, which means the submissions are made from edible ingredients and take inspiration from a book or author. They can be a book title pun, book cover reproduction, or a reference to a book character or to books in general. Examples include decorating a cookie like your favorite character or making a book cover out of a pie crust.

Looking for decorating ideas? Join us for:

  • Cookie Bookie Decorating - Monday, Dec. 21, 2-3 p.m. (Online, registration required)

Submission Guidelines

Submissions will be judged by their visual appearance and will not be tasted (much to the librarians' disappointment).

  • Submit a photo of your edible book (.jpg or .png) using the form at the bottom of this page. Name your file: Firstname_Lastname.format.
  • Submissions will be reviewed by a committee of Library staff.
  • Anyone within the Library community may submit. You do not need to be an Arlington resident to participate.
  • By submitting a photo of your edible book, you grant the Library the right to publish that photo on the Library website, social media and in marketing materials. Ownership rights of your original photo remain with you, the creator.
  • All work is subject to Arlington County and Arlington Public Library standards of conduct.
  • Submitting work does not guarantee publication.

Submit Your Entry

By uploading my information to this form, I give the Arlington Public Library permission to publish my first name and photo (if included) on Library social media, the Library website and promotional materials. Though published by Arlington Public Library, ownership rights of the original work will remain with the creator. Not all submissions will be published.

December 7, 2020 by Web Editor

Filed Under: App, Homepage, News

Read “Dune” with the Big Book Club Podcast

Welcome back! Over the next six weeks, or three episodes of the podcast, we’ll be reading – and librarianing the heck out of – the first book in Frank Herbert’s epic Sci-Fi series, “Dune.” We chose “Dune” in part because it’s getting a lot of buzz, first-reads, and rereads this year, due to the new feature film coming out in 2021.

In part one, Megan can’t pronounce any of the made-up names, Pete reminisces about his dad reading “Dune” when he was a kid, and Jenny muses on Cold War politics.

Listen now!

December 7, 2020 by Web Editor

Filed Under: App, Big Book Club Podcast, Homepage

The Library Director’s 2020 End-of-Year Playlist

"Too Cool for Yule"

Funky Cassette Tape
Cassette Case Playlist

When I was younger, I made mixtapes for my friends, my siblings, my work colleagues, and often, just for me. For those under 35 who might not have had the experience of methodically pouring over your record and tape collection or waiting patiently by the radio for the replay of that one tune that really captures the essence of the person you are making the tape for, the hours you can spend with your two-slot cassette player are some of the most intimate and lonely, exhilarating and exhausting, optimistic and indulgent, and simply joyful experiences you can have (just ask your parents). Each tape is a story of a person. Some are goofy. Some are sobering. Some are topical. And some are just a hodgepodge of inanity. But each one is special. Every mixtape is a piece of your heart and glimpse of the “you” you are when no one is looking.

For the past 13 years, I have published a “Too Cool for Yule” playlist, as my love letter to the County and the people we serve. And while (sadly) Spotify has replaced the cassette tape, making the process easier, like much of 2020, this playlist was more difficult than ever to create.

How can I truly honor those that have left us too soon, the sacrifices we have all had to make, and the growing uncertainty of what next year will bring? How can I capture both the compassion and caring our neighbors have shown for one another throughout the pandemic, and our fervent wish for brighter days to come? So this was my attempt:

Open playlist in Spotify

From the mournful twang of Pete Seeger to the unbridled joy of Little Richard. With solemnity from the Boston Camerata and the eccentricity of Tom Lehrer, we hope this playlist has something for everyone. If you are alone for the holidays, please know, we are here for you. And let us hit pause for a moment to reflect on the immortal words of John Prine:

No Libra sun, no Halloween
No giving thanks for all the Christmas joy you bring
But what it is, though old so new
To fill your heart like no three words could ever do

I just called to say I love you
I just called to say how much I care
I just called to say I love you
And I mean it from the bottom of my heart

As one of my wise colleagues recently told me, even though many of us cannot celebrate the holidays this year, if we’re lucky, there will be many, many more to come.

Stay safe, stay hopeful.

Diane

Scrawled signature of Diane Kresh

November 30, 2020 by Web Editor

Filed Under: App, Director's Blog, Homepage, News Tagged With: yule blog

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