Alert

The library will close early at 5 p.m. on Nov. 27 and all day Nov. 28 & 29 in observance of Thanksgiving. More Info

Arlington Public Library

Web Editor

July 2015: 31 Days of #APLSummerReading

Share Your Summer of Reading

Summer Reading for Adults challenges you to share 31 Summer Reading photos and comments!

Post to Twitter, Instagram, or Facebook, Tumblr or anything else – using the hashtag #APLSummerReading. Then check out all the #APLSummerReading posts on Tagboard (from twitter, instagram and facebook).

 

Download and print the calendar or book mark this post to get the #APLSummerReading schedule:

31 Days of APLSummerReading calendar image

We’ll also post the challenges on our Twitter, Instagram, Facebook and Tumblr accounts each day in July:

July 1 – Your to-be-read pile
July 2 – Your favorite reading spot
July 3 – #FridayReads (what are you reading this Friday?)
July 4 – Your favorite American author
July 5 – A quote from the book you’re reading
July 6 – Your favorite book(s) to re-read
July 7 – Your favorite Summer book(s)
July 8 – You, in a library
July 9 – You, reading
July 10 – #FridayReads
July 11 – #Shelfie (your bookshelf)
July 12 – One of your favorite books
July 13 – Your current bookmark
July 14 – Your books not on the bookshelf (on the night table? under the bed?)
July 15 – Favorite snack while reading
July 16 – Favorite drink while reading
July 17 – #FridayReads
July 18 – A book you say you’ve read, but haven’t…
July 19 – Unread book that’s been on your shelf the longest
July 20 – Your most-used cookbook
July 21 – Your favorite book for young people (anything from board books to YA Lit)
July 22 -Your favorite nonfiction book
July 23 – Your favorite book series
July 24 – #FridayReads
July 25 – Your favorite book to film adaptation
July 26 – Your least favorite book to film adaptation
July 27 – Your favorite Classic
July 28 – The last book you finished reading
July 29 – Your favorite poem or poet
July 30 – Your favorite book about music
July 31 – #FridayReads

 

In the News: The Washington Post Explores Our Center for Local History

Judy Knudsen, manager of the Center for Local History at the Arlington’s Central Library, looks through a drawer of train and trolley route maps. (John Kelly/The Washington Post)

In the May 30, 2015 Washington Post article “Interested in Arlington History? This is the Place for You,” columnist John Kelly revels in the Arlington past as he meets the staff and sees the unique resources of Arlington Public Library’s Center for Local History.

 

 

Thanks Arlington: We'll Keep Doing What We Do For You

The results from the 2015 Arlington County resident satisfaction survey are in and we’re grateful knowing the public is quite pleased with the service Arlington Public Library provides.

survey15

How pleased?

Fifty-three percent said they were “very satisfied” with the quality of the Library system, the highest such result in the list of County services. A whopping 90 percent said they were either very satisfied or just plain satisfied.

As in previous surveys, residents cited Library in-person customer service, depth of collections and programs for children as their favorite Library features.

Knowing there’s always room for improvement or at least maintaining that high level of user satisfaction, our staff and volunteers remain, as always, ready to listen and assist with your specific Library needs no matter how unusual. That’s why we’re here and why our offerings are so vast.

And needless to say, Google just doesn’t do in-person customer service like your local public library.

Thanks for your continued support and for stopping by in-person and online.

 

Fun with Stop Animation at Kids Club

Kids Make Super Cool Stop Animation Videos

Last week the Shirlington Branch Library’s Kids Club got a special visit from Julia with Steve and Kate’s Camp.

Using special filming stations provided by the camp, our kids made stop animation videos out of their own Lego creation:

[youtube]https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pYTkQ73Tr5s[/youtube]

At our regular Lego Block Party, kids have fun completing challenges like building the tallest structure or making the coolest vehicles.

But Julia really pushed our creativity! Librarian Ms. Carol said,

“Bea and I made a video of Lego Kids Clubbers building a tower.  It took a while, but we finally agreed on the disco backdrop! Can’t wait until their next visit!”

 17611831625_9122ebe38d

 

Shirlington Kids Club stop motion animation

 

 

Find more Kids Events at the Library.

 

Adichie Dazzles Tremendous Arlington Reads Crowd

For the night, Arlington Central Library belonged to Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie adichi lectern

On hand May 7 to discuss her novel “Americanah,” the featured fiction title of Arlington Reads 2015, the Nigerian author drew hundreds of passionate readers to the library auditorium plus two remote viewing locations in the building.

Complete video of the program will be available on Arlington Television and through YouTube the week of May 11. Check the Library website, Facebook and Twitter for updates.

Working from the timely Arlington Reads theme of “#BlackLivesMatter,” Ms. Adichie reflected on her life coming to America, her writing process and issues of race, gender and mental health. But perhaps her most personal statement came at the beginning of the program when she told the audience of the fresh trauma of her father’s kidnapping just days earlier in Nigeria. He was freed unharmed on May 5.

The energy coming from the large Arlington Reads audience clearly provided comfort to Ms. Adichie, who graciously concluded the evening with autographs for every person who sought one. Library Director Diane Kresh summed up the appearance as “inspiring, generous, thoughtful. Just the kind of program that touches our hearts and our heads.”

Arlington Reads is made possible by the Friends of the Arlington Public Library.

 

 

Shirlington Kids Celebrate National Bike Month

With a Visit from Papillon Cycles

Kids Club Papillon cycles

On Tuesday, May 5, Shirlington Branch Library’s Kids Club had some special visitors from Papillon Cycles.

John and Rebecca came by with some bikes and helmets to talk about being safe while having fun on your bike! And everyone was happy and surprised to get a free water bottle!

 

Thank you Papillon Cycles!

 

Voices of Little Saigon in Clarendon: Public Art on View at Central Library

Public Art and Oral Histories Honor Clarendon’s Vietnamese Heritage

Clarendon Neighborhood History ad

On May 9, 2015, artist Khánh H. Lê’s temporary public installation will be on display in the fountain of Clarendon Central Park for “Echoes of Saigon,” a multimedia celebration honoring the journey of Clarendon’s Vietnamese community during the late 1970’s and 1980’s.

In addition to the public art installation, Echoes of Saigon will include hands on art activities, music, a walking tour led by former community members, a County Board proclamation, special guest speakers, other displays, and the Lemongrass Food Truck.

Following the May 9 event, the artwork will move to the Center for Local History at Central Library.

 

About the Artist and Installation

This artwork draws on primary sources to highlight the history of Little Saigon – the thriving hub of Vietnamese commerce and social activity that existed in Clarendon in the late 1970s and ‘80s. Similar to his work for the mobile gallery Art on the ART Bus, Lê has created a mixed media townscape, embedded with memories of an ethnic enclave that no longer exists.

Lê has reproduced photographs by Michael Horsley, who documented Little Saigon during its heyday, to create structures that resemble individual businesses that existed. The buildings further tell the stories of Little Saigon through the inclusion of audio components that play excerpts of recent oral history interviews with former Little Saigon community members. The interviews were conducted by graduate students from Urban Affairs & Planning in Virginia Tech’s School of Public & International Affairs.

Commissioned by Arlington Public Art, the installation also includes a sculptural apricot blossom tree and folded paper boats that come together to form flowers, symbolizing the journeys of Vietnamese immigrants who left their homeland to create a new community in Clarendon and a new life in America.

 

About “Echoes of Little Saigon”

In the fall of 2014, Arlington County’s Historic Preservation Program and the Center for Local History collaborated with graduate students from Virginia Tech’s Department of Urban Affairs & Planning to explore ways to document, preserve, and celebrate the cultural heritage and diversity of Arlington. One of the resulting projects focused on the enclave in Clarendon once known as Little Saigon. The students conducted oral histories with members of the Vietnamese community who immigrated to Arlington during the 1970s and ‘80s, and those who shopped at or owned the many Vietnamese restaurants and businesses that existed in Clarendon during that time. The students also provided recommendations for increasing awareness about Little Saigon and recognizing the contributions of the Vietnamese community to Arlington.

Inspired by the students’ work, County staff and volunteers have continued to collaborate with community members, Virginia Tech professor Dr. Elizabeth Morton, and her students Judd Ullom and Carlin Tacey to organize today’s event honoring Clarendon’s Vietnamese heritage and to launch a Little Saigon Smartphone tour created by Judd Ullom.

County staff, local artists, students, and members of the region’s Vietnamese American community are continuing to explore other ways to commemorate and raise awareness about the contributions of Little Saigon to Arlington’s cultural heritage. Future goals include creating a permanent historic marker to honor this history.


For additional information, and to access the Little Saigon Smartphone tour, visit www.littlesaigonclarendon.com.

 



Download the Library App