Using a library card helps school performance

September is National Library Card Sign-up Month, so it is a perfect time to be reminded that studies show that children who use the library and who read, or are read to at home, perform better in school. They are also more likely to continue to use the library as a source for a satisfying lifetime of learning according the American Library Association (ALA).

There is no age requirement to register for a library card at Fauquier County Public Library, and many parents enjoy giving their children the thrill and responsibility of owning their own "charge card," one that lets them borrow books, movies, music, and more.

As an added incentive, children and teens who apply for a new library card and then show it to a staff member at the library reference desk this month will be given a prize.

Library cards are free for those who work or live in Fauquier County and the application only takes a few minutes to complete. To apply for a card, stop at any Fauquier library or complete an application online.

Nominations open for librarian award

Nominations are being accepted for the 2009 Carnegie Corporation of New York/New York Times "I Love My Librarian Award."

The award invites library users to recognize the accomplishments of librarians in public, school, college, community college and university libraries for their efforts to improve the lives of people in their community. Nominations will run through October 9 and are being accepted online.

Up to 10 librarians will be selected. Each will receive a $5,000 cash award, a plaque and a $500 travel stipend to attend an awards ceremony and reception in New York, hosted by The New York Times in December. In addition, a plaque will be given to each award winner’s library.

Children and teens break reading record

The final count is in. This summer Fauquier children and teens smashed the record for the number of books read during the Fauquier County Public Library’s summer reading programs by more than 6,000 books.

The library’s goal was for children and teens participating in the summer reading programs to collectively read 27,000 books between June 1 and August 15. The 1,892 participants exceeded the goal by reading 33,482 books. Last year summer reading program participants read 25,725 books during the same period and in 2007 they read 16,699.

Congratulations Fauquier readers!

Amazon purchases help library

Now your purchases at Amazon.com can help Fauquier County public libraries - and it costs you nothing extra.

Planning to shop for books, movies, electronics, gifts, or anything else available at Amazon.com? If so, start by bookmarking this Amazon.com link as a favorite. By using this link, Amazon will donate about 6% of your purchases - half of which goes directly to the library - to Wowbrary, a service from Amazon that provides a weekly e-mail highlighting the library's latest additions of books, music and movies.

So, don't forget to start your online shopping by going to the library’s Wowbrary/Amazon.com page.

Also, be sure to sign up for the Wowbrary newsletter to see a sampling of the newest stuff at the library each week. From there, if you see something interesting you'd like to check out, you can link directly to the library catalog where you can reserve the new item and be notified when it's ready to be picked up at your library.