NEW HOURS AND FEES

All Fairfax County Public Libraries are closed for Memorial Day May 24 and 25, 2009. Additionally, new hours and new fees have been announced that will be effective July 1, 2009. These changes reflect the state of the budget.

From the FCPL Website:

The Fairfax County Public Library will reduce its hours, increase fines and establish new fees as a result of a county decrease in revenues and a 15 percent cut to the library’s fiscal year (FY) 2010 budget. Changes will take effect July 1, 2009.

All library branches will close earlier Monday through Thursday; regional branches will be open 1:00 - 5:00 p.m. on Sunday. 

The new schedule follows:

Monday - Wed (all branches) 10 a.m. - 8 p.m.

Thursday, Friday (all branches) 10 a.m. - 6 p.m.

Saturday (all branches) 10 a.m. - 5 p.m.

Sunday (regional branches only) 1:00 p.m. - 5:00 p.m.

*regional branches include Centreville, Chantilly, City of Fairfax, George Mason, Pohick, Reston, Sherwood and Tysons-Pimmit.

The Board of Trustees has also approved the following fines and established new fees; the new fees and fines will go into effect beginning July 1:

• The daily charge for overdue materials will be 30 cents for both adult and children's materials
• A charge of $1 will be assessed to customers who do not have their library cards with them but would like to check out materials, place holds or conduct other transactions, but
• A guest pass will be required ($2) for visitors, non library card holders or those who do not have their library cards with them to use the public computers

An additional policy change will affect some customers July 1. The library accounts of customers who owe more than $15 or who have owed any amount for more than one year will be blocked; customers will not be able to place holds, check items out, renew items or use the public computers. The budget cuts have also required the library to eliminate more than 300 part-time positions, re-align library staff and reduce expenditures on the collection in FY2010 by $1 million. Please visit for information about the county budget.

Your local branch staff members are on the receiving end of these cuts in terms of hours available to work, supply lines getting tighter, and fewer personnel available to do more tasks. Please do not take out your frustration on them! If we all work together, we will get through this in a peaceable manner.

/kw