It’s In the Books

Chock full of firsts for Loudoun County, the Brambleton Library opened on December 1st. The library boasts 40,000 square feet of books, study spaces, and new technology.

The Brambleton Library is situated at the heart of Brambleton Town Center and is near the Regal Fox Stadium, Harris Teeter, and numerous shops and restaurants. Once inside the library, you are greeted by tall glass doors and the main information desk. Behind the information desk are hundreds of children’s books in four languages: English, Spanish, Hindi, and Tamil. Hindi and Tamil are especially crucial to the library due to the area’s high Indian population. Additionally, the ground floor boasts the mixing studio, which is set to open later this year, and the makerspace. “Our makerspace downstairs has multiple 3-D printers,” said Assistant Branch Manager Aaron Duplissey, “and we’re also going to be the center for the makerspaces in the county and all the other libraries in the system”.

The top floor of the library is home to most of the study rooms, including a large meeting room. The teen space is also on the top floor of the library and is adjoined with the gaming room. “We’re the only library in the county that has a switch,” said Duplissey. Though the top floor is relegated for adults and teens alike, Duplissey says that teens typically take over the whole top floor. “We have found, at least since we’ve been open, is the amount of teens that come in here everyday after school compared to other branches where there’s a few teens here and there, but the whole upper floor basically becomes a teen area.”

The Brambleton Library is arguably the most unique library in the county not only for the books and technology it boasts, but also for the people that go there. “If we went to another library and we’d asked if they’d want to attend [crafting programs] they’d stop and join, but here they say, ‘No, I’m studying’ and so I think the most unique thing about this branch is the community and how driven they are towards achievement.”