Top Five Most Popular Books in Fairfax County in 2012

The Fairfax County Public Library released a list of the top five books checked out the most from each genre.

Wondering what were the most popular books in Fairfax County this year? Here are the top five based on the top 100 checkouts from Fairfax County Public Library in adult, teen and children. The Hunger Games Trilogy leads with a combined 10,330 checkouts on all three titles. Dr. Seuss has staying power with 9,822 checkouts and John Grisham’s The Litigators has 4,868 making it the most popular title in the system. Adult Top Five Fiction The Litigators by John Grisham V is for Vengeance by Sue Grafton The Drop by Michael Connelly Zero Day by David Baldacci Explosive Eighteen by Janet Evanovich Top Five Nonfiction Unbroken: a World War II Story of Survival, Resilience and Redemption by Laura Hillenbrand In the Garden of Beasts: Love, Terror, …

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Fairfax County Public Library Sponsors Essay Contest

Rising seventh, eighth, and ninth graders are eligible.

The Fairfax County Public Library and the For Love of Country Foundation are cosponsoring the library's fourth annual essay and poetry contest. Rising seventh, eighth, and ninth graders are eligible to submit their original essays or poetry. This year’s topic is: Why every American citizen needs to vote. Fairfax County Public Library will distribute multiple prizes. First place will be awarded with $100, second wins $50, and third place will get $25. The deadline is September 1. Entries can be submitted to your local Fairfax County Public Library branch or via email to libraryevents@fairfaxcounty.gov. For more information, visit http://www.fairfaxcounty.gov/library/teens.

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Sherwood Regional Library Hours to Change in September

All Fairfax County Public Library branches will operate under modified schedules next month.

Starting Sept. 8, all Fairfax County Public Library (FCPL) branches will operate under new schedules. According to an announcement on the FCPL website, "library branches will be open more hours due to funding approved by the Fairfax County Board of Supervisors’ in the FY2013 (July 1, 2012-June 30, 2013) budget." “We are pleased that we can restore many of the open hours lost during the economic downturn. Our library services are important to county residents and now they are much more accessible,” said Edwin S. Clay III, director of Fairfax County Public Library in the announcement. Regional library branches such as the Sherwood Regional Library in Mount Vernon will be open as follows next month: All community branches such as the Martha …

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Libraries Face More Cuts, but Consider Longer Hours

The Fairfax County Library Board met to discuss proposed cuts and requests for additional hours.

The budget for Fairfax County libraries has been cut almost 27 percent over the last four years. Now, the system is bracing for more reduction. Since 2008, the Board of Supervisors has cut the library's budget from $33.5 million in FY 2008 to $26.0 million in FY 2012. The cut within the proposed FY 2013 is 1.21 percent — another $324,359. “We cannot afford anymore cuts," said Charles Fegan, at large member of the Library Board of Trustees.  The board met Wednesday night to discuss the budget.  "The Board of Supervisors is very attune to this.  We need to hit while the iron is hot. We have to take a stand.” "The cuts were intended to be on the edge, not [Library Director Sam Clay’s] significant programs," Griffin told The Connection earlier…

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To Attract a New County Executive, Money Is No Object

Panel, citizens agree a higher salary is needed to attract the right candidate for an impossible job

"We’re not going to get somebody in here on Tony’s salary," said a constituent at Supervisor John Cook's Town Hall on Monday night.  Fairfax County Executive Tony Griffin is scheduled to retire in April, and the Board of Supervisors has begun the process to replace him. According to Cook, Griffin currently earns about $240,000 a year. School superintendent Jack Dale earns about $320,000 a year, and many in the room said that discrepancy would need to be adjusted if the county wanted to attract top candidates for county executive. Supervisor Cook agreed. "The Board of Supervisors hasn't yet set any parameters, but when you're as big as Fairfax County, you find who you want and you get them," he said. "We’re going to pay what we need to pay…

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Top Books of 2011: Lists Compared

Best book lists abound, but are they comparing apples to oranges?

Many top ten (or whatever number) book lists are a collaboration between several people, says Lev Grossman in Time. Often the lists are comparing apples and oranges.  "There are apples-to-oranges problems: how do you compare the moody, seedy greatness of a Kate Atkinson novel with a cerebral wreck like David Foster Wallace’s posthumous The Pale King (which so far, to my surprise, I’ve seen on exactly zero top 10 lists)," said Grossman. In the end, these book lists at least give an idea of what's being read, and provide choices of what I might want to read.  In that vein, Burke Patch presents a comparison of three 'top book' lists for 2011. The books listed by Fairfax County Public Library are based on the number of times the titels were …

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Susan Larson

8:40 am on Sunday, January 1, 2012

Julie on Facebook said, "Room, Hunger Games series, The Help, and War Horse were my favorites this year."   more ›

Kids' Books Weekly

Honoring Native Americans in Literature

Well chosen children's literature is an effective way to counter deeply held stereotypes and teach cultural respect.

"There are plenty of "good" books -- well-written, exciting, from respected authors, much-loved by their readers, with well-developed characters -- that are inaccurate, stereotypical, fanciful, or just plain dehumanizing in their depiction of the Native characters," write Naomi Caldwell, Gabriella Kaye and Lisa Mitten in I is for Inclusion.  Yet curriculum writers Guy Jones and Sally Moomaw say, "... with the possible exception of classroom visits by American Indian people, excellent children's literature is the most effective way to counter deeply held stereotypes and help children focus on similarities among peoples as well as cultural differences." How can parents, teachers and caregivers know which books to choose?  In honor of Native …

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