Libraries to cut hours in August
Once again, all Fairfax County public libraries will reduce their hours, as of Aug. 14, due to staff shortages.
As library employees quit or retire, the library system is having trouble recruiting new staff.
Under the new schedule, libraries will only be open two evenings a week.
Libraries will be open Monday and Tuesday 9 a.m.-1 p.m. and Wednesday to Sunday 10 a.m.-6 p.m.
The reduced hours affect all regional libraries, including George Mason, and all community branches, including Thomas Jefferson and Woodrow Wilson. The reduced hours will be in effect indefinitely.
According to the Fairfax County Public Library (FCPL), the new schedule requires only one shift a day, which means libraries will be open for some period every day of the week.
Earlier this year, Jan. 16-April 1, libraries closed on Sundays and Mondays because a surge in Covid cases resulted in a high level of absences among staff.
FCPL encourages community members to take advantage of always-available online resources, including free ebooks and audiobooks on the Libby app, streaming videos on Kanopy, and other resources, such as online courses, foreign language lessons, and databases.
Good libraries are a waste of time. Been to the tax funded horse and buggy rental shop lately? That’s because it’s obsolete.
That is an ignorant and completely untrue comment.
Let me guess, when someone asks you what you’re reading these days, you always proudly reply, “Oh, I don’t read books.”
I have Grandchildren and bring them to the library all the time for the children’s program. It also encourages them to read, socialize and get ready for school.
I’m a senior citizen and it makes going to the library affordable for me.
Once you lose something you never get it back. Please reconsider your thoughts and support the library concept.
I love the library — best kept secret: the books and materials are free! I hear that in other parts of the country I hear that libraries are closed all together. Let’s hope that we can save this important contributor to the community.
Libraries are busier than you think – adults and kids alike are still spending time there. They’re not dead yet!
Libraries are never a waste of time! So sorry for their exposure to covid and staff shortage.
Clearly some people haven’t been to a library in a long time. They are much more than just book repositories. You should go sometime.
Libraries do so much good for the community! They partner with local elementary schools over the summer to encourage kids to keep reading! There’s so many fantastic resources in our county libraries and I’m sad to hear access will be limited. I’m also sad to hear such a nasty comment about libraries by a neighbor. Perhaps take a trip to a local library before you run your ignorant mouth.
Public schools are quickly becoming obsolete imho. Enrollment is decreasing and test numbers are worse, year-over-year. Sad but true.
I would love to know how many hours a day you spend in any of the FCPS schools? It sounds like you’re believing lies from the governor’s office. Fcps are some of the best in the country, with very high graduation rates. Test scores remain high- and if they slipped it’s to do with the pandemic. Enrollment is also lower due to the pandemic. Fcps teaches kids form day one to be kind and compassionate global citizens. Something I learned in school was, “If you don’t have something nice to say then don’t say anything at all”. You might need some intervention for that social emotional target.
I’m a graduate of FCPS schools, and pulled my kids from FCPS schools 2 years ago. What Nino said is accurate. FCPS was worthwhile 20-30 years ago. It’s a shell of its former repute. All the data bears this out and it sounds like you haven’t looked at the data. Graduation rates are high while comprehension scores are low. There are incentives to graduate kids who literally can’t read or write in any language. If you ever take an Uber or Lyft in this area, chances are you’ll be driven by a former FCPS teacher. Ask them what’s going on in FCPS schools.
That’s such a nasty thing to say about teachers- like they can’t get a different job with their many degrees and years of experience. I think I can imagine the reaction your kids formers teachers’ had when you pulled them out…
Personally I do not use or value libraries as individual entities HOWEVER if libraries could be converted into community spaces with recreation areas, snack/coffee bar, and reading and computer areas (I understand underserved populations need this resource), I would probably frequent them a lot!
There are reading spaces for adults and kids @ George Mason Regional Library plus computers. Food is problematic because of trash & getting books, audio, DVD, computer equipment dirty. So many people are slobs and inconsiderate these days.
Libraries are great. I read a lot and love it that they have or can get books that are on my lists to read. For J, who wants a community center, go find a community center. Libraries do not take the place of community centers. Libraries and community centers can co-exist in separate places and serve their own constituents.
Libraries are for minimum wage workers, poor kids, and cat ladies. They are a waste of space, tax dollars, air conditioning, gas money, and time.
There’s a thing that was invented called the c-o-m-p-u-t-e-r. You can buy one of these contraptions for around $100 and it will last for years!! It has digital books on it. If you prefer a real true book vs. a digital one, and have $1-$3, you can buy any book used on a “website” that is on the computer.
The computer scenario is much better than sucking in cat lady covid and picking up grimy old monkeypox covered romance novels, and spending $5/gal on gas to drive back and forth to get a different grimy old book — that you read by yourself, all alone, in your sad, sad musty basement –wishing you were someone else, somewhere else.
Tell me you’re an elitist without saying you’re an elitist.
I don’t know. She’s talking about saving money, resources, including saving on gas. Doesn’t seem too elitist to me. Seems reasonable.
Seems reasonable to shut down community centers so people can become more atomized from one another. As long as it saves a couple more dollars!
There’s some real irony going on with your last statement there trolly McGee
Paula (or whatever your real name is!): who hurt you?
America’s public library system is something we can all continue to be proud of. Our libraries provide invaluable help to many citizens who lack reliable internet access and who need professional assistance in finding vocational and educational resources. Public libraries provide children and their families with places to gather and participate in learning opportunities. Our libraries have led the field in reaching out to our communities with free access to information databases, ebooks, technology, and learning opportunities. They are a great investment in our society’s future success.
@Concerned neighbor. I believe the point is not that teachers can’t get other jobs, but that they are in fact working in ride share. What do you have against ride share? I, personally, have had a former Justice High teacher pick me up on a number of occasions. Her name is Jennifer and she’s very nice, and does not have kind things to say about the direction of our school system!
I think the comment “ chances are you will be driven by a former teacher” was generalizing that many teachers are so upset with fcps that they leave the profession and go to ride share. @Polly- you are also basing your opinion on one teacher who chose to leave… so obviously she wouldn’t be happy with fcps. Both comments seem to forget that most teachers are very highly educated and also have spent a great deal of time investing in education and chose to be teachers. To so assume they then choose to be ride share drivers, in my opinion, disrespects what it takes to be a teacher. Ride shares are great, and I usually chat with my ride share drivers. From what I have read since the invention of this concept, and continue to read, is that many ride share employees are not treated very well by their employer, and typically do not have benefits. Most of the people I have spoken with are new to the country and often are working ride share in addition to another job or maybe going to school. So I stand by my statement that it is unkind to suggest that if teachers are unhappy with fcps they all go and drive with Uber. I also think it’s very important for our community to rethink how we talk about teachers, or we are going to lose more quality teachers, since they already are expected to do so much (the pandemic hasn’t helped) and are paid so poorly. My husband and I chose to live in Annandale because we have heard such great things about FCPS (and love The Block so much) and also like many things our tax payer dollars provide to the county line great parks and great libraries.
Below is some “data” to back up my opinions.
1. Not the only measurement out there but fcps does continue to have the best high school in the country. https://www.usnews.com/education/best-high-schools/national-rankings
2. This also lists VA as having the 10th best public school system in the nation k-12 and also 17th for higher education. https://www.usnews.com/news/best-states/rankings/education
3. This is a report detailing that teachers in this area make the least nationwide. https://www.wric.com/news/education/virginia-d-c-ranked-as-worst-two-places-for-teacher-pay/amp/
The teachers union dictated the draconian response to the pandemic for public schools, and by all objective criteria, it was a disaster, the impacts of which are still not completely understood.
Public schools in the US hover around 30th of all industrialized nations in academia.
The periodicals you cite use models that heavily weight graduation rate as a positive factor. They don’t factor in declining performance standards in order to graduate, which is a massive problem because there is a conflict of interest to graduate kids so schools don’t lose federal funding.
It’s like saying the US economy is booming due to low unemployment numbers (highly suspect methodology in the way the Census Bureau determines that number, btw), while omitting that labor participation is the lowest it’s been in decades. So, your numbers are fake.
The value of education at every level is tanking. I agree that taking them out of public schools is a good first step. Teach your kids how to start and run a business.
I use the George Mason Public Library all the time. You can order books put on hold and if they don’t have it at GMPL they will get it at another one. They have curb side pick up for books put on hold. My biggest complaint is that they don’t have books at the library that are advertised on Amazon. Who wants to pay Amazon’s high price for books when you should be able to get them for free at the library? Please don’t wish for libraries turned into rec centers. How many people especially elderly ones that don’t drive going to Rec Centers.
I have Grandchildren and bring them to the library all the time for the children’s program. It also encourages them to read, socialize and get ready for school.
I’m a senior citizen and it makes going to the library affordable for me.
Once you lose something you never get it back. Please reconsider your thoughts and support the library concept.
Debbie,
It’s the grave.
Come home.
Signed,
Debbie’s Grave