In January, the New York Library announced it had acquired Joan Didion and John Gregory Dunne’s joint personal archives. The acquisition included a trove of letters, photographs, manuscripts and family records that traces the work of one of America’s most productive literary couples.
Here’s the part I like best about the announcement.
The collection will be open without restriction to scholars, biographers and anyone else with a library card!
Wow!
While the Fauquier Public Library may not have Didion’s letters, each month we add about 700 books to our 190,000 print collection and over 2,000 e-books/e-audiobooks. We subscribe to 200 print magazines as well as over 3,000 e-Magazines. There are more than 40 online databases and other electronic services – including streaming video, online games and recipes – available at fauquierlibrary.org. We offer Wi-Fi, computers and mobile hotspots.
And, it’s all free with your library card.
In April, we celebrate National Library Week which invites a shout out to our public library. Each day we welcome hundreds of people, young and old who come read to a therapy dog, improve their English-speaking skills, receive help with homework, apply for a new job, attend a STEAM program, research a family tree or study for their GED.
A recently published essay*, “Love Letter to Libraries, Long Overdue”, solicited 770 responses from readers about their experience with and appreciation for libraries. One reader wrote, “What other single institution can do so much good?”
The Love Letter piece concluded with “libraries are the beating hearts of their communities. What we borrow from them pales in comparison to what we get to keep.”
The Fauquier Public Library staff swells with pride to be associated with such a fine institution. We know you, our beloved patrons, feel the same way, too.
Maria Del Rosso
Director, Fauquier Public Library
*Access the New York Times free with your library card.
Comments