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Arlington Public Library

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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. 

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.

Asian and Asian Heritage Romance

Viet Nam

Asian American Pacific Heritage: Food

Asian in America

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.

Flipster Digital Magazines

Looking for something to read while you are waiting online or at bus stop? Get instant access to current and back issues of some of your favorite magazine titles via Flipster.

Use the app to read on the go: includes People, Sports Illustrated, Real Simple and the Atlantic.

  • There is no limit to the number of titles you can borrow at one time.
  • Checkouts for most weekly digital magazines expire in 2 days
  • Most monthly digital magazines expire in 7 days.
Flipster Digital Magazines

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.

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

Helping Ukraine

The final day to donate is Friday, April 15, after which all items will be boxed and secured for shipping.

The Northern Virginia Regional Commission (NVRC) has organized a campaign to collect donations of much needed cold weather items for the more than 3 millions residents of Ukraine who have fled their county due to the Russian invasion.

Items to donate:

  • New/Gently Used Coats
  • New Blankets
  • New Pairs of Sweat Socks/Heavy Socks
  • New Pairs of Gloves

In Arlington, items can be dropped off at Central Library. The donation box is next the Quincy Street entrance, under the bulletin board near the Youth Services room.

Learn more about the Northern Virginia Regional Commission, including more places to drop off  donations, on the NVRC website.

photo of donation box

Wake Up and Read! April 3 – April 9

Celebrate National Library Week and Take a Stand for Books

Libraries and librarians nationwide play a vital role in transforming lives and strengthening communities.

The American Library Association’s Office for Intellectual Freedom  recently issued a statement opposing widespread efforts to censor books in U.S. schools and libraries.

Unfortunately, Virginia has been subject to these censorship efforts, and in light of this, Arlington Public Library is taking a stand to build awareness of these challenged books.

What Can You Do?

Link to National Library Week blog post.

Stop by your local branch between April 3-9 and explore our collection. Pick up a free coffee and a challenged or banned book (while supplies last).

Press Reader: Today’s News from Around the World

Find the stories you're looking for in today’s international and national newspapers and magazines, from over 100 countries, in 60 languages that can be listened to, translated in 15+ languages.

  • Search by keyword.
  • Use the free Press Reader app to read on the go.
Press Reader

Masks Optional in County Facilities Starting March 3

Starting Thursday, March 3, 2022 Arlington County Government will be changing mask requirements for County facilities and buildings based on new guidance from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC).

Currently, Arlington County is “Low,” meaning people may choose to wear a mask based on personal preference and level of risk of developing severe illness.

  • For the public and most employees, masks will no longer be required inside County facilities, so long as Arlington is in the “Low” level.
  • Masks will still be required in some specific locations, such as public transportation and where health or medical services are provided.

Learn more in the Arlington County news release published March 2, 2022.

“Change is Here” – Poem by André Bovier Talley

Read at the Black Employees Council 2020 Juneteenth Celebration

The following poem was donated by the author to the Center for Local History's Community Archive, and is reproduced here in honor of Black History Month.

Watch video of Talley reading his poem in 2020 on YouTube

André Bovier Talley, Vice President of Arlington County's Black Employees Council, wrote this poem for the BEC's 2020 Juneteenth Celebration.

He was inspired by the activists standing up and speaking out against systemic racism, police brutality against people of color, and George Floyd's murder in Minnesota at the hands of police. About his writing, Talley says he has always spoken out against racism and discrimination of any kind because he knows it is up to each individual to help change the system and the minds of those who support and enable it.

Change is Here

Written By: André Bovier Talley
June 17, 2020

If you give us no justice, they’ll be no peace-
This anger inside us, we must release-

Please hear me out, because this how my brothers and sisters are feeling-
We’re tired of being the victims of racism and senseless killings-

I know what you’re probably thinking, yeah Blacks kill Blacks-
But that’s just evidence that the Willie Lynch Letter is still in effect-

We’re tired of being hunted down in our homes and in the streets-
Please take head of what I am saying because what you sow you may one day reap-

This is not a threat as we have not reached that stage yet-
But if we see one more Brother on TV dying from a gun shot in the back or a knee on his neck-

Change must be made now as we have talked enough-
We want action now because we are tired of this racist stuff-

For centuries the world has been taught that Blacks are violent, lazy, angry and dumb-
While systems are rigged against us, and got us fighting for crumbs-

We built this country with our bare hands as slaves while shackled and forced to work for free-
And Colin Kaepernick lost millions of dollars and his career for just taking a knee-

 

We pay the same taxes that everyone else pay so where are our privileges-
We even pay for Bad Apples to harass and kill us, are you hearing this? –

I know that all Police are not bad because I personally know some of them-
But when the Bad Apples get out of line, you good Cops need to reign them in.

We are the leaders we’ve been looking for, this I know for sure-
If we collectively decide to push racism aside, like the Eagle, this Country will soar-

But for that to happen, these racist systems must be dismantled-
Some leaders should resign today because of how racism has been supported, enabled, and mishandled-

The humane treatment of all mankind should take precedence -
If there’s only a small percentage of racism in our systems, why is racism so prevalent? –

Times have changed, and the World is watching-
This is the longest we ever seen young people in the streets marching-

To quote the great Dr. Martin Luther king Jr. “How can a man pull himself up by his boot straps when he has no boots”
While recent tragic incidents remind me of the great Billy Holiday’s song “Strange Fruit”-

So, in closing I pray that we will be respectful to one another and resist evil and fear-
It’s up to us to make change now, and because of you today, change is here-

To our leadership, Juneteenth* needs to be recognized as an official Holiday in the same manner as the Fourth of July. These are the small steps that needs to take place to begin the healing process by showing respect and recognition to those whom endured slavery and was never compensated.

Black Lives Matter!

Thank you, and may God bless us all!

*The County Board announced the addition of Juneteenth as an official County Holiday on April 20, 2021, with the FY 2022 Budget.

André Bovier Talley: Author Bio

I was born in Arlington on April 17, 1967 and I lived on Lowell Street in South Arlington and grew up in the DMV knowing and feeling what racism and discrimination was on a daily basis being a victim of it. This fight against racism continues today as Arlington County Board and the Manager publicly admitted in 2020 that our County is still systemically racist. This started a movement that is building and will hold them accountable to change what a lot of us know here is unfair treatment of employees and citizens of color when it comes to hiring in upper management positions of power, salaries, pay increases, housing, demotions, and layoffs. Although I believe change is here, nothing will ever change until we see change in some of the major leadership positions. We need new leaders whom are seriously committed to racial diversity and equity through action and not just talk. Policies and laws need to be created that holds everyone accountable for treating everyone respectful and equally, regardless of color, age, gender, sexual preference, ethnicity, weight, height and political affiliation. All Human Beings on this earth should have the same human rights and be treated with respect regardless of anything. White privilege needs to be the thing of the past and abolished like slavery so there are no advantages given to one group of people over another, which is why we currently need affirmative action in place.

In closing, I will continue to speak up for racial justice and equality because “when there is injustice anywhere, there is injustice everywhere” Martin Luther King Jr. I would also like to quote President Obama when he said “We are the change we been looking for.” Detroit activist Grace Lee Boggs at 91 years of age said “We are the leaders we’ve been looking for” and when I retire from here one day, I will become more active in activism in this area because it is my passion to see all Humans treated equally and fair.

The Center for Local History collects, preserves, and shares historical documents that tell the history of Arlington County, its citizens, organizations, businesses, and social issues. Learn about the donation process or about how you can play an active role in documenting Arlington's Community history.



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