Around Town

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.


Countywide

Thanks to higher-than-anticipated revenue, Fairfax County gave a financial boost last week to its affordable housing goals, public library collections and park facilities, among other initiatives.

Before taking a preliminary vote on the next budget, which will be adopted tomorrow (Tuesday), the Board of Supervisors unanimously approved nearly $10.7 million in changes to the current fiscal year 2023 budget — known as the third-quarter review — when it met on May 2.


Countywide

O, muse, send me your cleverest rhymes, your liveliest verses and most starry-eyed odes to nightingales.

So says Fairfax County Public Library, as time ticks down on its second annual poetry contest.


Countywide

Fairfax County Public Library’s annual food drive “Read and Feed” is now underway, replacing the “Food for Fines” program.

The county library system is asking residents to drop off “unexpired, commercially produced food items” as well as new, reusable grocery bags and kitchen tools to any of its 23 branches during their regular operating hours.


News

A mobile clinic will provide free dental screenings for kids and teens without insurance at Richard Byrd Library in Springfield this weekend.

Vans from the Medical Care for Children Partnership Foundation (MCCP) — a public-private nonprofit based at Northern Virginia Community College’s Springfield campus — will stop by the library at 7250 Commerce Street from 10 a.m. to 1 p.m. on Saturday (March 4).


Around Town

Nikole Hannah-Jones, the investigative journalist behind “The 1619 Project,” is coming to McLean.

Anyone hoping to snag a last-minute ticket to her talk at the McLean Community Center on Sunday (Feb. 19), however, is out of luck. Seats filled up quickly once registration opened last month, and the waitlist has exceeded 400 people, according to the Fairfax County Public Library (FCPL), which organized the free event.


News

Fairfax County has made some progress over the past decade in introducing public amenities to support its growing community in Tysons.

Since adopting its Tysons Comprehensive Plan in 2010, the county has secured sites for 14 new, major public facilities, including the completed Scotts Run Fire Station and Capital One Hall, which is privately owned but guarantees space for community groups under an agreement with ArtsFairfax.


News

The doors of the $18 million Lorton Community Center are now open, ahead of a ribbon-cutting ceremony set for this coming weekend.

The 30,000-square-foot facility on Richmond Highway is combined with a renovated and expanded Lorton Library as well as the new 1.7-acre Lorton Park.


Countywide

There’s no gift like one made by hand.

That sentiment inspired Fairfax County Public Library’s new “Knitting for Charity” initiative, a pilot project launching next week that encourages community members to craft winter hats for those who will need warm clothes as temperatures drop.


Countywide

As schools and libraries across the U.S. grapple with a historic surge in book bans and challenges, the topic has inevitably become a concern for Fairfax County Public Library officials.

The FCPL Board of Trustees raised the possibility of revisiting the library’s collection development policies when it met on July 13, according to meeting materials.


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