For Immediate Release
February 7, 2007
Contacts:
703-324-8313
703-324-8300
Vietnamese Collection and Tet New Year Celebration at Thomas Jefferson Library in Falls Church
Fairfax, VA - Traditional Vietnamese music, dance and refreshments were enjoyed at the unveiling of a special Vietnamese-language children’s collection on Saturday, February 17th at the Thomas Jefferson Library’s Tet New Year celebration.
The festivities included with a ribbon-cutting ceremony unveiling the 804 Vietnamese books purchased with a $20,000 gift from ExxonMobil. The celebration kicking-off the Year of the Pig continued with a “Playing Dan Tranh” musical performance by the Vietnamese Teens Group of Virginia, wearing traditional dress. Refreshments will be provided, courtesy of the Vietnamese Community of DC, Maryland and Virginia and the Fairfax Library Foundation.
This collection, bearing gift bookplates in Vietnamese, are housed at the Thomas Jefferson Library and Woodrow Wilson Library in Falls Church and the George Mason Regional Library in Annandale. It is the third of four ExxonMobil grants to build children's foreign language collections. Previous grants have underwritten children’s library books in Korean and Spanish.
"By supplying Vietnamese materials, we help both Vietnamese-speaking people as well as those who wish to learn more about the Vietnamese culture," says Patrick J. Dexter, Headquarters Community Relations Advisor for ExxonMobil. Dexter also serves on the Board of Directors of the Fairfax Library Foundation. "Libraries are special entities where information is free to all in this country."
ExxonMobil is a multi-national corporation that seeks to share cultural experiences among communities in which it operates. Over 2,100 ExxonMobil employees live and work in the Metropolitan DC/Northern Virginia area.
Fairfax Library Foundation is a private, nonprofit corporation committed to providing supplementary support to the Fairfax County Public Library. The Foundation, while reinforcing the need for continued and increased public support for the Library, serves as a catalyst for attracting private funding from individuals, businesses, organizations and foundations to enhance library services for our community.