It is not unusual in countries other than the United States for a membership to be required in order to use a library. They are not “public” the way we think of public; they are more of a subscription type of usage.
It is also not unusual for them to be reading libraries, rather than lending libraries. Reading libraries do not permit circulation of their materials – similar to the Library of Congress model.
Fortunately, in the US, the vast majority of public libraries are public, circulating libraries – no membership required.
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Given that, what is the point of membership in the Friends of Reston Regional Library, Inc. (FRRL) and why should you become a Friend? To remind you, FRRL is the entity which raises funds to help the library to accomplish its mission above and beyond what the County budget allows. While FRRL does this primarily through book sales, we also offer memberships.
The natural question is, “Why become a member?” There are a couple of benefits. One of the tangible, cash-in-your-pocket benefits is that you get first dibs on Members’ Night during the huge Semi-Annual sales. The next sale is in September. While we open to the public on Thursday, Sept. 22, at 10 a.m., we open for MEMBERS on Wednesday Night, Sept. 21 at 5 p.m.
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One can purchase an annual membership that evening or be ahead of the game by doing it through the FRRL blogspot, www.restonfriendsblogspot.com. In becoming a Friend, you do not have to volunteer, but we welcome you if you do!
A second benefit to being a member of FRRL: when we have special sales, you get to participate. For example, we occasionally have “odd lots” sales. These are members-only e-mails that go out to let you know that we’ve accumulated an assortment of periodicals that “go together” in some way but aren’t a complete collection of that item.
We’ve included assortments of Cooks Illustrated, Encyclopedia Sets (complete but older), Sci-Fi magazines, etc. in prior odd lots sales. You can only purchase these if your membership is current. If you want to see a sample of a prior sale, go to http://restonfriends.blogspot.com/search?q=odd. And here’s an insider tip – we have another one coming up soon!
The third benefit of being a member of FRRL is intangible. By joining the Friends, for a small amount of money you are stating that you believe in our library and want to make it a better place for our entire community. As the commercials say,
Friends T-Shirt: $10
Friends Membership: $15 (General Membership)
Knowing you make a difference: Priceless
Join today!
Memberships: General $15, Good Friend, $50, Best Friend, $100, Special Friend, $250, Senior (65+), $5
