Browsing Date: August 2007 (23)

Blog Articles

Walt Whitman, one of the most famous American poets in the canon, was born in 1819. When he was 12, he started training to be a printer, which prompted him to read the works of Homer, Dante, and… continue reading Poet of the Week | Walt Whitman

By written by Administrator    August 31, 2007   

There can be only one . . . next mayor of Philadelphia, and the Free Library wants you to be a well-informed electorate--so mark your calendars for Wednesday , September 5 at 7:00 p.m. when our… continue reading Talk About It! Wants to Hear from You

By written by Communications Office    August 30, 2007   

The latest installment in local art bloggers Roberta Fallon and Libby Rosof's Look! series takes viewers on a tour of the Book of War exhibit currently on display at the Philadelphia Museum of… continue reading War Is Good for Illustrated Folios, Fallon and Rosof Look! at the Book of War at the PMA

By written by Communications Office    August 29, 2007   

Writers and musicians are inspired by one another in an artistic feedback loop that has given us, among other things, High Fidelity and The Crane Wife . While this stimulating interconnectivity… continue reading Musical Writers on Literary Music and Vice Versa, Or Some Combination Thereof

By written by Communications Office    August 28, 2007   

You may have encountered this story in the news already. An Associated Press-Ipsos poll based on interviews conducted earlier this month and released last week indicates that one in four Americans… continue reading One in Four Americans Read No Books Last Year, Not Even Harry Potter

By written by Communications Office    August 27, 2007   

Nan Talese, publisher and James Frey advocate, made a stir late last month when she spoke at the Mayborn Literary Nonfiction Writers Conference in Grapevine, Texas and lambasted Oprah Winfrey as… continue reading Speaking One's Emotional Truth and/or Lying, 2006 Literary Scandalizers Still in the News

By written by Communications Office    August 24, 2007   

Jack Agüeros was born in Harlem in 1934. He became a community activist and writer, concentrating on issues surrounding immigration, specifically identifying and exploring the Puerto Rican… continue reading Poet of the Week | Jack Agüeros

By written by Administrator    August 23, 2007   

This year marks the 50th anniversary of the first publication of Jack Kerouac's On the Road . Since 1957, the now-iconic book has been graphically interpreted in the form of dozens of book covers… continue reading On the Road, A World-Historical Tour in Book Covers

By written by Communications Office    August 22, 2007   

Check out this synopsis of four thousand years of "miniature writing," from cuneiform clay tablets to a 180,568-word version of the New Testament inscribed in 24-karat gold on a silicon chip, with… continue reading Think Small

By written by Communications Office    August 21, 2007   

Regardless of how one feels about the United States' ongoing and obscured operations at the Guantanamo Bay detainment camp , the camp's function relative to the current administration's War on… continue reading The Detainees Speak?

By written by Communications Office    August 20, 2007   

Robert Penn Warren was born in Kentucky in 1905 and became the youngest member of a group of southern poets called the Fugitives. Warren’s poetry appeared in the group’s magazine, the… continue reading Poet of the Week | Robert Penn Warren

By written by Administrator    August 17, 2007   

And Tango Makes Three , the American Library Association's Most Challenged Book of 2006 , was released in paperback in the United Kingdom last month and was received with minimal squabbling and… continue reading Same-Sex Penguin Parenting Not an Issue in the UK

By written by Communications Office    August 16, 2007   

In 2006 Ann Patchett , celebrated author of the PEN/Faulkner Award-winning novel Bel Canto , unwittingly found herself at the center of a campus and community controversy in Clemson, South… continue reading Don't Mess with Ann Patchett

By written by Communications Office    August 15, 2007    1

Science fiction icon William Gibson will be appearing at the Central Library's Montgomery Auditorium this Thursday , August 16 at 7:00 p.m. (This event is free ; no tickets required.) His latest… continue reading Take Five with . . . William Gibson

By written by Communications Office    August 14, 2007   

What were the names of the two wizarding schools that competed with Hogwarts in the Triwizard Tournament, and what were the names of their headmasters? If you just excitedly produced an answer to… continue reading Exploding Snap of the Mind, Northeast Regional Presents Harry Potter and the Multi-Library Tournament

By written by Communications Office    August 13, 2007   

The Free Library's Summer Reading Game 2007 went out with a bang this afternoon at Wizard Palooza in the Central Library's Montgomery Auditorium. The Moaning Myrtles , the Whomping Willows , and… continue reading Summer Reading Wraps Up with Wizard Palooza

By written by Communications Office    August 10, 2007   

Martín Espada was born in Brooklyn in 1957. His father, a leader in the Puerto Rican community, introduced the poet to political activism at a young age. After receiving a B.A. in history… continue reading Poet of the Week | Martín Espada

By written by Administrator    August 9, 2007   

In late June of this year, On Demand Books publicly debuted version 1.5 of its Espresso Book Machine at the New York Public Library's Science, Industry and Business Library in Midtown Manhattan.… continue reading Public Debut of Amplified Photocopier & Paper-Shearing Machine a Gutenberg Moment?

By written by Communications Office    August 8, 2007   

First Book , a nonprofit organization dedicated to giving children from low-income families the opportunity to read and own their first new books, recently polled their constituency and asked them… continue reading Nancy Drew Rules First Book's Top 50

By written by Communications Office    August 7, 2007   

Venezuela's University of Momboy is spreading the joy of reading to residents of remote Andes villages using bibliomulas, or "book mules." University staff are making plans to expand the already… continue reading Meet Venezuela's Bibliomulas

By written by Communications Office    August 6, 2007