Valerie A. Stanley

Valerie Stanley, 77, an assistant librarian who organized children's activities at Mary Riley Styles Public Library in Falls Church, died of a heart ailment May 22 at her home in Arlington.

Mrs. Stanley was known as "Miss Val" among the children who perused the books lined up on the metal shelves in the library's youth services department.

She often decorated the children's section in various literary themes, prepared hands-on craft activities and read to children during the library's Wednesday night story hour.

"She was full of life, very intelligent and something of a juggernaut," said her son, John Richard Garrett Stanley. "As someone who pulled herself up by the bootstraps, she was keenly aware of the importance of education, good grammar and reading. She shared those values with the children."

Mrs. Stanley, who spoke with an English accent, was born in Croydon, a suburb of London. Her father owned a series of department stores, which were heavily damaged during the World War II bombing of London.

Later, as a young woman, she worked in London showrooms selling Wedgwood bone china tableware and gifts.

After her marriage to a U.S. Air Force officer, she lived briefly in New Mexico and then Spain, where she became fluent in Spanish. She also lived for a time on a 121-acre farm in Carroll County.

She graduated magna cum laude from Western Maryland College in 1965 and received a master's degree in Latin American literature from the University of Maryland in 1970.

Between teaching assignments at Western Maryland and Princeton Day School in New Jersey, she returned to retail sales. She sold crystal, fine porcelain collectibles and other high-end gifts in galleries in Atlantic City, Los Angeles, New York and Rochester, Minn., where she successfully opened a store after the initial investors backed out of the deal.

She moved to the Washington area in the late 1990s and a short time later became a technical services volunteer at Mary Riley Styles library. She was hired to work in the youth services section in 2001.

Her marriage to Everett Edward Stanley ended in divorce.

In addition to her son, of Arlington, survivors include two daughters, Roberta Anne Stanley Cossey of Pinckney, Mich., and Charlotte Marie Stanley of Boston; and four grandchildren.