LoudounNow LOUDOUN COUNTY’S COMMUNITY-OWNED NEWS SOURCE
[ Vol. 4, No. 2 ]
[ loudounnow.com ]
[ November 29, 2018 ]
Brambleton Welcomes County's Most Innovative Library Yet BY DANIELLE NADLER
A
t 1 p.m. Saturday, Brambleton Library will open its doors to the public and already it’s expected to be the busiest library in Loudoun County. When the library staff recently sent out a mass email announcing the library’s opening date, 50,000 people clicked on the link to learn more—by far the most traffic the library’s website has ever seen, according to Pete O’Brien, division manager with the library system. “The pent-up demand for a library in this community is palpable,” he said. “It’s amazing.” As an example, he said story times at Ashburn Library, currently the county’s busiest library, can draw 100 kids. The story time room at the Brambleton Library is designed to fit close to 200 and will offer 15 story times each week, with some for babies, toddlers, older children, and adults. “We’re planning for big numbers and judging by the response we’ve gotten ahead of the opening, I think we’ll get them,” O’Brien said. The 40,000-square-foot facility sits in the heart of Brambleton Town Center and serves as another anchor in the center, only second to the Regal Fox Stadium. Its designed with a variety of users in mind and features dedicated areas for children, tweens, teens and adults—whether they need a quiet place to work or meeting their book club. It also has three large meeting rooms; a makerspace with 3D printers, sewing equipment and a recording studio; 10 study rooms and a gaming room in the teen center that overlooks the town center’s courtyard. Christine Thompson moved from Charles County, MD, where she served as a library branch manager, to take the job of Brambleton Library’s branch manager. “I couldn’t pass this up,” she said, standing amid rows of children’s books. Almost the entire first floor is dedicated to children, with picture books, an educational gaming center, and plenty of
Tree farms keep up tradition
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6 Vie for Catoctin District School Board Seat BY DANIELLE NADLER Members of the Loudoun County School Board were the ones asking the questions—not answering them—in the board room Monday night. They interviewed six candidates who have raised their hand to be appointed to the Catoctin District seat, which was vacated last month when Eric DeKenipp resigned with 14 months left in his term. The School Board will vote to appoint a board member at its Dec. 4 meeting. The appointed board member will serve the remainder of DeKenipp’s term, which ends Dec. 31, 2019.
The six candidates in the running are:
shops. This is the county’s tenth public library and, as each new library is designed and opened, Loudoun County Public Library Director Chang Liu works with designers and builders to make tweaks that accommodate some of the public’s favorite aspects of its existing libraries. The Brambleton Library boasts some of the library system’s most state-of-the-art equipment, modern architectural design and furniture, including an oversized staircase that also serves as an amphitheater. Find the library at 22850 Brambleton Plaza in Brambleton. After a ribbon-cutting ceremony at 1 p.m. Saturday, its regular hours will be 1-5 p.m. Sunday and 10 a.m.-9 p.m. Monday through Saturday. Learn more at library.loudoun.gov.
• JENNA ALEXANDER, the director of the Hunt District PTA who has described herself as a passionate advocate of the county’s rural school communities; • JOHN BEATTY, IT director and computer science teacher at The Heights School in Potomac, MD; • CHRIS CROLL, founder of Loudoun County Parents of Gifted Students, and a member of the school system’s Special Education Advisory Committee, the Gifted Advisory Committee, and the School Board-appointed Special Education Ad-hoc Committee, and a delegate on the Minority Student Achievement Advisory Council; • ZERELL JOHNSON-WELCH, an attorney, former chairwoman of the Minority Student Achievement Advisory Council, and a charter member of Tuscarora High School’s parent-teacher-student organization; • BOB OHNEISER, an attorney who represented the Broad Run District on the School Board from 2004-2011; and • AMY TRIBIÉ, the president of Lucketts Elementary School’s PTA and a former music teacher. The board’s eight current members asked each of the candidates two questions, and candidates had two minutes to respond. Candidates brought up the fate of the county’s smallest schools in answers to several of the questions. That’s because
dnadler@loudounnow.com
CANDIDATES >> 38
Danielle Nadler/Loudoun Now
Library assistants Mary Anne Noah and Laurie Guffey shelf children’s books at Brambleton Library.
comfy, bright-colored furniture where little readers can sit and enjoy books. The children’s area also includes Virginia’s first public Tamil-language collection; Tamil is spoken in southern India. The library boasts several other firsts, including a computer that sorts books into categories as they’re returned and a sorting room with floor to ceiling windows so guests can watch the process. It also features a grassy, fenced-in area where kids can stretch their legs, dozens of quiet spots where people can study or work, and outdoor tables where people can read or work while accessing the library’s free WiFi. Katie Wais, the library system’s public information specialist said of those who want to get work done out of their home, “It’s like a Starbucks alternative.” Plus, patrons are welcome to bring in food and drink from any of the nearby
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