Loudoun County Public Library (LCPL), with more than 200 employees, both professional and paraprofessional, serves the citizens of Loudoun County, Virginia. There are 10 physical branches, plus Outreach Services, which delivers books and other resources to the disabled, elderly and homebound. According to its vision statement, LCPL "builds community through activities and resources that celebrate the joy of reading and learning." In 2019, LCPL became the third public library system in Virginia to eliminate fines for overdue materials. While customers are no longer charged a fee for overdue items, they are still responsible for replacement costs for lost materials. The system was named an honorable mention for Library of the Year by Library Journal in 2021. Branches The 10 branches range in size from large regional libraries to small neighborhood branches. Outreach Services is the traveling branch of the Loudoun County Public Library, although its offices are located in Leesburg. Each branch has an advisory board that helps support the library and raise funds. Another source of funding is the annual book sale put on by the Loudoun Library Foundation. The 10 LCPL branches are: Ashburn Brambleton Cascades (Potomac Falls) Gum Spring (Stone Ridge, Virginia) Law Library Lovettsville Middleburg Purcellville Rust (Leesburg) Sterling Outreach (Leesburg) In 1974, the Thomas Balch Library in Leesburg joined the Loundoun County Public Library system. In 1994, its ownership was transferred to the Town of Leesburg to operate as a historical and genealogical library. Administration The administration building for the Loudoun County Public Library system is located in Leesburg, Virginia. The building is combined with The Senior Center of Leesburg. The current Director of the Loudoun County Public Library system is Chang Liu. History The Loudoun County Public Library system was established in 1973. In the beginning, the only libraries in the system were the Purcellville branch, the Purcellville bookmobile and the Sterling branch. The next year, the Thomas Balch Library, located in Leesburg, Virginia, would join the system. Other branches would join over the years, the most recent of which is the Brambleton Library, which opened Dec. 1, 2018. The Thomas Balch Library would later leave the system, after being transferred to the city of Leesburg, Virginia in 1994 to serve as a dedicated history and genealogy library. Special collections In 1999, philanthropist Irwin Uran donated $1 million to the library for the purpose of acquiring items focusing on the Holocaust. LCPL also used