The Fort Valley Library is nestled in a picturesque valley with the Massanutten Mountain. Our dedicated staff of volunteers provides the community with access to a variety of media, technology, and services, activities. We maintain an adult collection of fiction and nonfiction, reference books, a young adult collection, and a local and Civil War history section. We have an extensive children’s collection, with a great emphasis on establishing a fun and educational atmosphere. The children’s room is brightly colored with appropriately sized furniture, a stage, DVD viewing, and accessible shelving. Our Summer Reading Program is always a fun and educational experience for children of all ages. The library also provides WiFi access, and public computers are available for both children and adults to use, with many great online resources available via the library’s Web site.

We’re sure you’ll agree that the Fort Valley Library is more than just a building with books; it’s a community.

History: The Fort Valley Library opened on May 2, 1998. It is housed in the “Old Fort School” building, which has a noble past. It was the smallest school in the Commonwealth of Virginia with the highest test scores. The Fort School closed in 1994. With the building standing empty, deterioration was inevitable. The roof was caving in, and the interiors had extensive water damage. The Fort Valley community wanted a local library and community center, so residents persuaded the county to bring the former two-room schoolhouse back to life. Many volunteer hours were spent scraping and painting, building shelves, and sorting books. Eventually, a dream became reality. The library opened initially as an independent community library, but later became part of the Shenandoah County Library system.

Mission: Our mission is to provide convenient access to information in useful formats; to create an environment that fosters lifelong learning, personal enrichment, and a more literate society; to strengthen information partnerships through resource sharing; and to promote library services, programs, and materials in our community.

Our goals for the coming years are:

·       To foster educational programs for community residents.

·       To strengthen our special collections and educate community residents about the availability of our special collections in the following areas: local history, Civil War, forestry, gardening, hunting & fishing, and knitting.

·       To continue to provide popular current fiction for our residents.

·       To focus attention on our library and its resources.

·       To continue offering our strong children’s Summer Reading programs.

·       To train and recruit volunteers in order to provide our patrons with a useful staff.

·       To maintain the building & equipment in a manner that assures the safety of the public and the library’s continuation as a community resource.

·       To increase the use of the building for community and family activities.

History: The New Market Area Library opened on November 11, 1974. It was founded by a group of area residents headed by Bessie Tusing, who made space available in the historic Henkel House. The library is now located in a new building behind the Hildeath Municipal building, across from the Emmanuel Lutheran Church.

Mission: The New Market Area Library’s mission is to provide an environment that enriches the lives of its patrons and, therefore, the life of its community. By providing a full array of media to New Market and surrounding communities and serving as a place in which the community may hold small meetings and research local history, the library will help ensure New Market’s future. The mission will be achieved through the following objectives:

Providing a wide variety of books for toddlers, juveniles, young adults, and adults in both fiction and nonfiction.

Ensuring that there is a good collection of large-print books

Growing a collection of books on CD

Nurturing the growth of periodicals of interest to readers in the community

Providing a community bulletin board to encourage communication throughout the New Market area of noteworthy events

Keeping connectivity available to patrons and visitors to the Internet through public access computers and WI-FI

Providing an atmosphere that is conducive to all learners, including those who wish to learn English as a second language

Utilizing space in a way to create interest in special events, historical celebrations and publications and media received

Fostering a community spirit to encourage the use of the library by key groups to enhance the scope of the library’s use – book groups, civic groups

Further developing the uses of the library for children’s programs both internal to the library and in conjunction with other programs and with local pre-schools

Continuing to recruit volunteers in order to ensure that the hours are expanded and expanded in a manner to address the needs of the community

The mission of the Strasburg Community Library is to be a well-run, friendly small-town library which encourages literacy, promotes lifelong learning and strengthens the community of Strasburg and surrounding areas.

In 1959, the Strasburg Business Women’s Club opened the Strasburg Community Library, the first public library in Shenandoah County.1 Sixty-three years later, the Strasburg Community Library continues to provide the community with professional library services with small-town friendliness.

In conjunction with the Shenandoah County Library system, the Strasburg Community Library provides the community with free access to:

• A large collection of adult, young adult and juvenile fiction and nonfiction in print, electronic, and audio formats;
• Research and current event databases;
• The Internet; and
• Microsoft Office and other productivity and education software.

In addition, the Strasburg Community Library:

• Hosts free programs for enrichment in the arts, literature, culture, math and other areas;
• Conducts baby and toddler and pre-school story times to develop a love of reading and learning;
• Organizes the Summer Reading Program for children and teens to encourage their continued interest in reading and learning;
• Provides the community convenient access to business machines for a nominal charge.