Finish summer reading in a big way — by adding to your book collection at this week’s Children and Teens book sale at Reston Regional Library, 11925 Bowman Green Dr.
There will be shelves of gently used books and teaching materials for sale. Proceeds benefit Reston Regional, as well as Friends of Reston Regional, the non profit that sponsors and pays for additional library programming and supplies.
Sale hours:
- Thursday, Aug. 20 — 10 a.m. to 8 p.m.
- Friday, Aug. 21 — 10 a.m. to 5 p.m.
- Saturday, Aug. 22– 10 a.m. to 4 p.m.
- Sunday, Aug. 23– 1 p.m. to 3:30 p.m.
Payment is by cash or check. Sorry, no credit cards, scanners, or electronic devices.
For more information, email [email protected] or call 703-829-5467.
Are your kids voracious readers? Are you a teacher or parent who wants to score some great books for for your collection?
Then stop by the Reston Regional Library this weekend for the Friends of the Reston Regional Library’s Spring Children/Teens Book Sale.
There will be hundreds of gently used books and teaching materials for children and educators and books for teens at the library, located at 11925 Bowman Green Dr.
Sale hours:
Friday, March 20 — 10 a.m. to 5 p.m.
Saturday, March 21 — 10 a.m. to 4 p.m.
Sunday, March 22 — 1 to 3:30 pm
Payment is by cash or check. Sorry, no credit cards, scanners, or electronic devices.
All proceeds go to benefit the Reston Regional Library and the Fairfax County Public Library system. Book donations and volunteers are always welcome.
For more information, email [email protected] or call to leave a message at 703-829-5467 .
Now that the new Fairfax County North County Government Center is getting ready to open on Cameron Glen Drive, the county is taking initial steps to start the process for a new Reston Regional Library as part of the makeover of Town Center North.
Tentative plans for a new library in Reston have been in place since 2012, when voters approved a $25 million library bond, with $10 million of it allocated for a new Reston Regional Library.
The remaining money will fund renovations at Pohick Regional, John Marshall Community and Tysons Pimmit Regional libraries.
A new library plan is set to proceed despite a tumultuous last few years for the county library system. Critics have pointed out that the Fairfax system spends less per capita than any other surrounding jurisdiction; has been caught discarding books rather than recirculating them; slashed its budget; and nearly went ahead with a “beta plan” at Reston Regional and Burke libraries that would have cut staff and resources.
In the County Executive’s FY 2016 Advertised Budget, announced on Tuesday, Fairfax County Public Libraries will receive $27,612,745 — about 7.7 percent less than in 2015.
A new plan is still in the works, though. Reston Citizens Association group Reston 2020 recently obtained the timeline for the process. Some of the details:
The new library was included in the Comprehensive Plan Amendment that was approved by the Fairfax County Board of Supervisors in 2014.
The county is expected to rebuild the library and the Embry Rucker Community Shelter on its current 6-acre site on Bowman Towne Drive, called “Blocks 7 and 8” in county documents.
The county is expected to issue a Request for Proposals from companies interested in developing the new library. The RFP will go through June 2015.
The county is expected to select a developer in September 2015.
Proposals will be for the library and shelter, as well as “additional county uses,” according to the documents.
The RFP will also determine “highest and best use of the land,” in keeping with the Reston Master Plan and construction costs, among other details.
The project will then go through a rezoning, as well as approval process by the county planning commission and board of supervisors.
Last week, a land deal was announced that will allow the Fairfax County Park Authority build a 90,000-square-foot recreation facility at Reston Town Center North, pending public hearings, a park authority board vote and procurance of millions of dollars for construction.
Part of the deal also includes a 2.6-acre Town Greene to be built on the same block as the new North County Government Center on Fountain Drive.
The Reston comprehensive plan amendment says the Town Center North area is “planned for up to a .90 FAR for non-residential uses, which should include office, public, institutional, medical care, hotel, and retail uses, and a minimum of 1,000 residential units. The public uses may include public safety uses, libraries, shelters, schools, a recreation center, government offices, a performing arts center, and institutions of higher education.”
In the wake of several years of lean funding and a scrapped “beta plan” in 2013, the Fairfax County Library Board of Trustees plans to ask the Fairfax County Board of Supervisors for an additional $1 million for the next fiscal year.
The trustees voted last week to request an additional $1 million that would be used for youth service, staff training and technology upgrades, the Fairfax Times reports. The board had previously submitted a request for a $1 million increase in its budget for books and other material, aimed at restoring some of the reductions made in leaner budget years.
County Executive Ed Long has allocated $25.7 million for the library system, a slight increase over the fiscal 2014 adopted budget but also a slight decrease in total funding as compared to the amended budget for the current fiscal year.
This is due to one-time money the Board of Supervisors gave to the the library system at the close of fiscal 2013.
The current budget proposal includes $275,000 for library employee pay raises, $250,000 in additional funding for materials (to purchase about 13,000 items) and $61,500 for computer replacement. Long has proposed increasing the materials budget by $250,000 per year over the next four years to reach the $1 million total that the library system requested.
The library system had proposed a “beta plan” for Reston Regional — the busiest branch in the county — and other libraries in 2013. That plan included a new staffing model that suggested getting rid of trained children’s librarians and going to a one-desk staffing system in order to save money.
That was met with protest from library supporters. Ultimately, the Fairfax County Board of Supervisors scrapped the plan. The supervisors also were shocked to learn that thousands of books were being thrown away rather than recirculated.
The book dump was discovered by Reston resident Kathy Kaplan, who was honored last week as Reston Citizen’s Association Citizen of the Year for her efforts.
The library trustees are currently looking at new solutions that will cut costs but keep service levels intact.
The $1 million for materials and $1 million for other needs that the Board of Trustees is requesting this year would be in addition to the increased funds already included in Long’s budget, library director Sam Clay told the Fairfax Times.
The $250,000 included in the budget would allow for the purchase of about 13,000 additional items, according to the budget document.
To see the breakdown of the FY 2015 Advertised County Budget, visit the Fairfax County website.
The Board of Supervisors will adopt the budget April 29.
