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Holiday: All library locations closed Fri., June 19, for Juneteenth. More Info

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Update: Elevator outages, maintenance and upgrades at Central Library More Info

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Storytimes Will “Take a Nap” through June 20 More Info

Arlington Public Library

Director's Blog

Public Libraries Stand For Liberty, Tolerance And Acceptance

Dear Friends,

Like many of you, I have spent the last several days feeling conflicted: alternately saddened and outraged by the death of George Floyd. Buoyed by the peaceful demonstrations that ensued in the wake of his cruel death and frustrated by the acts of violence. Our country is torn and this current state is, sadly, not a new experience. As someone who was living in Arlington in 1968 and witnessed the burning of our nation’s capital, I can say, with regret, I’ve seen this movie, too.

Now what?

  • It is not enough to share a social media post describing racial injustice or to add an emoji.
  • It is not enough to wait for others to decide what to do to address structural racism.
  • It is not enough to remain silent because conversations about race in America are difficult.

It is enough to look within ourselves and take an action —any action — that says to oneself and others: the disparate treatment of black people, brown people, other people, must not stand.

Today, the public library inhabits a unique role in American society. It stands for liberty, tolerance and acceptance.

It says believe what you will and your beliefs will not be judged. It says come as you are and you will be embraced as you are. And it says that if you are comfortable and secure or in need and uncertain, the library will be your refuge. A pretty tall order but one we signed onto when we entered this field — in my case, more than 40 years ago this week.

In this unprecedented time of crisis and chaos, we have a rare opportunity to revisit and reaffirm both our library and our personal values, beliefs and commitments to everyone in our community, especially those whom neither history nor prosperity has favored.

If not now, when? If not us, who?

Scrawled signature of Diane Kresh

Diane Kresh
Director, Arlington Public Library

Changes Ahead: A Message from the Library Director

Dear Friends,

For the past few weeks, staff of Arlington Public Library have been preparing for reopening. We have missed being at the Library and know you have, too.

As we move forward, all of us remain committed to our mission and to the health and safety of our library patrons, staff and volunteers. We will strive to bring you the best Library service possible, while limiting physical access.

Changes to our service are on the way:

  1. Holds - Starting mid-June, Arlington Public Library will offer a walk-in/walk-out service for hold pickups and book bundles in the auditorium at Central Library. Operating hours for the holds pickup service are being decided and we will communicate details as we have them. Computers, self-check stations, and meeting rooms will not be available for use. All branch locations will remain closed at this time; starting in mid-June returns will also be accepted via book drop at all branches.
  2. Masks - In accordance with Governor Ralph S. Northam's Executive Order Number 63, both patrons and staff are required to wear masks and observe social distancing at all times when in a library building.
  3. Account System - We are upgrading the Library’s account system. This change has been long-planned and will enable us to serve you more effectively.
  4. Summer Reading - The Library’s annual Summer Reading Challenge will start June 1, and this year we’re going digital. Stay tuned for more details next week.
  5. Arlington READS - Continues virtually: In June, we will host a conversation with Brooke Gladstone, journalist, author, media analyst, and co-host and managing editor of the WNYC radio program “On the Media.” And in October, we are thrilled to present Pulitzer Prize-winning author, Colson Whitehead (“The Underground Railroad”and “The Nickel Boys”). Stay tuned for details; both programs promise to be lively and engaging.

We recognize there is no replacement for an in-person, full-service library experience. Over the years, the staff and I have been honored to serve the community of Arlington and have always tried to strike a balance between the high tech of our digital content and the high touch of our popular story times and author events. We cherish the relationships we have developed with each one of you and look forward to better times. Please know that we are thinking of all of you and that together, we will get through this.

We ask that you check our website and social media platforms on Facebook and Twitter for updates.

We are living in unprecedented times. Please send materials documenting your experience to the COVID-19 Archives Project and help tell Arlington's story of the pandemic.

And we urge you to contribute to “Quaranzine,” our weekly Zine of poetry, photography, prose and drawings. We have been inspired by the creativity and artistry expressed in each issue.

Stay well and hopeful, we are here for you.

Signature of Diane Kresh

Diane Kresh

Director, Arlington Public Library

 

Please Note: a previous version of this post incorrectly advertised the Colson Whitehead event for July; the event will be held in October. We regret the error.

Serving Arlington During the COVID-19 Pandemic

National Library Week: April 19-25, 2020

Three months ago, we could not have guessed at the nationwide changes now affecting the way we live and work.

Today, the long-term effects of this global pandemic on our community can only be imagined. Libraries, parks and schools are closed, restaurants have shut down and many of us are stuck at home or caring for loved ones.

Yet this crisis has also shown our strength. Arlington residents, community organizations, and County departments have joined forces in an outpouring of love, care and dedication to tackle the issues that result from these challenging times.

At Arlington Public Library, our dedicated staff are no different.

This week we join libraries around the country for National Library Week, to celebrate the many ways in which libraries and librarians strengthen our communities — with commitment, heart, and goodwill.

Here are just a few of the many ways in which Library staff are responding to Arlington’s evolving needs:

While we all our facing a “new normal” our hope is that all our collaborative efforts will make life a little easier.

Stay safe, stay well, and stay hopeful.

Diane

Scrawled signature of Diane Kresh

Diane Kresh
Director
Arlington Public Library

Dancing with Myself: Playlist for a Pandemic

Tunes from the Library Director

The Library may be physically closed during the COVID-19 outbreak, but we are here for you!

We promise to continue to be an essential link to information you can trust. You can find updates on COVID-19 on the Arlington County website and to resources to help keep you going on the Library website and our social media accounts.

We also want to provide our neighbors with some respite and rejuvenation through one of our favorite virtual offerings, the Director’s Playlist.

While some of the songs are... a little on the nose... many serve a functional purpose: the CDC has directed us to scrub our hands for at least 20 seconds each time we wash, which is one of the most effective ways to prevent the spread of germs. Don’t have a timer? Tired of humming the “Happy Birthday” song? No problem!

man damcig alone in his apartment

The first three tracks on this playlist have a chorus/pre-chorus of at least 20 seconds - sing or hum along (at the top of your lungs or in your head) while washing your hands, and you'll meet the CDC’s hand washing guidelines.

Open playlist in Spotify

Whether you are waiting in the lobby of your Microsoft Team's meeting, planning fun and educational projects for your kids, starting that side-hustle, taking the dog out for her fifth walk, finally reading that book that has been on your nightstand for the last 6 months, or whiling away the hours on a Netflix binge, we hope that these songs can lift your spirits, give you a valuable break, or at the very least, remind you that we are all workin' together (track 20).

We know that Arlington Public Library is a valued resource for many in our community, and we look forward to when we can resume full, safe operations. To that end, we are in constant communication with the County Manager’s Office and the Public Health Department and look forward to welcoming you back when we can reopen.

But until then, join me as I dance on my own to Robyn (track 5).

Stay safe and stay home!

Diane K.

Scrawled signature of Diane Kresh

The Library Director’s 2019 Playlist

Forever "Too Cool for Yule"

Years ago I began creating a holiday playlist each November, known variously as “Don’t Touch that Dial,” the “Too Cool for Yule” blog, and more simply, the Director’s Playlist.

Each playlist is a collection of seasonal tunes -- from schlock (hopefully not too much of that) to rock and everything in between. By now we have managed to amass quite an eclectic set of “mix tapes.” This year is no exception.

Before you start clicking and singing along, however, a couple of explanatory notes (pun intended) are in order:

Peter Tork (born Torkelson in 1942 in Washington, DC) died earlier this year.  Known as the keyboardist and bass player of The Monkees, Tork, along with Mickey Dolenz, Michael Nesmith and Davy Jones, formed the mid-sixties American answer to the Beatles and over the course of their career sold over 75 million records worldwide.  Not bad for a made for TV band (track 5).

Soul singer Roberta Flack (track 13) was raised in Arlington, and rose to prominence singing upstairs at Mr. Henry’s, the Capitol Hill bar and restaurant.  Established in 1966 by Henry Jaffe, within two years Jaffe hired a local school teacher to sing in the pub. “She told me that if I could give her work three nights a week, she could quit teaching,” Jaffe later recalled.  The singer, none other than Roberta Flack, would go on to win four Grammys for the songs “Killing Me Softly” and “The First Time Ever I Saw Your Face.”

I’ve closed this playlist as I did last year’s list with a song by Bob Dylan whose lyrics are as relevant today as they were when he wrote them. Released as the title track of his 1964 album of the same name, “The Times they are a Changin'” was Dylan’s attempt to create an anthem of change. Read through the lyrics and see if you agree.

The line it is drawn
The curse it is cast
The slow one now
Will later be fast
As the present now
Will later be past
The order is
Rapidly fadin'
And the first one now
Will later be last
For the times they are a-changin'.

Open playlist in Spotify

Whether you eat Chinese food and see a movie on Christmas Day, attend a church, binge watch “Mindhunter,” curl up with a good book or board game you borrowed from the library, or sit quietly with your thoughts, all of us at Arlington Public Library wish you and yours the very best.

Diane

Scrawled signature of Diane Kresh

Taking it Personally: National Coming Out Day

Friday, October 11, marks the 31st anniversary of National Coming Out Day, an annual observance to raise awareness of the interests and rights of the LGBTQIA+ community.

Arlington Public Library is honoring this date by displaying Pride flags at all of our locations.

As a gay person, National Coming Out Day holds personal significance.

I take it personally when we discover pages in our Library’s children’s books about gay moms and dads have been deliberately torn or defaced.

I take it personally when a patron writes me and tells me that the Library’s Pride Month book displays promote sexually deviant behavior.

And I take it personally when a patron threatens to trash a branch library because it has displayed the Pride flag.

As an Arlington County leader, my support of National Coming Out Day means that I encourage Library staff to show up at work as they truly are — proudly and without fear of consequence.

As a public library director, National Coming Out Day reminds me that each day in a library is coming out day. Libraries are judgement free zones – safe spaces that welcome all who enter their doors, regardless of beliefs, preferences, country of origin, age, income status or appearance.

And as a gay person, National Coming Out Day affirms a commitment I made to myself: to respect and honor my choices and to be who I am, this day and every day.

Diane

Scrawled signature of Diane Kresh

On the 50th Anniversary of Stonewall

Vital Signs 2019

Several years ago, I was invited to mount a photo exhibit in Zagreb, Croatia. “Vital Signs” was a collection of photographs that chronicled several years in the LGBTQ Movement in the United States.

The show’s narrative arc began with images of quilts from the AIDS Memorial Quilt displayed on the National Mall in Washington, DC during July 2012, and ended with images of New York City’s Pride Parade of 2013, the victory “lap” following the U.S. Supreme Court’s findings on June 26 that both California’s Proposition 8 and Defense of Marriage Act (DOMA) were unconstitutional.

The final image in the show was of a plaque commemorating the Stonewall Inn, a bar in New York City frequented by gays, which was the site of riots following a raid there by police the night of June 28, 1969. After Stonewall, the gay rights movement came “out of the closet and into the streets” and into the public consciousness where it has remained since. The first Pride Parade was held in New York City on Sunday, June 28, 1970, one year after the riot.

This year, Arlington County celebrates “50 Years Forward: from riots to rights” and cities across the country, in red states and in blue states, from San Francisco to Omaha and New York to Sioux Falls, will host Pride events to honor the achievements and contributions of the LGBTQ+ community. Arlington County’s Pride Month Proclamation Ceremony will be held on Thursday, June 6 at noon in the County Board Room.

Each June, Arlington Public Library (APL) celebrates Pride, to honor LGBTQ+ Americans and their allies who have fought for and continue to fight for the right to be treated fairly, to be granted equal protection under the law and afforded the inalienable right to be happy. Gay rights are human rights, and libraries have a unique role in supporting the LGBTQI+ community: through our safe spaces where we foster inclusion, our collections which reflect diverse points of view, and our programs that educate and celebrate the differences among us that make Arlington a thriving community.

Two years ago, we signaled our embrace of inclusion with the addition of rainbow welcome signs posted on the entrances to each of our building locations. Last year we flew the pride flag at Central Library and displayed a Pride flag in each of our locations.

Throughout the month, we will be offering a range of Pride events throughout the library system.

And in keeping with our mission to educate, we have created a 2019 Pride booklist.

June is officially recognized as Pride month. Truthfully… every day is Pride month at APL.

For we are always:
Open to accepting others for who they are
Open to embracing diverse points of view
Open to protecting and nurturing those who are most vulnerable
Open to fulfilling hopes and dreams
Open to making Arlington the best it can be.

Our commitment to you.
Happy Pride
Diane

Scrawled signature of Diane Kresh

“Too Cool for Yule” 2018

A number of years ago, I began creating the holiday play list, variously known as “Don’t Touch that Dial,” the “Too Cool for Yule” blog, and more simply, the Director’s Playlist.

It’s a collection of seasonal tunes that I look forward to assembling each year, right around the time holiday music earwigs begin their assault on the senses.  From schlock (hopefully not too much of that) to rock, over the years we have managed to amass quite an eclectic set of “mix tapes,” and this year is no exception.

Black and white filtered photo of pine trees on the edge of a lake in winter

Before you start clicking and singing along, however, a couple of explanatory notes (pun intended) are in order:

In August, the magnificent voice of the Queen of Soul was silenced.  Like many in my age cohort, Aretha Franklin’s music was a soundtrack to my life.  Represented here by a swinging “Blue Holiday” from her second album, it’s a brilliant reminder that ‘Retha was as deft with the keyboard as she was with her vocal chops.

Paul Simon and Joan Baez launched Farewell Tours (NB: sorta kinda, Baez is briefly rebooting in April) and are represented by “Getting Ready for Christmas Day” and “Amazing Grace,” respectively.

I’ve closed the list with two “secular” selections. While libraries were not exactly what Bob Dylan had in mind when he penned the classic, “Shelter from the Storm,” we are indeed that for many in our community - an inclusive and safe place for knowledge, for belonging and for comfort.

And finally, 2018 was the centenary of American composer and conductor Leonard Bernstein’s birth and I have chosen to give him the last “word.” Jazz pianist Bill Evans’s emotional rendering of Bernstein’s “Some Other Time” from the buoyant “On the Town” is a pitch perfect ballad for this time of year, when we recall where we’ve been and anticipate where we are going if we have the luxury of time.

“Where has the time all gone to

Haven't done half the things we want to

Oh well, we'll catch up some other time”

Whether you eat Chinese food and see a movie on Christmas Day, attend church, binge on Netflix, curl up with a good book or board game you borrowed from the library, or sit quietly with your thoughts, all of us at Arlington Public Library wish you and yours the very best.

DK

Scrawled signature of Diane Kresh

Free To Be

Coming Out Day

Thursday, Oct. 11, 2018, marks the 30th anniversary of National Coming Out Day, an annual observance to raise awareness of the LGBTQIA+ community, its interests and rights.

Arlington Public Library is honoring this date by flying the Pride flag at Central Library and by displaying Pride flags at all of our locations.

As a gay person, National Coming Out Day holds personal significance.

Watch Diane's keynote speech at Arlington County's 2017 Pride Celebration, in which she tells her own coming out story.

Pride flag flying below the County seal at Central Library
Central Library

As an Arlington County leader, the day represents my encouragement of staff to show up at work as they truly are — proudly and without fear of consequence.

And as a public library director, it is a reminder that each day in the library is coming out day. For The library is the eternal judgement free zone – the safe space that is welcoming of all who enter its doors, regardless of beliefs, preferences, origin, income status or appearance.

We will respect and accept you as you are on National Coming Out Day and every day.

Diane

Scrawled signature of Diane Kresh























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