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The Library Will Be Closed Dec. 24-25 In Observance Of The Christmas Holiday More Info

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FACILITIES UPDATE: Central Library Garage Closed for Structural Repairs More Info

Arlington Public Library

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Spring brings playspaces and tool lending!

Curated Arlingtown playspaces for little learners are now open at all libraries!

Arlingtown is a fun space where families and caregivers with young children can spend time learning and building connections.  With an intentional selection of toys, prompts, signs and books now available at all library locations, parents and caregivers can engage with children in the five early literacy practices: talking, writing, reading, playing and singing.

Kids can engage in pretend play while parents and caregivers can explore early literacy tips for children ages 0 to 5, which will help children enter school ready to learn.

View each location's hours and plan your visit to Arlingtown!

The Shed garden tool lending library is back for your Spring projects! 

Want to start gardening, but don't have the right tools? Ready to tackle a big yard project and need an unusual tool? The Library can help!

Visit The Shed—our garden tool lending library—open Mondays and Wednesdays 5 p.m.-7 p.m. and Saturdays 10 a.m.-12 p.m.

The Shed is located at Central Library and open to all Arlington residents and property owners age 18+ with a library card.

Learn more and explore the garden tool lineup.

Library Qualifies for Regional Book Cart Racing Championships!

Two Library staff members practice racing book carts in the library stacks.

Breaking Library News

After years of grueling practice before the library opens, Arlington Public Library's Book Cart Racing Team has finally achieved qualifying times for the prestigious Regional Championships!

Please forgive your librarians if we look a little tired as we continue our challenging training regimen for the big day.

We look forward to representing the County soon at this time-honored event!

Watch the team in action on Instagram.

Exhibition: “Power in the Public” at Shirlington Library

On National Public Television Day (Apr. 7), the public is invited to an opening reception and community celebration of the newly opened exhibition, "Power in the Public: The Life and Legacy of Elizabeth Campbell," at Shirlington Library.  The exhibition is presented in partnership with WETA.  

Join us on Fri., Apr. 7, 1-3 p.m., for a reception with light refreshments and crafts for children. A community scavenger hunt will be announced along with the “unveiling” of the desk of Elizabeth Campbell. All are welcome! 

Power in the Public: The Life and Legacy of Elizabeth Campbell
Opening reception and "unveiling" of the Elizabeth Campbell desk.
Fri., Apr. 7, 1-3 p.m.
Shirlington Library 

RSVP
Photo of Elizabeth Campbell sitting at her desk. Photo credit: Chad Evans Wyatt.
Photo of Elizabeth Campbell sitting at her desk. Photo credit: Chad Evans Wyatt.

The exhibition includes materials from WETA and the Center for Local History (CLH) which collects, preserves and shares resources that illustrate Arlington County’s history, diversity and communities. The CLH collection includes documents, photos and publications pertaining to Campbell’s work and life.

Learn about the legacy and life of Elizabeth Campbell: a trailblazer who fought for public education; a woman entrepreneur who was recruited by publisher Willard Kiplinger to head the Greater Washington Educational Television Association (GWETA) and activist who, together with her husband, joined in the struggle to desegregate Virginia’s public schools. 

About National Public Television Day: 
National Public Television Day (Apr. 7) commemorates the day in 1927 when the AT&T company first transmitted a successful long-distance public broadcast of television. 

About WETA:
Founded in 1961, WETA is the leading public broadcasting station in the nation’s capital and serves the community with educational initiatives and high-quality programming on television, radio and digital platforms. 

Exhibition: “Arlington Volunteers” at Central Library

In April, join us for the opening reception, a wet plate photography demonstration and a shadowgram sunprinting workshop at Central Library with acclaimed photographer Mac Cosgrove-Davies.

Cosgrove-Davies employed the historic wet plate collodion (or tintype) photography technique to create unique portraits featuring scores of Arlington volunteers. Representing over 30 local organizations and causes, this exhibition spotlights the experiences of dedicated community volunteers.

The exhibition will be on display during open hours at Central Library, April 1 - May 31.

This exhibition is supported in part by Arlington County through Arlington Cultural Affairs, a division of Arlington Economic Development, and the Arlington Commission for the Arts.

About the Exhibition

Photography and volunteering have been two longstanding interests of photographer Mac Cosgrove-Davies, and it was from the intersection of the two that the "Arlington Volunteers" project emerged.

Conceived as a way to honor Arlington’s many volunteers and volunteer organizations, and to introduce others to volunteer opportunities, Cosgrove-Davies sought to depict participants in their chosen volunteer activity and environment.

From April to December 2022, Cosgrove-Davies conducted over 30 photo shoots across the County.

The resulting more than 135 photo plates, of which 35 are on display at Central Library, are the culmination of the desire and passion of people to help others and to improve our local community — a manifest to Arlington’s outstanding volunteer spirit.

The Process

Although commonly known as tintypes, the images in this exhibition were made on sheet aluminum using the wet plate collodion photographic process.

All photos were taken outdoors since this process responds to blue and ultraviolet light. Anything that moved during the multi-second exposures is blurred or invisible.

The process starts with coating the plate with the collodion mixture. Once coated, the plates must be sensitized exposed and processed before they dry which is why the process is called wet plate. This requires a portable darktent which the photographer brings to each photo shoot.

About the Artist

For more than half a century, Mac Cosgrove-Davies has used photography to express his view of the world.

Cosgrove-Davies began this photographic conversation producing black and white photographs in a darkroom at age 12. In college, an independent study in historic photographic processes revealed their creative potential.

Cosgrove-Davies has been using gum bichromate, cyanotype, oil and carbon printing to produce striking, unique images for more than 40 years.

His 2021 foray into the wet plate collodion process at the Maine Media Workshops became the starting point for the Arlington Volunteers project.

Cosgrove-Davies currently teaches a variety of hand-made photo processes at Photoworks, Glen Echo Park.

He has exhibited nationally and is represented in public collections, including the Library of Congress, Smithsonian American Art Museum, Ogunquit Museum of American Art and others.

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Amina Luqman-Dawson Wins Two Prestigious National Awards

First Woman to Win Both the John Newbery Medal and Coretta Scott King Book Award

On January 30, the American Library Association (ALA) awarded Arlington-based author Amina Luqman-Dawson the John Newbery Medal and the Coretta Scott King (Author) Book Award for her novel “Freewater.”

The Newbery Medal is a literary award given by the Association for Library Service to Children, a division of the American Library Association, to the author of “the most distinguished contributions to American literature for children.” The Coretta Scott King Book Award recognizes an African American author and illustrator of outstanding books for children and young adults.

ALA announced the top books, digital media, videos, and audiobooks for children and young adults—including the Caldecott, Coretta Scott King, Newbery, and Printz awards—at ALA’s 2023 LibLearnX conference in New Orleans.

“We are beyond happy for Amina Luqman-Dawson and her extraordinary achievement,” said Library Director Diane Kresh. “Freewater" is an important story and deserves to be read by every middle school student.”

Set in the Great Dismal Swamp, “Freewater” is a middle-grade novel about a secret community of formerly enslaved people. “Freewater” is published by JIMMY Patterson/Little, Brown Books for Young Readers.

Luqman-Dawson is the first woman to win both the John Newbery Medal and the Coretta Scott King Award.

Several female authors have received the Newbery Honor and Coretta Scott King Award in the same year including Renee Watson for “Piecing Me Together” (2018), Jacqueline Woodson for “Brown Girl Dreaming” (2015), Rita Williams-Garcia for “P.S. Be Eleven” (2014) and “One Crazy Summer” (2011). The Honor books are those that were not the first place of the year but deserve honorable mention.

Angela Johnson won the Coretta Scott King Award and the Printz for “The First Part Last” (2004).

“On the eve of Black History Month, congratulations to our talented Arlington author. Thank you for sharing your voice,” said Kresh.

Arlington Public Library Director Diane Kresh with local author Amina Luqman-Dawson.

Local author Amina Luqman-Dawson and Library Director Diane Kresh during a Juneteenth program hosted by Arlington Public Library on June 22, 2022.  

Digital Subscription of “The Economist” Discontinued

Effective February 1, the online format of the newspaper “The Economist” will no longer be available digitally through Arlington Public Library’s OverDrive digital magazines. All editions, including back issues, of “The Economist” will be removed from OverDrive. The last issue available for patrons to borrow will be January 28, 2023. 

The removal is a result of newly required lending model changes by “The Economist” that are not compatible with how magazines are available in OverDrive/Libby. 

The print edition of “The Economist” is currently available at Aurora Hills, Central, Shirlington and Westover Libraries. Starting this spring, print subscriptions will be available at Columbia Pike, Cherrydale and Glencarlyn Libraries. 

“The Economist” is available in text-only format through the free “Business Insights Essentials.” The Gale database encompasses all articles from 1988 to the present and includes the current issue. 

The Library offers similar publications and newspapers, such as “Bloomberg Businessweek” and “Forbes,” through its free Flipster, PressReader and OverDrive services.

Two Laser Cutters, Twice the Power

The Glowforge laser cutters can etch and cut multiple materials easily, including acrylic, leather, paper, rubber and wood.

For 2023, The Shop now offers twice the availability for our Glowforge laser cutters.

Our makerspace is equipped with the Glowforge "Basic" and "Plus" laser cutters which provide the same size cutting area and “superhero powers” so you can easily design and create your own masterpieces.

With the additional equipment, The Shop can accommodate more shop time and reservation availability to artisans and makers.

Both laser cutters can be used to make personalized gifts, enhance your next art project, boost your crafty merchandise store and experiment with laser engraving and cutting.

To use the Glowforge laser cutters, you must take the certification class. Once you are certified, reserve up to two hours per day at The Shop.

Don’t delay your next project! Reserve today, get to know other makers, exchange artist ideas and make things.

Reserve Now

You Brought Holiday Joy to Arlington.

Full of Gratitude for the Holiday Gift Nook: Free, Festive and Fun.

Library patrons at Central Library taking advantage of the free holiday shopping event.

The public enjoyed the free holiday shopping experience on Dec 10-11 at Central Library.

Last weekend, Arlington Public Library hosted the "Gift Nook," a free holiday market developed from thousands of items donated by the community.

Nearly a thousand children and adults participated in this free holiday shopping experience.

This successful initiative would not have happened without the generosity and goodwill of our caring Arlington community who donated thousands of quality re-giftable items at our Gift Nook drop-off boxes this fall. This economical and sustainable approach to holiday shopping for people on a tight budget exceeded all our expectations and put smiles on patron and Library staff faces.

Our Library staff and volunteers are thankful to all of you for playing a vital role in this wonderful initiative. Some of the positive feedback we received:

  • "You had the exact item I was looking for my son. This means so much to me."
  • "Love the selection of items."
  • "Will this happen again next year? Please come back!"

Always open. Always free. Always thankful.

Yours at Arlington Public Library.

Season’s Greetings From Arlington Public Library

We loved spending 2022 with you.

We have much to be thankful for. We:

  • Created the "Gift Nook," a free and festive holiday market made from thousands of donated items by the community.
  • Launched the free Teleconnect Space at Columbia Pike Library, for online social service appointments and job interviews.
  • Hosted playful, educational storytimes at every location, multiple times a week.
  • Renovated the library inside the Arlington County Detention Center and held several conversations with Arlington Reads authors inspired by Reginald Dwayne Betts' "Freedom Reads" project.
  • Partnered with the Washington Nationals for Summer Reading. Nearly 8,000 readers participated in our community Summer Reading program and thousands more attended events and to support the Potomac Conservancy in their mission to safeguard the lands and waters of the Potomac River.
  • Brought you 11 outstanding Arlington Reads author talks, thanks to the support of the Friends of the Arlington Public Library.
  • Reduced wait times for popular eBooks and eAudiobooks and expanded popular book services with the one-time Arlington County budget increase of $543,000.

Thank you to the Friends of the Arlington Public Library and all our County and community partners.

Make the Library part of your 2023.

Always free. Always open. Always there for you!



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