Library Gains Star Award Second Year in a Row
For the second year in a row, the Mary Riley Styles Public Library in the City of Falls Church has been named one of the best public libraries in the United States by the Library Journal. The City library is one of only 258 top libraries out of 7,268 public libraries in the country to receive “star” ratings in a system similar to that used in the Michelin Guide. Once again, the Mary Riley Styles Public Library received a 3-star rating — one of only three libraries in the Commonwealth to receive stars, and one of only two in Virginia and 202 nationally to have won the award two years in a row.
The new public library national rating system rates libraries with expenditures of $10,000 or more that serve populations of at least 1,000. Ratings are based on four per-capita service indicators: library visits, circulation, program attendance, and public Internet computer uses.
John Lawrence, Library Board Member and Chair of the Falls Church Planning Commission, said, “The Mary Riley Styles Library is truly a City treasure. For me it represents the intellectual heart of our City, beginning at that magical time at maybe 6 months when you hear your first Story Hour, extending to later years when people share the historic changes and events of their lives in Reading Groups.
“What truly makes our library special is not just cold statistics but the warm people who work there every day. We have two who have worked there 40 years and another who just celebrated her 25th year. There is nothing like it nearby, and the Library Journal has made it clear that there are very few like it in the country,” Lawrence said.
For more information about the library national rating system, visit www.libraryjournal.com/article/CA6629180.html&& . For more information about Mary Riley Styles Public Library, visit www.falls-church.lib.va.us/ or call 703-248-5031.
By Stan Fendley, Falls Church City
November 28, 2009
MRSPL is a fine library, and we’re fortunate to have it. I worry about the savings we’re missing out on the economies of scale that Arlington County has. As a FC City resident, I’m allowed to have a card and full access to Arlington’s holdings. Video rentals are free. It would be nice if MRSPL were a part of the Arlington system, merging its holdings, so that City residents could benefit from one stop shopping, er, reading.
Remember, FC City already contracts out the George bus to Arlington because it’s the fiscally smart thing to do. We could do the same with our library, and even keep its name, but it would effectively be a branch of the far larger, far tech-savvier Arlington system. Have you seen the new Westover Branch? THAT’s a modern library. The days of having an expensive, boutique approach to City services is over. Let’s think creatively about improving City services while reducing the cost.