This post was contributed by a community member. The views expressed here are the author's own.

Health & Fitness

Come One, Come All

Please join the Friends of the Sherwood Regional Library at their Annual Meeting on Sunday, September 29, at 2pm. We’ll have entertainment by Sliders, a quartet of the Harmony Heritage Singers. After the performance, you will want to stay and hear about the recent news accounts regarding your library system.

You may have been following the various news accounts about Fairfax County Public Library’s policies regarding discarding books. There has been some misinformation circulating so please take a moment to read about the library’s discard policies: http://www.fairfaxcounty.gov/library/news/discardpolicies.htm. The Library Board of Trustees has appointed a subcommittee to review the process and propose improvements.

You may have also heard about a proposed reorganization of Fairfax County Public Library. Local papers, print and online, have run stories mentioning the beta projects that were to begin this fall at one regional and one community library. These projects have been suspended pending additional review and input from the community and staff.

Find out what's happening in Greater Alexandriawith free, real-time updates from Patch.

You can read about the motions passed by the Board of Supervisors and the Library Board of Trustees on the library website: http://www.fairfaxcounty.gov/library/news/redirection.htm

The proposed changes included a one-desk model of customer service, with staff cross-trained to answer account and information questions, and additional programming within the branch as well as in the community. The intent of the beta project was to take into account changes in the way customers use the library, technology’s impact on library customers and staff, and the county’s ongoing budget crunch in which agencies have been required to reduce their annual budgets. Fairfax County Public Library is not alone in this effort; libraries across the country are also trying new ways of operating.

Find out what's happening in Greater Alexandriawith free, real-time updates from Patch.

Our Fairfax County Public Library branches have Friends groups of varying sizes that conduct a range of activities in support of the residents who use our branches. Here at Sherwood Regional, our annual Friends meeting will be held on Sunday, Sept. 29 at 2 p.m. Don Heinrichs, our Mount Vernon Library Board Trustee and Treasurer for the Friends, will be here to answer your questions about reorganization and discard policies. We welcome our neighbors, as well as our Friends, to come and learn more about this wonderful community resource we call Sherwood Regional Library. http://www.fairfaxcounty.gov/library/branches/sh/

We’ve removed the ability to reply as we work to make improvements. Learn more here

The views expressed in this post are the author's own. Want to post on Patch?

More from Greater Alexandria