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In order to remain viable, the Fairfax County Public Library has re‐examined itself and changed its attitudes toward funding and fund‐raising. Stemming from serious cutbacks due to the poor economy of the early 1990s, the Library changed the way it did business. The programs instituted have permitted the Library to provide better service, increase the Library’s importance to the County, and enhance the budget through public and corporate donations. One of these programs is a Library Foundation. Fairfax County Public Library is one of the few public library systems in the country that has moved into this arena of fund‐raising. This case study involves the current library director and the past chairman of the Library Board, as they relate issues pertinent to these initiatives and indicate the direction in which the Library may head in the future.

Authority control is both the most expensive and important quality of any library catalog. Controlling headings for artists’ names can be more expensive than other personal names, as more time is required for the necessary research needed to determine the preferred form of name and variants. However, the cost associated with controlling artists’ names can be managed through effective use of reference materials and time. How artist headings are used also suggests that, over time, the initial investment can save a library from expenses associated with future catalog maintenance.