Mary V. Zimmerman is a Professor of History at Northern Virginia Community College. She has earned her B.A. from Carleton College and M.A. from Vanderbilt University.

Mary Zimmerman now serves as President of the George Mason Friends and considers herself a "founding mother" of the group. Back in 1974, the branch manager wanted to bring ballet dancers to the branch and pay them $40. The Library didn't have funds for such a program at the time, so a Library Board Trustee recruited Zimmerman, and the Friends group was born. Ms. Zimmerman has been active with the group for the entire 28 years perfecting the sorting process to create used book sales that have become a community institution. Putting on such successful book sales is no small task. Volunteers put in more than 1,700 hours to prepare for one such sale, attracting book collectors and dealers from as far away as Atlanta.

The Friends of the George Mason Regional Library in Annandale have generously donated to Fairfax County Public Library Foundation, Inc. to establish $500,000 endowment to support the Summer Reading Program of the Fairfax County Public Library. Interest from the endowment will help pay the fees for more than 125 programs performed by magicians, puppeteers, storytellers and other artists. Last summer more than 43,000 children participated in the Summer Reading Program.

Much of the work to create the Children's Reading Fund Endowment has been done by a core of long-time volunteers that work year-round to ensure the success of the book sales. The $500,000 endowment continues the Friends' support for the Summer Library Program, which began a dozen years ago. Over the years, the Friends support of the Program has grown from $10,000 per year to $25,000.

"Overall the George Mason Friends have been the single largest contributor to the system, after the Board of Supervisors," says Library Director Edwin S. Clay, III. "This endowment ensures the future of our popular and outstanding Summer Library Program."