As of 9:30 p.m., Wednesday, Sept. 23, access has been restored to the library catalog, patron accounts and the eCollection, including OverDrive and Libby.
If you have related questions about your account, or accessing the eCollection, please contact the Library by phone, live chat or text, so that we can help you in person.
We apologize for the inconvenience, and thank you for your patience while we worked to solve this issue.
Up until the early-1900s, Arlington County stored its essential facilities equipment, which at that time consisted of donkeys and wagons, behind the County Courthouse building, a beautiful Richardsonian Romanesque-styled building.
But by 1925, in response to a relocation order by Virginia Attorney General William C. Gloth, the Board of Supervisors (precursor to the County Board) began actively searching for a new, permanent Property Yard location.
Trades Center, circa 1950s. Image courtesy of Arlington County Government.
In August 1925 the County purchased a 4.26-acre tract in Fort Myer Heights near the present-day intersection of Fairfax Drive and North Rhodes Street, from Charles A. Douglas, which it still owns today. The Board planned to beautify the new storage area with green lawns and flower beds to create a welcoming public space once the County relocated its equipment.
But by the 1920s, the targeted subdivision had developed into a largely segregated white streetcar suburb, and there was considerable public opposition to the County’s plan. More than 50 people attended a public meeting to protest relocating the Property Yard to this site.
Prominent white local developer Frank Lyon spoke on behalf of those assembled and argued for the development of a public park instead. Lyon owned the weekly newspaper The Monitor and had developed more than 465 acres (almost 3%) of Arlington’s land, routinely including restrictive racial and religious covenants in his deeds of the subdivision. The Board responded by agreeing to put the Fort Myer Heights parcel to another public use and continuing to evaluate potential sites for the Property Yard.
On August 9, 1926, the County purchased an approximately 41-acre parcel from Ashton C. Jones (also known for developing neighborhoods with white-only deed restrictions), Margaret V. Jones, E. Wade Ball, and Maude L. Ball across Four Mile Run, adjacent to the historically black Green Valley community.
The Four Mile Run vicinity tended toward commercial and industrial use, so the move to place the Property Yard here was a natural one. However, the fact that the County moved its project from a historically white area to a historically black area after pressure from the community is indicative of the outsized social power that white residents exercised in local politics.
At the time of the land purchase, E. Wade Ball had been Arlington County’s Treasurer since 1906. Six years later, he was discovered to have been inflating the County accounts to increase his commission, leaving Arlington with only $7,000 in assets instead of the reported $419,000. Ball served 2 1/2 years in federal prison before taking up a career in local real estate.
Arlington County Property Yard, 1935. Pink markings indicate brick buildings and yellow indicates frame building. Visible in the top left is James B. Peyton’s land, including the land he allowed for use as the Green Valley Ball Park.
The first buildings and storage structures at the Property Yard included a garage, workshop, stable, and office building. In order to move most of the County’s Water Works to the Property Yard from the Lyonhurst Water Works in North Arlington, in 1938 the County Board voted to enlarge the Property Yard’s storage and services.
The Property Yard continued to expand alongside the boom in Arlington’s suburban development during and after World War II. By the end of the 1940s it housed an underground fuel storage tank, facilities for the Department of Public Service’s Equipment Division, the County’s Water Works and the School Board. The County had also approved the construction of a new building, paid for by the Animal Welfare League, to replace the dog pound.
Bird’s eye view of the Arlington County Property Yard looking south, 1960.
Despite the improved storage facilities built in the 1940s, the County still stored 90% of its equipment outside in 1950 and there was insufficient indoor shop space to accommodate all the equipment maintenance staff and activities.
In 1957, the County Board approved a deal with Shirlington Corporation to exchange land to improve both their operations. Work on the new section of the Property Yard successfully increased the workspace and efficiency of operations. The County’s 1959 annual report boasted that the renovated Property Yard had “14 working stalls, a painting room, a wash rack, a machine shop, tire storage, parts storage, office space, and toilet and locker rooms.” But it was not until 1962 that the County’s Equipment Division reported that nearly all the County’s equipment was stored under roofed structures.
By 1960 the Property Yard also included special storage facilities for voting machines, training facilities for the Fire and Police departments, and storage for school buses. The 60s also brought planting of a shrubbery border along the property line facing South Arlington Mill Drive, to add to the beautification and public service aspect of the facility.
Originally, the entrance road to the Property Yard ran through the area that later was developed as Shirlington Shopping Center in 1942-1944.
As early as 1944, the County Board began to consider changing the entrance to the recently constructed Arlington Mill Drive, away from the shopping center, and in response to the planned construction of the Henry Shirley Memorial Highway (Interstate 395).
The 1960s brought the opening of a new building for the Shirlington Branch Library at 2700 South Arlington Mill Drive (no longer extant).
Trades Center, dated 2019. Image courtesy of Arlington County Government.
By 1979, the Property Yard had been renamed the Arlington County Trades Center, and it is owned and operated jointly by Arlington County and Arlington Public Schools.
In 2000, as part of a Phased Development Site Plan, Arlington County contributed 2.4 acres of land from the Trades Center site to negotiate a public-private partnership designed to increase density and mixed-use development at the Shirlington shopping center.
"Preservation Today: Rediscovering Arlington" is a partnership between the Arlington Public Library and the Arlington County Historic Preservation Program.
Preservation Today: Rediscovering Arlington
Stories from Arlington’s Historic Preservation Program
Arlington’s heritage is a diverse fabric, where people, places, and moments are knitted together into the physical and social landscape of the County.
Arlington County’s Historic Preservation Program is dedicated to protecting this heritage and inspiring placemaking by uncovering and recognizing all these elements in Arlington’s history.
To learn more about historic sites in Arlington, visit the Arlington County Historic Preservation Program.
Arlington Reads: Rachel Louise Snyder in conversation with Library Director Diane Kresh, Director of Arlington County Human Services Anita Friedman, and Arlington County Board Member Katie Cristol.
Domestic violence crosses all boundaries — class, race and age — and the only community response that can effectively end its deadly cycle is one that crosses boundaries, too. This conversation is for every Arlingtonian who cares about a peaceful, violence-free community.
Recorded August 2020.
Since June 15, over 175,000 print books and other library materials have been checked out or renewed and close to 130,000 physical holds have been placed. Impressive!
As we look to the future of Library operations, staff at Arlington Public Library will work closely with the County leadership and the Department of Public Health to determine how to best move forward. Locally, COVID-19 cases remain above target thresholds and Arlington County continues to experience community spread.
We believe it is of paramount importance to protect the safety of Library patrons and staff, and that slowing community spread of the COVID-19 virus is a community-wide effort.
We are in this together.
For now, Arlington Public Library will continue to operate the Holds Pickup service at Central Library and book drops at six branch locations in order to prioritize safety and ensure access to print materials for as many residents as possible.
Over the past six months, we have expanded our digital collections and we continue to offer online storytimes, author talks and book clubs.
We believe this service model best matches the current conditions, and best positions us to meet the expected increase in demand for library materials as the academic year begins.
We share your belief that the Library is a cornerstone of our community and we acknowledge the hardship it causes to many when our physical Library spaces are inaccessible.
We are eager to reconnect with our beloved community and we plan to reevaluate Library operations in October.
We understand that Arlington readers love their Library as much as we do. Please continue to send us your feedback, which we use along with staff input and public health data, to inform ongoing planning.
If you have a question that requires a response, need help accessing your Library account or placing holds, please contact us by phone, online chat or text.
Moving towards a phased reopening will take all of us working together — responding to a pandemic is a marathon, not a sprint. Thank you for your support of Arlington Public Library.
Stay safe and hopeful,
Your Arlington Public Library Team.
By reading regularly with your child, you give them the biggest boost toward a successful education.
MyBook provides every child who qualifies, in kindergarten through 2nd grade, with five free, carefully selected books to keep. Each month, from September through December, a new, book will be available for pick up. All you have to do is sign up, pick up a new book each month, and read with your child!
Children who meet all three requirements:
Parent/Guardian’s responsibility:
Register and learn more on the Library website.
When you love a book, you might dress like your favorite characters, suggest it to your friends (furry, robot and otherwise...) and even cook it for dinner!
These photos were submitted by Arlington readers in response to this year's Summer Reading Bonus Challenge, to celebrate the fun of reading!
Each Bonus Challenge submission earns you a raffle ticket in Summer Reading! Monday, August 3 is the last day to begin reading to complete the main Summer Reading Challenge, but you can still participate in Summer Reading up until September 1.
Get inspired by these photos of Arlington community and Library staff Bonus Challenge submissions!
![[11:59 AM] Megan Wianecki William reads his new favorite book, "This Is a Dog" by Ross Collins. Nissa is not impressed.](https://library.arlingtonva.us/wp-content/uploads/2020/08/Screen-Shot-2020-08-03-at-11.54.20-AM-1024x765.png)
Join us for a new video series!
In each episode, Diane speaks with local Arlingtonians who have made a difference in our community.
One of the reflecting pools at Dark Star Park. Image courtesy of Camryn Bell.
Embedded between the office buildings, businesses, and roadways of Rosslyn is a unique piece of public art - Dark Star Park. Each summer, at approximately 9:30 a.m. on August 1, morning light strikes the group of large spheres that make up the sculpture to create an eclipse-like effect, which lasts - much like a real eclipse - only for a few minutes.
How did this unusual public sculpture come to be?
View from one of the tunnels at Dark Star Park. Image courtesy of Camryn Bell.
Dark Star Park 35th Anniversary Celebration – this Arlington TV feature showcases the August 1st, 2019, alignment of light and shadow at the park, and is accompanied by an original score from local artists Janel and Anthony.
Built in 1984, Dark Star Park is the entry to the Rosslyn neighborhood, at a triangle formed by the intersection of North Fort Myer Drive, North Lynn Street, and N. Meade Street. It was constructed on the site of a former gas station, occupies 0.4 acres of land, and was designed to commemorate the anniversary of the purchase of the land by William Henry Ross, which would later become Rosslyn (Ross served as the neighborhood's namesake).
Aerial view of Dark Star Park. Image courtesy of Arlington County.
Artist Nancy Holt (1938-2014), who was chosen to helm the project in 1979, was somewhat apprehensive about the project upon entering Rosslyn, in part because the site was a vacant lot overrun with trash. In a 1988 documentary on the park, she said, “I was overwhelmed with how cold and distant a place Rosslyn was … It’s a concrete network here with very little thought about human beings, human scale, human maneuverability.”
Nancy Holt designing Dark Star Park. Image courtesy of the Holt/Smithson Foundation via DCist.
Dark Star Park combines elements of landscape architecture, sculpture, and astronomy. The piece is comprised of five gunite (air-placed concrete) spheres resembling fallen, extinguished stars, as well as two pools, four steel poles, and two tunnels.
Dark Star Park was commissioned by Arlington County during a transitional time in Rosslyn - the Metro had recently arrived in Arlington, and development was still on the rise. The County funded the project with $200,000 from public and private sources, as well as a National Endowment for the Arts grant. (DCist, July 30, 2019)
Some of the gunite spheres and steel poles at Dark Star Park. Image courtesy of Camryn Bell.
Holt oversaw every aspect of the park’s design and development, and also served as a contractor on the project. She was a preeminent member of the land art movement, which rose to recognition in the 1970s. While practitioners of this style mainly concentrated in open natural spaces – places that could easily accommodate the monumental scale of the works associated with the movement – Holt’s work in Dark Star Park was unique due to its urban setting. In terms of her design approach, Holt said,
“I feel that the need to look at the sky—at the moon and the stars—is very basic, and it is inside all of us. So when I say my work is an exteriorization of my own inner reality, I mean I am giving back to people through art what they already have in them.”
Some of Holt’s other pieces were located in much larger environments than Dark Star Park. "Sun Tunnels," 1973-1976, is located in the Great Basin Desert of Utah. Image courtesy of the Utah Museum of Fine Arts.
The creation of Dark Star Park marked a significant first for the Arlington area: it was the first work of public art produced by the County. This was prior to the establishment of the County’s formal public art program that was inaugurated with the adoption of a Public Art Policy – nearly 16 years after the creation of Dark Star Park.
In the decades since, Arlington’s public art program has become a robust part of the County landscape.
Dark Star Park itself is also one of the first national examples of “integrated public art,” meaning that the art in the public site is inseparable from its setting and is a total environment to be experienced holistically.
Excerpt from December 9, 1993, article by Mary McCoy on public art in Arlington and Dark Star Park. From the Washington Post.
Holt planned the design of Dark Star Park using miniature clay models. She worked with astrophysicists to determine placement of the spheres and poles to align with the light at exactly 9:32 a.m. on the August 1 anniversary – a time of day chosen simply because Holt enjoyed the way the light hit at that moment. The need for exactness in alignment was in part why the park underwent a renovation in 2002, allowing Holt to reorient the spheres that had shifted over the years due to the changes in the Earth’s axis.
One common mistake about Dark Star Park Day is that the August 1 alignment is meant to celebrate the birthday of Grateful Dead lead guitarist Jerry Garcia. This assumption is compounded by the coincidence of the band’s song titled “Dark Star.”
NewsMakers: Dark Star Park – an Arlington TV feature on Dark Star Park from 2009, including a speech from Nancy Holt.
Learn more:
The documentary Troublemakers – available at the Library – discusses the history of the land art movement and features Nancy Holt.
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.
You’ve been busy since our last report! Since June 15, over 56,000 print books and other library materials have been checked out or renewed, over 67,000 physical holds have been placed, and 163,000 items have been returned at all seven Library locations.
The ten most popular holds placed in the last 30 days are:
Quaranzine is a weekly collection of creative works from the Arlington community that documents how we responded to this strange time we find ourselves in. Submit your own work.
The next deadline for submissions to Quaranzine is Thursday, July 23.
