The organization that oversees the operation of public libraries in the Fredericksburg region selected new leadership.
During a quarterly meeting of the Central Rappahannock Regional Library’s Board of Trustees on September 12, the Board elected Diana Risavi as Chair and Xavier Richardson as Vice Chair.
Risavi is a native of Martinsburg, WVa., and a current resident of Westmoreland County. She attended Marshall University, where she earned a B.A. in Political Science, and West Virginia University, where she earned a Juris Doctor degree. She practiced law for 33 years in both West Virginia and Virginia before retiring in 2016.
Richardson is the Senior Vice President and Chief Corporate Development Officer of Mary Washington Healthcare, overseeing the Mary Washington Hospital Foundation, Stafford Hospital Foundation, and Mary Washington Healthcare Community Programs. Richardson earned his undergraduate degree from Princeton University, where he was a National Achievement Scholar.
He holds a Master of Business Administration from the Harvard Business School and an Honorary Doctorate of Humane Letters from Saint Paul’s College. Richardson has received several awards, including the first James Farmer Distinguished Lecturer Award by the University of Mary Washington.
Both were already serving terms on the Board of Trustees.
Library Board of Trustees members are appointed by and represent their jurisdictions, donating their time as advocates for the public. Trustees work with the Library Director and Deputy Director to determine library policy, adopt budgets, and support library legislation on a state and national level.
Trustees also promote the library’s services, classes, and events in their interactions with the community.
The organization operates two library branches in Stafford County — the Porter Branch in North Stafford and the Howell Branch in England Run. The library’s Central Branch is located in Downtown Fredericksburg.
The Central Branch of the Central Rappahannock Regional Library is open again following a brief closure due to a malfunctioning air conditioner.
Management closed the library branch at 1201 Caroline Street in Fredericksburg at 1 p.m. Friday, August 5.
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The Central Rappahannock Regional Library System is currently conducting surveys and focus groups that will be used to inform its latest five-year strategic plan.
The library hired Dr. Cara Graham Parker of C Parker Consulting Inc. to collect data that will be used to create a strategic plan that will inform its priorities. According to its website, the firm is an organizational psychology firm that, according to its website, works to streamline the goals of an organization with the needs of its employees.
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The Fredericksburg regional library says it will do more to educate parents on how to safely search its catalog of books, e-books, audiobooks, and videos following a complaint filed by a Stafford County mother.
The Central Rappahannock Regional Library Board of Trustees met at 5 p.m. Wednesday, June 29, to examine the complaint in which the mother of an 8-year-old girl was shown the title "You Know, Sex" while searching the library's online catalog on her iPad. Amazon describes the book by stating, "hormones, reproduction, and development... power, pleasure, and how to be a decent human being." The book "grounds sex education in social justice" also covers pornography, trauma, and masturbation."
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Central Rappahannock Regional Library’s IdeaSpace: Making+Media is expanding its hours starting Tuesday, July 5, and will be offering high-tech equipment training and independent use of equipment 29 hours/week:
- Monday-Thursday: 2 p.m to 8 p.m.
- Saturday: noon to 5 p.m.
IdeaSpace: Making+Media is located at 1616 Princess Anne Street, Suite B, Fredericksburg 22401, and offers:
- Equipment for use on-site, including a sound booth for audio/video recording, drawing tablets, 3D scanner, serger, sewing machine, embroidery machine, laser cutter, and 3D printers
- Badging sessions where customers can be trained on the equipment, such as 3D printers, then can reserve the equipment for their own projects
- Tech on the Go items for checkout, including audio recorders, ring lighting kits, soundboards, and video cameras
- Pepper the Robot, a humanoid robot programmed to greet customers and answer questions
Sharing of original works performed in the sound booth on CRRL’s IdeaSpace social media (Instagram, YouTube)
Patrons can no longer enter library buildings to check out books and other materials, reserve meeting rooms, or hold study groups. A recent spike in coronavirus cases and hospitalizations in the region prompted the change.
When the number of coronavirus cases drops, the libraries will continue to in-person service and continue to offer curbside pick-up service. Right now, partrons can use the library's phone service for thier customer service needs, reading recommendations, and research questions, including questions for Virginiana staff, by calling 540-372-1144 or 804-472-3820, or through email or chat at librarypoint.org/ask.
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The Central Rappahannock Regional Library has released its quarterly report and according to that report, more patrons have been coming to the library due to the agency's embrace of technology.
To help with this, the library recently received a grant from Transurban, the operators of E-ZPass Express Lanes on Interstate 95, that will be used to extend wifi access in the neighborhoods surrounding the Howell and Salem Church library branches in Stafford and Spotsylvania counties, respectively.
The library will receive $5,500 through Transurban's Express Lane Community Grant Program. The grant falls under the community category of the project's guidelines which would support applications that support the health, economic development, or well-being of communities within the I-95 and I-495 corridor.
Transurban is currently partnered with the Virginia Department of Transportation in the Express Lane extension project that will extend the express lanes closer to the Fredericksburg, extending them south from Route 610 to Route 17.
The report also spotlights the library's expansion of online training platforms after the library had transitioned from Lynda.com to LinkedIn Learning for their video-based online offerings. As a result, thousands of additional online courses have become available to library patrons that come in seven different languages including English, Spanish, French, German, Japanese, Chinese, and Portuguese.
The library has also been able to expand its magazine offerings by transitioning over to the Overdrive eMagazine application. The transition allows for access to more than 3,000 magazines in several different languages from the previous physical collection of fewer than 200 magazines offered.
The library is also continuing its IdeaSpace program, since March the library has circulated media technology equipment through IdeaSpace for those interested in learning how to use and operate items such as camcorders, audio equipment, digital drawing tablet, lighting, and other media related accessories.
IdeaSpace is currently located at 1616 Princess Anne Street in Downtown Fredericksburg.
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The Central Rappahannock Regional Library System recently opened a satellite branch at 1616 Princess Anne Street in Fredericksburg called IdeaSpace, and it is far beyond a place to keep a few extra books.
I took a tour of the establishment and saw a glimpse of how libraries could not only survive but prosper in the coming years.
IdeaSpace was supposed to open in April 2020 but was pushed to December because of the pandemic.
