News

If you’re an aspiring writer working through National Novel Writing Month (NaNoWriMo), there’s a workshop at the Alexandria Library for you.

There’s a Writers Group meeting at the Charles E. Beatley Jr. Central library twice a month. The next meeting is this Sunday, Nov. 5, from 1-4:30 p.m.


News

If your bookshelf is looking a little sparse, or you’re hoping to get a head start on Christmas shopping: Alexandria’s Beatley Central Library (5005 Duke Street) is hosting its fall book sale this week.

The event, organized by Friends of the Beatley Central Library, starts tomorrow (Wednesday) and runs through Monday, Oct. 23. A preview day is available today for Friends of the Beatley Central Library members.


News

While it won’t have the fierce competition of its French forebearer, Le Tour d’Alexandria is being hosted by the Alexandria Library later this month.

The 13-mile, 2.5-hour bike ride will run in a loop around Alexandria, hitting all of the library locations along the way.


News

With book bans on the rise, the Alexandria Library is partnering with Elaine’s Restaurant (208 Queen Street) in Old Town to host a free reading from books on banned lists nationwide.

The free event tomorrow (Wednesday) will allow locals to read a 3-5 minute segment from a favorite banned book, like To Kill a Mockingbird, The Kite Runner or Harry Potter, or just come to listen. The event will be held on the second floor of Elaine’s Restaurant from 7-9 p.m.


News

(Updated 8/24) A group of adventurers slowly entered a dimly lit tavern with a locked cage at the center of the room. The commoners of the town, including the party cleric’s brother, were locked in that cage.

As the group filed in, suddenly from out of the shadows, things began to crawl forward. As the group of children at the Alexandria Library listened eagerly to Dungeon Master Aly Ahn describe what was lurking in the shadows, one of them hopefully suggested “Kittens?”


News

The Appalachian Mountains never touch Mexico, but a concert tomorrow at Alexandria’s Beatley Central Library (5005 Duke Street) will manage the geographically impossible and bring them together.

The musical group Lua Project combines musical styles from Chattanooga to Veracruz, with a narrative storytelling approach similar to the Scotch-Irish style prevalent in Appalachian music but with instrumentation and musical traditions from Mexico.


News

(Updated 10:15 a.m.) One month after the Alexandria Library was crippled due to a “data incident,” the library is still recovering services and won’t say more about what caused the outage.

For weeks in early July, many of the library network’s digital services were completely inaccessible, including audiobooks, wifi and signing up for a library card.


News

With heat index temperatures expected to reach upward of 107 degrees today, Alexandria is offering cooling centers at recreation centers and libraries.

The National Weather Service issued a a hazardous heat forecast today, in effect from 11 a.m. to 8 p.m. Temperatures are also expected to be more than 100 degrees through Saturday.


News

(Updated 7/19) Celebrating the 54th anniversary of the moon landing, the Alexandria Library is also attempting a seemingly impossible feat: putting together a 1,000-piece puzzle of the moon in under two hours.

The James M. Duncan Jr. Branch Library at 2501 Commonwealth Avenue is hosting an all-ages race to put the puzzle together. The race is scheduled to run from 3-5 p.m. on Thursday, July 20.


News

In the Alexandria Gazette’s newsroom is a wall filled with archives of the news organization dating back to the early 19th century.

It’s an invaluable resource and a chance to look back at Alexandrians describing the city in their era in their own words, from local advertisements to gossip at the port. As more news is reported exclusively online, the Alexandria Library is hoping to recapture that sort of archive for the digital age.


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