Making a Joyful Noise in Mount Vernon!

A library needs to be amongst its neighbors, meeting their needs for information, reading materials, and community support. Glancing at Fairfax County Public Library’s monthly publication, This Month, or at its website, www.fairfaxcounty.gov/library, will show lots of ways in which we do that. Not so obvious are the ways in which a library’s staff serves the community outside their building. Here in Mount Vernon many residents come from areas worldwide that don’t have libraries, or that don’t have the kinds of resources which our system provides. So how do we reach them? Here’s one way ...

Sherwood Regional Library has joined Mount Vernon’s Ventures in Community (VIC) group. You may know the group for its work in support of the hypothermia shelter at Rising Hope UMC or for other service projects on which it focuses the resources of its faith communities and non-profit organizations. Sherwood’s branch manager, Denise Morgan, is coordinating this year’s VIC-sponsored Celebration of Martin Luther King’s birthday. This is the 18th annual festival and promises to have wonderful music provided by local choirs and chorales. Hosted by Bethlehem Baptist Church, this year we include a choir from an Atlanta church which will be performing at the Inauguration the next day.

Please mark your calendars to join us at Bethlehem Baptist on Sunday, Jan. 20 at 7 p.m.  And, if you have ideas for other groups and neighborhood projects where library staff could reach new audiences, please let us know. You can reach Denise at 703-718-8208 or denise.morgan@fairfaxcounty.gov. Grin, she might have a few words to say at the Celebration, but she won’t be “preaching to the choir!”