The Little City\u2019s lone municipal library holds about 120,000 books. In the past year, just over 10,000 titles were added and slightly more than 7,000 were removed.<\/p>\n
The library staff uses technology programs to determine what materials are a hit with readers, and which ones are finding no takers.<\/p>\n
![\"\"](\"https:\/\/www.arlnow.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/09\/Book-stacks-at-Mary-Riley-Styles-Library-staff-photo-by-Scott-McCaffrey.jpg\")
Book stacks at Mary Riley Styles Library (staff photo by Scott McCaffrey)<\/p>\n
\u201cWe can really drill in \u2026 and see where we need to add books or remove them,\u201d said Billette Ripy, the library\u2019s technical-services supervisor.<\/p>\n
According to one statistical analysis focused on nonfiction works, 82% of the available titles at the library receive what is described as normal use, while 15% have more demand than availability and 3% have little interest from the public.<\/p>\n
Library staff work off a policy adopted in 2021 that sets parameters for acquiring new materials. Readers\u2019 interest in a particular title or topic is one component.<\/p>\n
\u201cHow many copies of a book we have is related to how many people put it on hold,\u201d Dotzler said. \u201cIf we see that a certain amount of people have put a book on hold, we\u2019ll buy additional copies. The ratio kind of depends on our budget.\u201d<\/p>\n
For the fiscal year that began in July<\/a>, library staff has $115,000 to spend on physical books, along with $11,300 on periodicals, Dotzler told trustees. The budget also sets aside $3,500 for DVDs and $161,000 for electronic materials.<\/p>\n In terms of popularity, physical materials still hold the edge at the library, with more than 300,000 checked out in the last fiscal year compared to just under 200,000 for electronic materials, according to annual figures recently presented to City Council members<\/a>.<\/p>\n Those 500,000 checkouts equate to about 31 per Falls Church resident, \u201cwhich strikes me as a lot,\u201d said trustee Robert Leopold.<\/p>\n Part of the reason for the high number: the library\u2019s clientele extends well beyond the city\u2019s 2.2 square miles. The 30,000-plus cardholders compare to a city population of about half that.<\/p>\n \u201cWe have more accounts than population. That\u2019s the only library I\u2019ve ever worked at that has had that,\u201d said Dotzler.<\/p>\n Unlike larger library systems, which typically have a staff devoted entirely to adding and removing items from the collection, Mary Riley Styles Library relies on staff in each department to make those calls.<\/p>\n \u201cI want to let you know how much work they have put in,\u201d Dotzler told library trustees.<\/p>\n Leopold agreed. \u201cIt\u2019s an astonishingly efficient staff,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n The books most likely to be removed from circulation contain outdated information, are worn (\u201cgrubby\u201d in library terms) or simply are not being checked out.<\/p>\n![\"\"](\"https:\/\/www.arlnow.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/08\/Mary-Riley-Styles-Library-via-BKV-Group.jpg\")
Mary Riley Styles Library (via BKV Group)<\/p>\n