The well-loved and well-used Woodrow Wilson Library at 6101 Knollwood Drive in the Culmore area of Bailey’s Crossroads will close on Saturday, August 31, for a long-anticipated renovation and expansion. The book drop will close on September 3, but materials borrowed from “Woodrow” may be returned to any Fairfax County Public Library during the closure. The construction project is expected to be completed in the spring of 2015.

After a long search for available space in the area, a temporary library facility will open in October at 6066 Leesburg Pike, on the main floor of the multi-story office building on the north side of Leesburg Pike, about a block west of its intersection with Glen Carlyn Road. The location is within walking distance of the original library, and parking is available. Not all of the library collection will be accessible, as the temporary facility is smaller, but library services, computers and Internet access, and reading areas will continue. The phone and fax numbers will be the same. Follow renovation updates at www.fairfaxcounty.gov/library/branches/ww/.

The original Woodrow Wilson Library building was constructed in 1966, and renovated in 1976. Funding for a feasibility study for the current library renovation was included in the 2004 Library Bond Referendum approved by the voters, and savings of about $6.5 million from other library bond projects provided the opportunity to move forward with “Woodrow.” With Bailey’s Elementary School next door, and a significant density of population nearby, the library often functions as an impromptu community center. Its meeting rooms are used for youth programs, civic events, and volunteer activities, and children walking home from school often drop in for homework help.

The renovation of the Woodrow Wilson Library is the last in a series of library renovations in Mason District. In 1998, the George Mason Regional Library in Annandale essentially was rebuilt, while patrons accessed services in trailers on the large library parking lot. It was cozy, but it worked. In 2009/2010, the Thomas Jefferson Library on Route 50 was renovated and expanded, while temporary services were relocated to a modular building on the parking lot at nearby St. Philip’s Catholic Church. Both renovations provided modern amenities, meeting space, quiet rooms, and lots of natural light. The same is expected for “Woodrow.”

National Night Out (NNO) will be observed and celebrated this Tuesday, August 6. In Mason District, home to the Court of Camelot, the nation’s longest continually serving Neighborhood Watch program, dozens of civic and homeowner associations will participate in this annual event, which sends a united message to criminals to stay out of our community! Picnics, ice cream socials, and other activities will bring residents together, bolstering Fairfax County as one of the safest jurisdictions of its size in the nation. For more information about NNO, Neighborhood Watch, or the Police Citizens Advisory Councils (CAC), contact your district police station.

Penny Gross is the Mason District Supervisor, in the Fairfax County Board of Supervisors. She may be emailed at mason@fairfaxcounty.gov.