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Thomas Balch Library

5.0 (2 reviews)
Closed • 10:00 am - 5:00 pm

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Reston Regional Library - Outside

Reston Regional Library

3.3(38 reviews)
15.5 mi

AMBIANCE Reston Regional Library is one of the quieter…read morebranches in Fairfax County. As only regional branches are open on Sundays, I decided to visit to to complete some studying. There's two rows of public use computers right as you enter the front doors, and ample tables for reading/working. Being a regional branch as well, they also offer more book options and resources for residents. Although located across a police station, I was surprised to see such a heavy presence of officers in the library (right as you enter and making rounds about the library itself). BATHROOMS The bathrooms aren't the cleanest, and when I visited, men entered the women's bathroom to use as well. PARKING There is ample parking available in the lot, and there's never a lack of spaces. It can get littered (we saw a couple condoms scattered about the lot).

Love their kids room here! Tons of books, puzzles, magnet boards, and games for the little ones…read more They also offer free classes for kids that you have to pre-register for online. The classes are great, but some of the librarians take their role as facilitator of the class too seriously; they're more like dictator of the class. I get needing structure and rules, but it becomes a problem when you can't even hold the kids attention because you're spending 5 minutes going over "rules" that can be summed up into "sit on your bottom and put on your listening ears.

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Reston Regional Library - Main entrance

Main entrance

Reston Regional Library
Reston Regional Library

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Herndon Fortnightly Library - Quiet study area

Herndon Fortnightly Library

3.5(21 reviews)
13.9 mi

I know Fairfax County libraries typically have the same offerings, but this one is unique and…read morespecial to me. I love how accessible this library is for walkers and bikers in the town of Herndon. You can enter from the bottom floor or the second floor from the outside. The bottom floor has conference rooms, a foyer with seating, local bulletins, and the Maker Lab. The top floor is where there's a huge communal quiet room with dividers for individual studying, the books, and computers. I would recommend chatting with any librarian here to find out everything the library has to offer. It is a LOT. I am a fan of the Maker Lab.

At first I was a little unsure about the parking situation since there was an outdoor and covered…read morelot that looked like it was for another municipal building but there was an entrance to the library nearby so it was nice having the free parking. We were new to the area and it wasn't hard to get a library card. Initially we went to the help desk and were redirected to the check out counter. Once we gave them basic info like a piece of mail with our address and phone number we were able to get library cards and info about the Libby application for ebooks, audiobooks and magazines. New in 2022 there is also Kanopy, an on-demand streaming video service. Each account is assigned 5 "play credits" per month. There were a decent number of international and indie titles to choose from. Overall the library is smaller than others I have been to but it seems cozy. There seems to be a regular board game meetup that meets downstairs on Saturday. You should show up earlier rather than later from the specified time range though since after they form groups and start playing it may be harder to join in on a game until one group finishes their play session.

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Herndon Fortnightly Library
Herndon Fortnightly Library
Herndon Fortnightly Library

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Thomas Balch Library - libraries - Updated May 2026

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