Fairfax County Public Library is kicking off its summer reading program with a different approach this year.

The Fairfax Library Foundation will launch its inaugural Children’s Summer Reading Festival at two libraries this month to celebrate the beginning of FCPL’s annual summer reading program.

“We hope these festivals help get Fairfax County kids and adults excited for our Summer Reading Adventure,” FCPL Director Jessica Hudson said. “This year’s summer reading theme is All Together Now so we thought throwing a huge party would be a good fit! Thank you so much to the Fairfax Library Foundation for organizing these festivals.”

The first festival takes place on June 10 from 10 a.m. to 1 p.m. at Lorton Library (9520 Richmond Highway). The second event takes place on June 24 from 4-7 p.m. at Chantilly Regional Library (4000 Stringfellow Road).

We are so excited to announce the launch of an exciting new event to kick-off @fairfaxlibrary’s summer reading program this year. Join us for the fun on June 10 at Lorton Library or June 24 at Chantilly Regional Library. Details here: https://t.co/Z4PODbulh5 pic.twitter.com/Z4vrGlrw0O

— Fairfax Library Foundation (@FLFoundation) May 19, 2023

The festival will include games, crafts, a bounce house, mini zoo, snacks, face-painting, food trucks and a photo booth.

Although both festivals are free, online registration is encouraged.

Registration for the summer reading program opens online on June 10. Paper logs will be available at all branches before the program kicks off on June 16. Individuals who register early will get priority for raffle entries to win Scrawl Books gift cards.

Adults who finish the program will get a coupon book and will be entered into other raffles for $25 gift cards for AMC, Barnes & Noble and VISA, along with other prizes — including four tickets to Escape Room Herndon.

In Chantilly, the festival will be followed by a free outdoor screening of Disney’s “Frozen: Sing-Along Edition,” Fairfax Library Foundation Development Director Cheryl Lee said.

Barnes & Noble has revealed when its next chapter will open in The Spectrum at Reston Town Center.

The bookstore chain plans to host a grand opening on June 14, the company announced yesterday (Tuesday) in an Instagram reel.

The reel described the opening date as “tentative.”

“Mark your calendars because we’re going to have so much fun!” the post reads.

The bookstore takes space at 11816 Spectrum Center previously vacated by Office Depot. Barnes & Noble previously had a store at The Spectrum that closed in 2013.

The shopping center will also soon welcome Whole Foods Market, which plans to relocate from its current spot at Plaza America.

 Photo via Barnes & Noble/Instagram

A private library for the local LGBTQIA+ community is expanding its reach in Reston.

NoVA Prism Center, a planned community center and private library, is working with Reston Museum to tour its collection books and resources on March 18. The pop-up collection will be featured at the museum from 11 a.m. to 3 p.m.

“The community is invited to come to the museum, relax with a book, connect with the local LGBTQIA+ community and support our mission to bring access to information about LGBTQIA+ lives, stories, and history to Northern Virginia while participating in the LGBTQIA+ community by gathering to celebrate ourselves, friends and loved ones,” event organizers said in a news release.

NoVA Prism was founded as a nonprofit in May 2022 by local educators and activists in response to an attempt to eliminate two books dealing with LGBTQ topics from Fairfax County Public Schools.

“As a LGBTQ+ run organization with roots in the community it serves, NoVA Prism Center & Library is an answer to both the threat of lost access for LGBTQ+ teens in the region, as well as being the community resource that the LGBTQ+ community desperately needs moving forward,” Leon van Der Goetz said on behalf of the organization.

NoVA Prism has pop-up events and hopes to open a physical location. Planning for the project is in the preliminary stages, and a location has not yet been determined. The organization is currently funded by individual and corporate donations.

Alex Campbell, Reston Museum’s executive director, said that the partnership came about after a board member connected the two organizations.

“NoVA Prism Center & Library was looking for a space to do a pop up event and the museum was a good fit,” Campbell said.

Reston Museum is a nonprofit organization that aims to preserve Reston’s past, form its present and influences its future. The museum features a collection of archival material and artifacts.

It’s open from Tuesday through Saturday.

Photo via Sharon McCutcheon/Unsplash

Bestselling and award-winning author Kwame Alexander and illustrator Dara Coulter will visit Reston later this month for a book signing and reading.

Alexander and Coulter will take part in the event at Scrawl Books (11911 Freedom Drive) on Sunday at 4 p.m. The team is celebrating the release of “An American Story,” a picture book that tells the story of teacher struggling to help her students understand the history of American slavery.

Leah Grover, the communications and events manager for Scrawl Books, said the bookstore is looking forward to welcoming both authors and illustrators.

“Kwame is a friend of the store, and we can’t think of anyone more deserving of the widespread love and admiration he’s received. It’s always a pleasure to work with him,” Grover said. “If you’re not familiar with Dare Coulter, you’ll be blown away by her artwork! Her illustrations are as affecting and complex as Kwame’s words.”

Participants are encouraged to register online for the event.

Alexander is currently on a book tour featuring his latest release. He has authored 36 books, including “The Door of No Return” and “The Crossover.”

He has received several rewards including The Lee Bennett Hopkins Poetry Award, the Coretta Scott King Author Honor and three NAACP Image Award nominations. He writes in a penthouse in London, where he now lives, according to his website.

As they turn the page on 10 years of marriage, a local couple is looking to mark the milestone by giving back to the community.

Molly Bloudoff-Indelicato is seeking Reston Association‘s approval of a Free Little Library near the walking path between 12700 and 1652 Thunder Chase Drive. She pitched the idea as a gift to her husband, Greg.

“We are hoping to share our love of reading with the community,” said Greg. The couple has lived in Reston for two years.

The structure — which stands on a three-foot base — is mostly designed for children’s books and smaller young adult books. RA’s permission is required because the structure would be installed on an RA common area.

Neighbors and passersby can take and leave books in the collection. Reston already has several in cluster common areas like the Waterview, Whisperwood and Old Westbury clusters.

At a meeting on Dec. 15, RA’s Board of Directors voted to approve the project.

Due to concerns about the precedent that the approval could establish, the board moved to approve a covenant agreement that would require Bloudoff-Indelicato to take over responsibility for the maintenance and monitoring of the installation.

Attorney Anthony Champ cautioned that the approval could result in possible liabilities if inappropriate or offensive materials circulate in the library.

“You can only imagine how this community would come out if something inappropriate ended up in one of those,” Champ said.

Board member Laurie Dodd also noted that the standard to judge content as inappropriate or offensive is often subjective. She specifically referred to concerns about the repeated use of the n-word in Mark Twain’s “The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn.”

“I’m not suggesting that there is a right or wrong answer,” Dodd said. She voted in favor of the project.

Molly said that parents would like be the “gatekeepers” of content and that the couple would take charge of ensuring appropriate content was available.

The proposal must now make its way through RA’s Design Review Board.

While on vacation over the summer, Michelle Ratto became aware of the lack of independent bookstores in Herndon and realized she wanted to fill that void.

Ratto and her business partner Beth Luke — who describe themselves as avid leaders — made that dream come true last month by opening A Thousand Stories, a bookstore with more than 1,000 titles.

The store’s name is inspired by the mission of the business.

“One of the things we love most about bookstores is the magical feeling of being surrounded by so many stories. We decided to name our store…as a way of describing that sense of possibility,” Ratto said.

The bookstore is located in a room at Arts Herndon (750 Center Street), a nonprofit organization that seeks to advance the arts in the town. The idea came from Jo Ormesher, the organization’s president.

While focused on kids and young adults, the store has books for readers of all ages and is happy to fulfill special orders.

The owners are just getting started with hosting community events. Preschool story time started yesterday (Wednesday), and more book clubs and author readings are also planned in January.

The bookstore is open on weekdays from 10 a.m. to. 7 p.m. and on Saturday from 10 a.m to 5 p.m. The store is closed on Sundays.

“We want everyone to feel comfortable here and to meet new friends and neighbors while finding the perfect book,” Ratto said.

(Updated at 11:25 a.m.) Barnes & Noble is turning a page on its history at The Spectrum at Reston Town Center.

The company plans to open a location in the spring of 2023, 10 years after shuttering its location in the same shopping center at 11816 Spectrum Center. It will occupy nearly 28,000 square feet of space in the shell vacated by Office Depot. (Correction: The previous Barnes & Noble at The Spectrum closed in 2013, not 15 years ago as initially reported.)

“The tide has turned for real booksellers, with both Barnes & Noble and independent booksellers opening new stores at an unprecedented rate after well over a decade of declining numbers,” Barnes & Noble CEO James Daunt said.  “The return of Barnes & Noble to Reston is emblematic of this success.  Further, we do so with the largest new bookstore to be opened anywhere in the United States in the last ten years.  It will be a very exciting bookstore.”

The Reston location will also include a BN Cafe.

“We are building exceptionally beautiful new bookstores and it will be dramatic to do so across 28,000 [square feet] in our new Reston store,” said Barnes & Noble Vice President of Stores Amy Fitzgerald. “The bookselling team is eager to return and get to work curating an exceptional bookstore.”

As the company readies to open its Reston location, locally owned bookstores like Scrawl Books in Reston Town Center continue to cement their place in Reston’s book scene.

Scrawl Books at least has no intention of going anywhere, owner Rachel Wood said in a statement to FFXnow:

We opened after the big box chains left, but we have no intention of closing now that they’re coming back. We live here and we’re committed to being here. Reston is full of engaged, passionate people who appreciate what only a local bookstore can provide. We’ll continue to support local schools and libraries, and we’ll continue to connect readers with great books and authors. Everyone who comes in the door knows they’ve found a cozy space run by real book lovers. We’ll be here in our community for a long time to come.

Office Depot closed in The Spectrum nearly one year ago.

Barnes & Noble currently has five locations in Fairfax County, including stores in Tysons Corner Center, Merrifield’s Mosaic District, Seven Corners, Springfield and Fair Lakes. There is also a store at One Loudoun in Ashburn.

Photo via Google Maps

Case Against Park Police Who Shot McLean Man Dropped — “Virginia Attorney General Jason Miyares (R) on Friday dropped the state’s federal appeal in the manslaughter case against two U.S. Park Police officers, effectively ending any attempt at criminal prosecution of the officers who fatally shot unarmed motorist Bijan Ghaisar in a Fairfax County neighborhood in 2017.” [The Washington Post]

Hundreds Help Pack Ukrainian Refugee Donations — “Hundreds of volunteers gathered this weekend in Oakton to help pack approx. 1800 boxes with donations collected for displaced Ukrainians. Huge thanks to our community members for donating, these wonderful volunteers, and to Paxton Co. for generously shipping these items.” [Chairman Jeff McKay/Twitter]

Mount Vernon Fire Started by Hair Dryer — A house fire in the 3700 block of Nalls Road on Wednesday (April 20) was started accidentally by an electrical event involving a hair dryer in the basement bathroom, the Fairfax County Fire and Rescue Department says. There were reported injuries or displacements, but the fire caused an estimated $37,500 in damages. [FCFRD]

Medical Reserve Corps Volunteers Critical to Covid Response — “Since February of 2020, over 1,400 MRC members volunteered more than 65,000 hours at vaccination clinics and testing events, and assisting with outreach, isolation and quarantine efforts, logistical support, and so much more.” [Fairfax County Health Department]

Merrifield Nonprofit Gets Boost from Football Fans — “Wolf Trap Animal Rescue keeps receiving donations from the public in honor of Dwayne Haskins, the former Washington quarterback who died in an accident on a Florida highway on April 9. Haskins…selected Wolf Trap Animal Rescue as his organization to represent for the NFL’s My Cause My Cleats campaign.” [Patch]

Turner Farm Observatory Seeks “Dark Sky” Designation — “To help reverse the trend of growing light pollution, the Great Falls observatory applied to become an Urban Night Sky Place with the International Dark-Sky Association (IDA)…If approved, the observatory would become the first IDA-designated place in the Washington region.” [Greater Greater Washington]

Construction Starts on Woodley Hills Park Playground — “The Fairfax County Park Authority will begin the installation of a new playground and removal of the existing playground the week of April 25, 2022. Construction access to the site will be from Old Mount Vernon Road. It is anticipated that the playground replacement will be completed by early June 2022.” [FCPA]

Reston Library Book Sale Starts Wednesday — The Friends of the Reston Regional Library will host its biggest book sale of the year, starting with a members-only night from 5-8 p.m. on Wednesday (April 27). The sale will be open to all starting at 10 a.m. Thursday through Sunday (April 28-May 2) and include 35,000 to 40,000 books. [Friends of the Reston Regional Library]

It’s Monday — Mostly cloudy throughout the day. High of 75 and low of 55. Sunrise at 6:19 am and sunset at 7:57 pm. [Weather.gov]

The McLean Community Center is ready and willing to accept all your spare “Dog Man” and “Magic Tree House” books.

The facility at 1234 Ingleside Avenue is serving as a drop-off site for the latest donation drive by Give a Kid a Book, an initiative started by McLean teenager Alex Pomper to collect children’s books for kids in the D.C. area who might find them hard to come by.

“I grew up around books and realized how much I took that for granted,” said Pomper, a junior at Langley High School. “Many young kids in Fairfax don’t have access to books at home, and I think having books at home is especially important for helping kids get a good start reading, which will help them later in life.”

Launched in January, Give a Kid a Book has collected more than 4,500 books so far with monthly drives. The current effort at MCC started on Tuesday (April 19) and will last through May 20.

Driven by a passion for community service and education, Pomper has been conducting monthly book giveaways with the Arlington Food Assistance Center, a nonprofit food bank.

Donations have also gone to Second Story in Tysons, the United Way of the National Capital Area, D.C.’s Community Family Life Services, and the Latin American Youth Center in Prince George’s County.

Research indicates that access to books has a significant effect on kids’ educational success, and disparities in literacy are largely a reflection of socioeconomic inequality, following racial and financial divides.

According to Scholastic’s most recent “Kids and Families Reading Report,” children in the U.S. aged 6 to 17 have 103 books at home on average, but that ranges from 125 books for families with incomes of $100,000 or more to 73 books for families with incomes under $35,000. Hispanic and Black children also generally have fewer books in their homes than white, Asian, and other children.

Pomper says the need for books in many communities “really hit home” when he started meeting Give a Kid a Book recipients in person, including through the Arlington Food Assistance Center giveaways.

“In-person distributions…showed me how much interest there was in the books I was donating, and I think it’s one of the reasons I’m going to be continuing to run this drive,” Pomper said by email.

Give a Kid a Book accepts donations of new and gently used books for a range of ages, from toddler-geared picture books to young adult books. Donations can be made at MCC or through the organization’s Amazon wishlist and website.

Pomper has seen a particular demand for board books and ones for early elementary school-aged readers, and books in Spanish and other languages outside of English are especially appreciated, according to his mother, Annie Kim.

Pomper, who often gets an assist from his younger brother in collecting and sorting donations, is currently focusing on the AFAC giveaways and obtaining books to give to elementary schools, but he is open to working with any organization that can help get books into kids’ hands.

“I feel like I’ve only scratched the surface of organizations that need the books that I am collecting,” he said.

The next few months will be busy ones for Vienna’s local, independent bookshop.

First, there are Independent Bookstore Day celebrations to prepare for on April 30. Then, in July, Bards Alley will mark its fifth anniversary since opening its doors at 110 Church Street NW in 2017.

After nearly five years, owner Jen Morrow still gets a kick out of seeing how the community has embraced Bards by lining up for new releases, forming book clubs that meet at the store, or just hearing a parent read to their child.

Bards Alley becoming not just a store, but a place where the local community would come and talk about books is a dream come true for Morrow.

“I missed having a place to browse books, talk about books, and foster my love of reading. My hometown has an indie bookstore and when I moved to Northern Virginia, I would frequent Olsson’s Books & Records,” Morrow told FFXnow, referring to the D.C. chain that folded in 2008.

“When I started a family of my own, I realized there really wasn’t a place where I could give them the same experience,” she said. “So, I decided to pursue the path of opening Bards Alley.”

Before Bards Alley opened, the closest thing Vienna had to a bookstore was the Used Book Cellar in the basement of the Freeman Store & Museum.

Knowing the challenges facing brick-and-mortar stores in the age of Amazon and online retail, Morrow incorporated a hybrid cafe and wine bar into Bards Alley to serve as another source of revenue and encourage communal gathering.

As it turns out, the books side of the business has done just fine even without the cafe as a supplement. Bards Alley still sells some snacks and drinks, including wine, but the food service operations have ceased, a casualty of the COVID-19 pandemic.

Like all other businesses, Bards has had to adapt to the realities of the pandemic to stay afloat. Morrow and her employees managed to come up with ways to bring books to their customers. It didn’t hurt that, when people retreated to their homes in the spring of 2020, they had more time to read books. Read More