Hours and Location
Hours
- Monday through Thursday - 12:00 - 7:00 p.m.
- Friday through Sunday -12:00 - 5:00 p.m.
Location
Central Library Auditorium
1015 N Quincy St
Arlington VA 22201
Frequently Asked Questions About
Holds
Central library holds pickup is in the Auditorium on the 1st floor - enter from the 10th street parking lot.
Accessibility pickup is available for patrons with a physical accessibility issue that prevents them from using our normal holds-only service model.
If you are in need of accessibility accommodation, you can schedule your holds pickup by calling the Library at 703-228-5990.
Please park in the surface parking lots. The parking garage is currently closed to the public.
Access to the auditorium will be metered, with patrons lining up at six-foot intervals outside Library entrance closest to the tennis courts / surface parking lot.
Once inside the auditorium, up to four service stations will be available. Library staff will retrieve your holds, check them out to you, and pass them to you with no/limited contact.
Patrons will then exit across the Auditorium, through the doors onto the garden porch and walk down the pathway to the parking lot.
Library bathrooms are closed. Public restrooms are available on the outside of Central Library, facing the Quincy Park baseball field.
When possible, please send one household member to retrieve holds. Bring the associated library card for any holds you are picking up.
You may also use the library app to manage all the accounts from one household, and to access digital library cards for each account.
Your items will remain on the shelf for 5 days.
Returns
For safety reasons, we quarantine returned material for at least 72 hours. This means returned items can stay on your account for more than 5 days before we check them in. If over 7 days have passed since you returned your library items and they remain on your account, please use this form to tell us which items you returned, and we’ll update your account.
Return all items in the exterior book drops at any Library location - except Columbia Pike, which is closed for renovation. Any material format can be returned in the book drop, including DVDs, games, dolls, etc.
Returns will not be accepted in the Auditorium at Central Library.
Other
At this time, fines cannot be paid in person paid at the Library.
Make payments using a credit card - Log into your Library account and go to Fines and Messages.
Make payments by phone - 703-228-5260, Monday - Friday, 9 a.m. - 2 p.m.
Mail payment by check or money order - Make payable to Treasurer of Arlington County and include library card number. Mail to: Central Library, Attention: Circulation, 1015 N. Quincy St, Arlington, VA 22201
Daily library overdue fees were eliminated in the FY21 Arlington County Budget. No new daily overdue fees will accrue after July 1, 2020. Overdue fees of $ .30 per day, with a maximum overdue fee of $9.00 per item, charged before July 1, 2020 remain due on library accounts. Lost material fees and other service fees still apply.
We regret that we cannot accept donations at any Library location at this time.
The Friends of the Arlington Public Library loves our supportive library community and greatly appreciate your desire to give us your gently used books, puzzles, games, CDs and DVDs.
Unfortunately, they cannot accept your donations at this time as:
- We do not have the space to store donations.
- The Friends and the Library do not have staff or volunteers to sort them.
- We cannot add staff or volunteers due to space/social distancing concerns.
- We do not know when the next book sale will be held and have no other mechanism for selling donations.
Until the Friends are able to accept donations again, all items left at the Library will be recycled. Please wait to make book donations until we are able to process them again.
If you want to support the Library and the Friends, please visit the Friends of the Arlington Public Library website to learn about other ways to help.
The Library is unable to accommodate volunteers during this phase of reopening. We will welcome our volunteers back as soon as we can safely do so.
Read the County Visitor Face Covering Policy from the Arlington County Government Website.
Basic account services such as applying for and renewing library cards can be handled at the auditorium service points. The process is the same as for holds pickup.
More questions? Contact us by Phone, Online Chat or Text.
