Dear Neighbors,

If you were living in the area in 1986 when the Nokesville Library was built, you may have known it as a "children’s" library – a place where mothers took their children for story time, or to find material to complete homework assignments. Back then, the emphasis was on "small", as in "Mini" Library. Today, we may be the same SIZE library as always, but our services have certainly expanded!

Engravers - Imprint your name on your tools, TV, etc.

Notary Public – All of our permanent staff are notaries.

Public FAX service – We do it for you.

And, to the #1 question patrons have been asking for the past several years: "When will the Nokesville Neighborhood Library have Internet service?" The answer is: "Now!"

So, for all those homework assignments that involve Internet searches, or for the pure pleasure of satisfying your curiosity about any number of subjects, home Internet-deprived patrons now have a place to go! And don’t worry about being computer illiterate. We’re here to help.

We’re thrilled to be able to offer these new services to our community.

Stephania, Nancy, and Karen, our permanent part time staff, and I, have worked at Nokesville Neighborhood Library, collectively, about 35 years! We are knowledgeable about the collection and our patron’s needs, and the staff creates a special and welcoming ambience for our patrons.

Books on cassette tape are a fast-moving item at the library, due mainly (though not exclusively) to the desires of commuters. Patrons tell us they’ve missed their exits because they get so involved with the story they’re listening to, or that they’ve been known to sit in the driveway another half-hour after arriving home, just to finish a tape. Who knows, the tapes may be saving a lot of people from road rage, or at the very least, creating a less-stressful commute.

CD’s, "new arrivals" and "best-sellers" are popular, too.

Like a bookstore, this is a great place to just browse. And bookstores and libraries are wonderful places to observe the thoughts of the nation! Right now, you can see from the titles on the new-arrivals shelves that people are reading about the events of September 11, that they have a fascination with espionage, computers, and how to live life more fully.

Your intention might be to visit the library for a little quiet time, perhaps to read the latest edition of The Washington Post or The Manassas Journal Messenger. But you may end up chatting pleasantly with a friend or neighbor who enjoys the library as much as you do.

Lots of folks just stop by to check the community bulletin board for up-coming neighborhood activities, to see if their favorite author has written another book, to pick up their favorite magazine to take to the dentist’s office, or to escape the summer’s heat! Many of these patrons eventually become library volunteers themselves.

Sixteen volunteers are needed this year for the Summer Quest program. It is always gratifying to see young people take on the responsibility and commitment of volunteering. After all, they could be playing ball or horseback riding, yet they choose to help their community by working at the library. Amazing. You can call us for the prerequisites of becoming a Summer Quest volunteer. Or pick up an application on your next visit.

Our library has a "two-person" rule for safety’s sake, and our volunteers go the extra mile to assure their library can open its doors and /or stay open! Fortunately, several live within walking distance, so they come even during snowstorms! Recently, a young volunteer moved to Manassas; she nevertheless drives to Nokesville every Thursday evening to fulfill her volunteer duties. Each spring, Prince William Public Library System sponsors a reception to honor all of its several hundred volunteers, but lovely as it is, it can’t begin to repay the volunteers for all their hard work and dedication. Some of our volunteers have been with us from the day we first opened in 1986. We provide training and we try to make their job fun and rewarding. If they are readers, as most are, they can satisfy many of their mental pursuits here and share their interests with co-workers and patrons. Some valuable relationships have been formed. We love ‘em!

And yes, we are currently looking for a few select volunteers to fill several shifts.

Did you notice the lovely flowers in our yard last summer? We are constantly complimented on our beautiful landscape, but all we do is say "Thank you" to the Countryside Garden Club, whose members do all the work! Our grounds are their work-in-progress, and we are honored that they chose the Nokesville Neighborhood Library as their on-going project. All we need now is a flag pole to fly the American flag!

Look for another Friends of the Library book sale on Nokesville Day. The monies that are collected are cycled back into the library in the form of pro-grams such as the Summer Quest Reading Program.

Are you a Friend? It’s easy to become one. Just ask any of our staff or volunteers. It doesn’t take a weekly commitment, yet you’ll have the pleasure of knowing you’re giving back to your community.

Important dates to remember are April 22, 23, and 24, when the entire library system will be closed for the migration from one computer system to another. This change, again, is to better serve our patrons.

It’s the needs and wants of our patrons that turned our focus from "mini" to "neighborhood", where we take our resources and our energy and share them with the community. We like it that way. We hope you do, too. Stop in to see us soon, okay?

Very truly yours,

Supervisor

Nokesville Neighborhood Library

703-594-2124

(March 2002)