Manassas Park sets strict naming rules for new city library

Manassas Park is moving forward with plans for its own library and voted Tuesday to approve the Library Strategic Plan and Policies.

City Manager Laszlo Palko addressed the council members briefly before they had a brief discussion and a final vote.

The Library’s Strategic Plan is a document of goals and strategies for the next five years.

Some of the policies laid out in the plan included what to do about fees and fines. The City will not charge overdue fines but will charge a fee for lost books. According to the plan, every Manassas Park resident is eligible for a library card.

According to city documents, “Those who own property, own a business, work, or attend school in Manassas Park are also eligible.” Also, residents in the jurisdictions in the Metropolitan Washington Council of Governments (COG), including Prince William County and Manassas City, are eligible for reciprocal accounts.

Councilmember Donald Shuemaker, who is also on the Prince William Library Board of Trustees, warned fellow members of the city’s Governing Body to be careful about the section about details policies about those who would donate money to the city in hopes a building, such as the city’s the new library planned to open in 2023, to be named after them.

“Tread lightly,” he warned, as the Prince William Libary Board had an experience where somebody wanted to name a room in a library facility, gave money, and the request was declined because she had no strong connection with the library.

Shuemaker urged the city to adopt a policy that states, if someone’s name is going to be attached to a new building, that person should have some tie to the city. Manassas Park doesn’t want the appearance of someone buying access, he added.

Last year, General’s Ridge Golf Course closed and control of the property was turned over to the city. It remained the golf course Bloom’s Park and converted it into a park for walking and hiking.

The park is dedicated, in part to Bethiah Shuemaker, Donald Shumaker’s late mother, who founded the city’s successful pickleball program, and worked with city children during summer camps, and later with seniors at the city’s community center, between 1997 until her death in 2017.

Mayor Jeanette Rishell said that the issue certainly warranted further discussion. Palko amended the policy during the discussion, adding “donors must have a sustained connection to the city and receive government body approval.”

The private firm that will manage Manassas Park’s new library, Library Systems and Services told officials it will work with the city to execute the new polices. After a unanimous vote by the Governing Body, the city’s new Library Strategic Plan and Policies are now being sent to the Library of Virginia for review and approval.

Earlier this year, Manassas Park decided to end its 41-year relationship with the Prince William County Public Library System and spend $3.1 million over 10 years to first to erect a new, independent, temporary library at Blooms Park, and then build a permanent library near the city hall, located at 1 Park Center Court, off Manassas Drive, which should open about 2023, according to Palko.