It’s the one-year anniversary of Fairfax County Repair Cafe! It has been so delightful to meet and work with so many of you, and our community has grown significantly. I am so grateful to each person who has shared Repair Cafe with a friend, to each person who has stopped by to volunteer with us, to bring a repair, or just to say hello. I am also deeply grateful to our fantastic regional librarians, who cultivate vibrant communities of learning and growth in our neighborhoods. Without them, our work would not be possible.

Here’s a few things we want to share with you:

Next Repair Café: 10:30am-12:30pm Sunday, February 8th

Pohick Regional Library

Our next event will be in Burke, on the library at the corner of Old Keene Mill and Sydenstricker Road.

Here’s the address:

6450 Sydenstricker Road
Burke, VA, 22015

For transit: This location is served by the WMATA MetroBus F81 and Fairfax Connector 310 at the Rolling Valley Park & Ride, with a 0.5 mile walk.

By car: This location has a parking lot wrapping around the building, with entry points from Old Keene Mill and Sydenstricker Road.

Doors open at 10:30. We close to new knife sharpening at 12:00pm, and we close to all new repairs at 12:30pm. This helps us make sure we can clean up the library’s room before we leave.

Also, we have previously said we can’t sharpen serrated knives. That’s no longer true! Knife sharpening is still limited to 3 blades per visitor, to make sure we can serve everybody, but we now have capacity for serrated knives.

Next up: March, April Cafés

Saturday, March 14th, 2026, 10:30am-12:30pm @ Thomas Jefferson Library

7415 Arlington Boulevard
Falls Church, VA, 22042

Saturday, April 11th, 2026, 12pm-2pm @ Oakton Library

10304 Lynnhaven Place
Oakton, VA, 22124-1785

*Please note: The April Cafe will be at a different time to accommodate Library programming.

Childcare at Repair Cafe

We had the incredible opportunity to share space with the Teddy Bear Repair Clinic, hosted by our friends at The Learning Quest in January. I noticed that some visitors felt more open to exploring our event when they knew their kids had an activity to keep them occupied, and someone to keep an eye on them, even if it was only for a few minutes.

So, beginning at our next event - February 8th - we have started recruiting volunteers for childcare. Childcare volunteers will stay in the same meeting room with the rest of us, but it means that volunteers or visitors with young children can still come and see what Repair Cafe is all about, while having a dedicated person watching out for them. This is optional - you don’t have to rely on our volunteers - but for cases where it makes a difference, we wanted to make sure it was available to you.

We will also start keeping a box or two of Snap Circuits around at each event, inviting younger visitors to explore electronics and repair in their own way. If there are any repair-related toys you think would be a good fit for Repair Cafe, let me know at anicski@proton.me. We want to make our events accessible and fun for everyone of all ages.

Mapping in your community

Tools like Google Maps and Apple Maps are now deeply entrenched in our daily lives, but they also increase reliance on corporations with a single point of failure. If Google or Apple decide to change something - anything - it changes for all of us, and there’s nothing we can do about it.

OpenStreetMap (OSM) is changing that. For instance, here is Pohick Regional Library, the location of our next Repair Cafe, on OSM: https://www.openstreetmap.org/way/154757452

OpenStreetMap data is being used for some amazing projects already, on all levels. OSM data is free and open source, so it can be used for research, public good, and building new, amazing tools. Fairfax County uses OSM data to make map modules on each of its pages, like this one: https://www.fairfaxcounty.gov/library/branches/pohick-regional

OSM also powers apps like Organic Maps, a GPS for outdoor exploration, without ads and without the need for constant internet connection. Check it out here: https://organicmaps.app/

Another great example is OSM Kids!, a map with points of interest and learning opportunities for young cartographers! This map highlights libraries, schools, museums, fire stations, train stations, and more. Zoom in and out to see what you find: https://osm.kids/#m=13.36/38.77884/-77.26431

I recently learned about an app called StreetComplete. It’s a simple application that shows you places in your area that are missing data points. Through StreetComplete, you can contribute to your local area’s mapping system in an easy, accessible, and - in my opinion - fun way. This could be as simple as answering “is there a bench here?” or “what surface is this road?” Whenever I’m waiting around for someone, I can check StreetComplete to see if I can help someone while I’m waiting. Check it out: https://streetcomplete.app/

That’s all for now - thank you for your continued support, and I hope you are all staying safe this winter!

Ari Nicholas

Fairfax County Repair Cafe