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App

Arlington Public Library Celebrates Pride Month

Photo of a Pride flag.

Arlington Public Library will host several LGBTQIA+ programs in June and spotlight the “Diverse Voices” LGBTQIA+ booklists at all branches in celebration of Pride Month this year. Pride Month recognizes the impact that LGBTQIA+ individuals have had on our history — locally, nationally and internationally.

Join the Library for a Pride 2022 Kickoff event with Cake Society (May 28). Listen to a virtual talk with author and transgender educator Alex Myers (June 13). Participate in a fun discussion of LGBTQIA+ themed books (June 27) and learn about the history of the Pride flag (June 28). All library programs are free and made possible thanks to the generous support of the Friends of the Arlington Public Library.

Library patrons are invited to explore the Library’s diverse LGBTQIA+ booklists, ranging from trans and nonbinary voices, to the 1969 Stonewall Uprising, to picture Books with LGBTQIA+ families and movies with LGBTQIA+ characters.

Arlington Public Library maintains a variety of diverse booklists, titled “Books Like Us: Diverse Voices Booklists,” designed to create awareness, to entertain and to educate about people, history and timely topics. Handpicked by our librarians, these curated lists are updated continuously and encourage readers to explore a wide variety of themes and topics ranging from Pride, Black Lives Matter, Latinx voices and many more.

Pride Month

May 26, 2022 by Library Communications Officer

Filed Under: App, Homepage, News

2022 Summer Reading: Oceans of Possibilities

June 1 - September 1

Washington Nationals player Sean Doolittle reading a book.
Washington Nationals Summer Reading Ambassador Sean Doolittle.

2022 Summer Reading Offers Hundreds of  "Oceans of Possibilities" Programs, Fun Prizes and Inspired Booklists for Everyone!

On June 1, 2022, Arlington Public Library will kick off its annual Summer Reading program which is made possible through the support of the Friends of the Arlington Public Library and the Washington Nationals. Between June 1 and September 1, readers of all ages are invited to immerse themselves in reading, participate in 500 free programs and to explore the 2022 theme "Oceans of Possibilities."

Summer Reading

Win Washington Nationals Tickets And Meet Summer Reading Ambassador Sean Doolittle

For each reader who completes the Summer Reading challenge the Washington Nationals will offer one voucher (good for two tickets) to select baseball games in August and September (while supplies last).

The Library will offer a special storytime with Washington Nationals Summer Reading Ambassador Sean Doolittle on June 18, starting 10 a.m., at Central Library. Help us celebrate the Library's partnership with the Washington Nationals by welcoming Sean Doolittle. This program is for children and families. Attendance is on a first-come, first-served basis until capacity is reached.

RSVP for Storytime with the Washington Nationals

Read for A Cause

For each successful Summer Reading completion, the Friends of the Arlington Public Library will donate $1 to Potomac Conservancy, a local non-profit fighting to ensure the Potomac River boasts clean drinking water, healthy lands and vibrant communities. On June 4, the Potomac Conservancy invites the community to participate in several clean-up events.

Volunteer with the Potomac Conservancy

Participate in Hundreds of Free Summer Reading Programs

Between June 1 and September 1, the Library will offer over 500 free events for all ages and interests. Join us for Summer Reading celebrations at all seven branches during our kickoff weekend on June 4 - 5. No registrations are needed for the following Library events:

Saturday, June 4

Aurora Hills Library, 10:30 a.m. – 11:30 a.m.
This interactive program combines activities such as read-aloud stories, songs, rhymes and fingerplays. Join us after storytime for a bubble party. Sea glass craft making from 12 p.m. - 4 p.m.
MORE

Central Library, 1 p.m. – 3 p.m.
Summer Reading Kickoff events to include games, treats, workshops, and prizes, including storytimes plus Q&As featuring Arlington children's book authors:

  • 1:00 p.m.: Camille and Kennedy Watkin, authors of "My Best Friend, Grandpa"
  • 1:30 p.m.: Nadia and Arrington Conyers, authors of "From Lee Highway to Langston Boulevard"
  • Scavenger hunt activities with EcoAction Arlington
  • 1:30 - 2:30 pm: Kona Ice Truck will offer free snow cones (while supplies last).

MORE

Cherrydale Library, 1 p.m. – 3 p.m.
Children will enjoy a coloring activity, refreshments and prizes.
MORE

Glencarlyn Library, June 4, 12:15 p.m. - 12:45 p.m.
Celebrate Glencarlyn Day with indoor family storytime and finger puppets followed by a moon bounce and snow cones on the Carlin Hall grounds.
MORE

Shirlington Library, 1 p.m. – 4 p.m.
Celebrate the beginning of Summer Reading with a sweet treat from the Kona shaved ice truck, art and games! We’ll have a signup table and various activities. .
MORE

Westover Library, 11 a.m. – 1 p.m.
Children and families are invited to storytime, a bubble bonanza and free snow cones from the Kona Ice Truck.
MORE

Sunday, June 5

Columbia Pike Library,  2 p.m. – 4 p.m.
Celebrate the beginning of Summer Reading with a sweet treat from the Kona shaved ice truck! We’ll have a signup table, games and a craft activity.
MORE

Find More Programs

Lubber Run Performing Arts Series

Throughout the summer, Arlington Public Library and Arlington Arts will host a Lubber Run Performing Arts Series on select Sundays at 11 a.m. at the Lubber Run Amphitheater, located at 200 N. Columbus St.

Meet Grammy award winning children’s performer Dan Zanes and Haitian-American jazz vocalist Claudia Zanes. Set sail with "Talewise"and join him on a thrilling action-packed adventure involving a crew of quirky pirates. Learn about conductor Cody’s Railroad Submarine where anything can happen with a bit of magic. And enjoy a modern rendition of a children's classic "Three Not So Little Pigs," presented by Blue Sky Puppet Theatre. All four programs are free and presented in partnership with Arlington Arts.

  • June 12: Dan and Claudia Zanes
  • June 26: Pirates Lost at Sea! Presented by Talewise
  • July 10: Railroad Submarine! Presented by Cody Clark Magic
  • August 14: The Three Not So Little Pigs! Presented by Blue Sky Puppet Theatre

May 25, 2022 by Library Communications Officer

Filed Under: App, Homepage, News

HOLIDAY CLOSING: All Library Locations Closed Monday, May 30 in Observance of Memorial Day

Memorial Day is a federal holiday in the United States, for remembering the people who died while serving in the country’s armed forces.

Arlington County Government offices and services operate on modified schedules for the Memorial Day holiday. Visit the Arlington County website to learn more.

 

 

May 24, 2022 by Web Editor

Filed Under: Alert, App, Library Operations Updates Tagged With: Alert CV, Alert Holiday

Big Book Podcast: King Lear / Fool

Revisting Shakespeare with Christopher Moore

Reminder: this is a spoiler-filled podcast. So if you’re not into that kind of thing, read the books first and come back later.

Ep.7: "King Lear" & "Fool"

For this episode we read both the play "King Lear," written by William Shakespeare, and the 2009 book “Fool,” by Christopher Moore. King Lear is one of Shakespeare’s tragic plays, and is based on a legendary 8th Century BCE king of Britain (which would have been around the founding of Rome), as recounted in Geoffrey of Monmouth’s pseudohistorical 12th-century History of the Kings of Britain. “Fool,” on the other hand, is a comedy. Reminder: this is a spoiler-filled podcast. So if you’re not into that kind of thing, read the books first and come back later.

Share your thoughts about this book, or anything else you’re reading, in our Facebook group, or on twitter using the #BigBookPodcast hashtag.

If you’d like to make a suggestion for future reading send us your recommendations on the Big Book Club Podcast page.

 

Episode Links

  • “Fool” by Christopher Moore
  • “King Lear” by William Shakespeare
  • Folger Shakespeare Library: Shakespeare Unlimited podcast

We're Reading

  • Jennie – “Collective” Documentary on DVD
  • Pete – “Dead Mountaineer’s Inn” by Boris & Arkady Strugatsky

Upcoming Books:

"Beowulf: a New Translation” by Maria Headley and “The Mere Wife” by Maria Headley

May 23, 2022 by Web Editor

Filed Under: App, Big Book Club Podcast, News

Video: Arlington Reads with Kiese Laymon

A Conversation about Laymon’s Memoir “Heavy”

Watch now: https://youtu.be/YobRf9QsEJo

Available to watch online until June 19, 2022.

“Heavy” is a stylish and complex memoir, in which Laymon presents bittersweet episodes of being a chubby outsider in 1980s Mississippi. He worships his long-suffering, resourceful grandmother, who loves the land her relatives farmed for generations and has resigned herself to the fact of commonplace bigotry. Laymon laces the memoir with clever, ironic observations about secrets, sexual trauma, self-deception, and pure terror related to his family, race, Mississippi, friends, and a country that refuses to love him and his community.

Laymon is currently working on several new projects, including the long poem, “Good God,” the horror comedy, “And So On,” the children’s book, “City Summer, Country Summer,” and the film Heavy: An American Memoir.

May 20, 2022 by Web Editor

Filed Under: App, Authors

Free COVID-19 Rapid Antigen At-Home Test Kits Available at All Arlington Libraries

In collaboration with the Arlington County Department of Public Safety Communications and Emergency Management, all libraries and community centers are offering free, at-home COVID-19 rapid tests during normal business hours, in addition to the County’s no-cost, no-appointment PCR COVID-19 testing.

A limited supply is distributed on a first-come, first-served basis, and can be picked up from the service desks at all Arlington Public Library branches.

Neither proof of County residency nor a library card is required, and the test kits are free of charge.

Logo graphic for free COVID-19 test kit distribution program.

Each box comes with two test kits and is limited to one per customer. Test kits are free of charge and provided by Arlington County. Each distribution site will dispense kits while supplies last.

To find out more how to use the free test kit, visit the iHealth web site. For additional information about Arlington County COVID-19 services and resources, visit the COVID-19 web page.

 

 

May 16, 2022 by Web Editor

Filed Under: Alert, App, Homepage, Library Operations Updates Tagged With: Alert CovidOps, Alert CV

Oral History: Gertrude “Trudy” Ensign

U.S. Army Intelligence Analyst During World War II

ArlingtonVoices800pxpinksoundwave

Oral histories are used to understand historical events, actors, and movements from the point of view of real people’s personal experiences.

1920-2022

The life of long-time Arlington resident Gertrude "Trudy" Ensign was recently memorialized at Clarendon United Methodist Church. Born October 4, 1920 on a farm in southwest Iowa, Ensign left Iowa to take a job with the Army Security Agency (a precursor to the NSA) during World War II, settling in Arlington, where she lived until her death on February 28, 2022.

In November 2017, Ensign recorded an oral history with the Center for Local History. She spoke about her work during the war, as well as life in Arlington.

In this excerpt from the oral history, she talks about her work during the war. While not a code breaker herself, Ensign worked in Army communications.

Link to oral history blog post.

Col. Mosser presents Mrs. Gertrude C. Brown (Ensign) with an Outstanding Performance Rating Award on 30 March, 1971 at Arlington Hall Station (from reverse of photo)

Narrator: Gertrude Ensign
Interviewers: Judith Knudsen
Date: November 6, 2017

INTERVIEWER: Well, when you say there were people there, they were cracking Japanese code. That was not your job.

NARRATOR: Yes. Not my job.

INTERVIEWER: So what codes were you getting? Were you getting the codes that had been cracked, and then you had to encipher with the—

NARRATOR: Okay. This is the part that I think we have to understand, that none of this could happen if we didn’t have field stations.

INTERVIEWER: Okay.

NARRATOR: Because that’s where our intercept came from. Like Vint Hill Farm was an intercept station, and they had a whole field of antennas up out in the field. There were field stations in the Pacific, and there were field stations in Alaska. I think there were some in Europe, too. It made sense. If not field stations, then they had some other options. Maybe they had direction-finding stations, which, you know, you have a unit with direction equipment, maybe 180 degrees, and if you all were pointing at this thing, then you would be able to intercept—find a station, an enemy station you were looking for, and be able to intercept them.

INTERVIEWER: Okay.

NARRATOR: And if you could do that, then you could identify the location, because you were getting the signals from different locations based on where you were. So that was really the part that—our part of what happened at ASA [Army Security Agency]. I mean, we knew that there was a whole building called B Building where they were trying to break the codes. But that was not any of what we were concerned with. When the codes were broken I guess they went wherever they were supposed to go, which would have been, you know, teletyped there someplace else. But anything that we—most that we handled was administrative and keeping the field stations open and things like that. After the war we probably had more like regular communications, because we’d have the commanders of the different field stations come back in. At that point I had moved to a different job, because when—during the war there was no question about you having a job there. But when the war was over, one of the bosses came out to me one day and said, “You know, the war’s over, and the boys are coming back. They said there’s a gentleman here in the area that has the same qualifications you do, because he worked in the field during the war. And he has a promote—he can take your job,” in other words. But they said, There’s a job open down in what we call GAS50, and you can go down and apply for that job. Well, it sort of took me by surprise, of course, but that’s exactly what I did. That job then, the gentleman that interviewed me said, “Well,”—I think I was a GS6, 00:11:00 and he said, “You’ll have to take a break to a GS5.” But then he said, “When you get your promotions, it’ll be a GS5-7-9-11-13,” and so that’s what I did then. So when I retired I was GS13, which was a very nice grade.

INTERVIEWER: Yes, it is a very nice grade.

NARRATOR: It left me a very nice income.

The goal of the Arlington Voices project is to showcase the Center for Local History’s oral history collection in a publicly accessible and shareable way.

The Arlington Public Library began collecting oral histories of long-time residents in the 1970s, and since then the scope of the collection has expanded to capture the diverse voices of Arlington’s community.

To browse our list of narrators indexed by interview subject, check out our community archive. To read a full transcript of an interview, make an appointment to visit the Center for Local History located at Central Library.

Do you have a question about this story, or a personal experience to share? 

Use this form to send a message to the Center for Local History.

Center For Local History - Blog Post Message Form

Do you have a question about this story, or a personal experience to share? Use this form to send a message to the Center for Local History.
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May 12, 2022 by Web Editor

Filed Under: App, Center for Local History, Homepage, Oral History

Arlington Public Library Receives Large, One-Time Increase to its Collections’ Budget

On April 26, 2022, the Arlington County Board adopted the Fiscal Year 2023 budget and allocated $543,000 in one-time funding to the Arlington Public Library’s collections starting
July 1, 2022.

The budget increase will support the Library‘s aim to reduce wait times across the collections, re-engage the community after a two-year pandemic through creative programming, and invite more readers to explore the Library’s titles and participate in its various services.

"The additional funds will allow us to get more books into more hands, more quickly," said Library Director Diane Kresh. "A well-stocked, diverse collection benefits the entire community." 

With the budget increase, the Library will add 12,000 titles to its circulation and drastically reduce wait times for popular eBooks and eAudiobooks. "Our top priority is to ensure patrons have access to books and information in multiple formats," said Kresh. "Patrons should be able to read and access information, when and how they want it.”  

The demand for electronic titles is at an all-time high with an increase for eAudio titles by 210% and for eBooks by 98.5% respectively. 

In addition to reducing wait times for electronic titles, the Library plans to expand three existing popular collection services:

  • Provide additional print and eBook titles for the "Grab & Go" express book collection.
  • Increase the "Always Available" eBook and eAudiobook collection.
  • Expand the volume of Spanish language books.

Explore the Library’s collections and discover all its booklists.

Browse Booklists

Download the Arlington Public Library App, get 24x7 access to the Library’s collections and discover upcoming programs, such as Summer Reading launching June 1.

Download Library App

To find more information about the adopted $1.50 billion balanced Arlington County General Fund Budget for Fiscal Year 2023, visit https://www.arlingtonva.us. 

May 5, 2022 by Library Communications Officer

Filed Under: App, Homepage, News Release

Celebrate Asian American and Pacific Islander Heritage Month

2022

In 1978, a joint congressional resolution established Asian/Pacific American Heritage Week.

The first 10 days of May were chosen to coincide with two important milestones in Asian/Pacific American history:

  • The arrival in the United States of the first Japanese immigrants (May 7, 1843)
  • Contributions of Chinese workers to the building of the transcontinental railroad completed May 10, 1869

In 1992, Congress expanded the observance to a monthlong celebration, now known as Asian American and Pacific Islander (AAPI) Heritage Month.

(Source: Census.gov blogpost: Asian American and Pacific Islander Heritage Month: May 2022)

AAPI month square

Books Highlighting Asian American / Pacific Islander Experience - Yesterday, Today and Tomorrow

Explore over 20 hand-picked book lists for all ages and interests, featuring fiction and non-fiction titles by contemporary authors. Topics range from history and politics to civil rights, from picture books to graphic novels, sci-fi, romance, mystery and more.

link to "Asian and Asian Heritage Romance" booklist

Asian and Asian Heritage Romance

Link to Viet Nam book list

Viet Nam

link to "Asian American Pacific Heritage: Food" book list

Asian American Pacific Heritage: Food

link to Asian in America booklist

Asian in America

link to "Asian and Asian American Authors: eBooks and eAudio" booklist

Asian and Asian American Authors: eBooks and eAudio

Events at the Library

Little Saigon Walking Tour

Writer Kim O'Connell takes us on a journey through a part of Clarendon once named "Little Saigon," drawing on her personal story to tell part of Arlington's history.

The project, “Echoes of Little Saigon,” was made possible with a generous grant from the Virginia Foundation for the Humanities (VFH) and support from Arlington Cultural Affairs, a division of Arlington Economic Development; Arlington’s Historic Preservation Program in the Department of Community Planning, Housing and Development; and the Arlington County Library’s Center for Local History. Read Kim's writing on her website.

April 25, 2022 by Web Editor

Filed Under: App, Homepage, News

The Center for Local History Aids in Global Effort to Back Up Ukraine’s Digital Heritage

Saving Ukrainian Cultural Heritage Online (SUCHO) is an all volunteer organization of more than 1,300 cultural heritage professionals — librarians, archivists, researchers and programmers — who are working together to identify and archive at-risk sites, digital content and data in Ukrainian cultural heritage institutions while the country is under attack.

Photo of archivist Greg Pierce.

Arlington Public Library’s Digital Archivist, Greg Pierce at the Center for Local History (CLH), has been part of global volunteer effort to back up Ukraine’s digital heritage, currently at risk of being erased by the Russian invasion.

Pierce’s involvement includes database verification, task and link wrangling, and internal communications with other volunteers.

He ensures that each submitted website is not already in the SUCHO system and verifies that digital content does not contain malware before programmers back up the website and databases.

"I’m incredibly grateful that my background as a digital archivist has given me the skills to help out in some way," said Pierce. "Though I can’t be there physically to help the people of Ukraine, I can certainly gather online with colleagues all over the world to help preserve Ukraine’s digitized cultural heritage. Librarians and archivists have long been the safeguards of cultural history and heritage during wartime and this is what it looks like in the age of the internet."

Pierce started to volunteer for SUCHO in mid-March. When he is not engaged in volunteer efforts, he can be found at the Library's Center for Local History preserving and archiving historical documents that tell the history of Arlington County.

Purple poster for SUCHO effort.Interested in getting involved in Saving Ukrainian Cultural Heritage Online? Visit SUCHO.org

April 11, 2022 by Library Communications Officer

Filed Under: App, Homepage, News

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