Last week, the Techmobile traveled to North Second Street to participate in the Food Trust's Night Market , a "roving street fair celebrating the city's ethnic restaurants, gourmet food trucks and coolest neighborhoods from the people who brought you Headhouse Farmer's Market." Thank you to Oron at North Bowl , who… continue reading E-books, Food Trucks, and the Night Market
By written by Joel N. May 31, 2012 5
You’ve probably noticed the video below cropping up on our site as you’ve searched for ebooks lately. While we can’t take credit for this terrific video – that honor goes to the staff of the Topeka & Shawnee County Public Library and Library Renewal – we can certainly get behind the message. We hope you… continue reading The Free Library Joins the Ebooks For Libraries Movement
By written by Jamie W. May 24, 2012 2
We have had a busy and adventurous week aboard the Techmobile. From geography and map literacy programs for third graders to lots of open access time where adults registered for online banking services, worked on their resumes, set up their new Kindles and learned to download free music from the Free Library's website, we are ready to help… continue reading Dispatches from the Techmobile
By written by Joel N. May 16, 2012 2
It may seem obvious – but wordless picture books are books with no words! Since there is no text, wordless picture books are a great way to share books with children -- you can even get your child “read” to you. Talk with your child about what is going on in the pictures -- describe what you think the characters… continue reading Fun With Wordless Picture Books!
By written by Rachel F. May 15, 2012 4
Children's Book Week was established in 1919 and almost from the beginning the Children's Book Council enlisted an illustrator each year to design a commemorative Children's Book Week Poster and Bookmark. A complete collection of Children's Book Week Posters is always on display on the ground floor of Parkway Central . As you… continue reading Children's Book Week Posters
By written by Andrea Z. May 10, 2012
How do you write a children’s book about political corruption? It becomes quite simple when the real life story features a rhinoceros. Little Una by Elizabeth Olds is about a rhino that lives in a zoo and is beloved by the city’s children. When the mayor and city council decide to sell the rhino in order to build a monument to… continue reading Better a Rhino
By written by Lindsay F. May 7, 2012
This morning the Techmobile hosted third graders from Reynolds School onboard for an overview of the Library’s electronic resources for children, and then did a hands-on activity using Google maps alongside the Free Library’s digital collections of historical maps and historical images of Philadelphia . Students used our laptops and… continue reading Philadelphia: People, Places Things with Third Graders from Reynolds School
By written by Joel N. May 1, 2012 1
Beginning today, our Overdrive site will have a new look. You will notice a lot of changes in appearance and layout, but the nuts and bolts are the same. The checkouts, holds, and ‘My Account’ features you’ve grown accustomed to are unchanged. There are some great enhancements to note as well. One particular feature… continue reading Introducing Our New Overdrive Website for Ebooks
By written by Jamie W. April 30, 2012 5
We are on the road today, visiting the Kingsessing Branch. Today is primary day, and many of our branches are polling locations. The Techmobile is parked on South 51st Street, and we are inviting on board anyone with questions about their polling place or whether they are already registered to vote, and if anyone wants to find out any… continue reading Supporting Voters with Internet Resources
By written by Joel N. April 24, 2012 1
We apologize if you were trying to use the new catalog this morning and were caught in a virtual traffic jam. We’ll keep you posted as we work on a few lingering bugs that are causing slowdowns. We hope to have a new launch date very soon – in the meantime, we thank you for your patience with us! We’re… continue reading New Catalog Launch Delayed
By written by Carolyn P. April 23, 2012
The beta period for our new online catalog is drawing to a close. During the last six weeks, we’ve read your comments and suggestions, blushed at your kind flattery, fixed some bugs, and made plans for future development in response to the things you’ve told us would be most useful. We were very happy to know that lots of patrons… continue reading Our New Catalog Launches Monday
By written by Carolyn P. April 19, 2012
Today the Free Library launches our Techmobile, a state-of-the art digital literacy training vehicle. Sporting iPads and laptops, presentation equipment and mobile broadband, our Techmobile brings library services, computer training and internet access on the road. It serves Philadelphians not only in their own neighborhoods, but in the… continue reading Techmobile Launches Today!
By written by Joel N. April 12, 2012 1
The Free Library of Philadelphia is celebrating Pennsylvania’s seventh annual One Book, Every Young Child program! This series promotes the importance of reading early and often to children, as well as engaging them in conversation and other activities by bringing books into their lives. Zachariah OHora, author and illustrator… continue reading Celebrate One Book, Every Young Child!
By written by Rachel F. April 11, 2012
See update to this story (10/2/2013) Ebooks fans may have noticed that some titles are no longer available for wireless downloading via Amazon. This is due to restrictions recently put in place by Penguin Book Group. What does this mean for you? Kindle format ebooks published by Penguin Group can no longer be delivered using wi-fi… continue reading Ebook News: Penguin Book Group Restricts Wireless Downloads for Kindle
By written by Jamie W. March 23, 2012
This is the first of many blog posts about The Borneman Pennsylvania German Manuscript Collection, which has been part of the Rare Book Department at the Free Library of Philadelphia (FLP) since 1955. Thanks to a 2011 grant from the prestigious Save America’s Treasures program, a select number will soon be restored to pristine… continue reading The Borneman Pennsylvania German Manuscript Collection Soon Available Online
By written by Janine P. March 9, 2012
If the second season of the hit PBS series Downton Abbey has you thinking of what Oscar Wilde said about there being only two types of tragedies: “One is not getting what one wants, and the other is getting it”, we may have just the thing. Our newest reading list, Can’t Get Enough Downton Abbey , will have Downton fans… continue reading Can’t Get Enough Downton Abbey?
By written by Jamie W. February 29, 2012 1
Morningstar is a trusted name in financial analysis. While its flagship product, Morningstar.com, has been available in our Business, Science, and Industry Department at the Parkway Central Library for some time, we are pleased to announce that this resource is now available at all Free Library locations. Use Morningstar for in-depth… continue reading Your Money Matters: Morningstar Library Edition Now Available At All FLP Locations!
By written by Jamie W. February 23, 2012 1
See update to this story (10/2/2013) In a surprise announcement on February 9th, Penguin Group, one of the world’s largest publishers, terminated its partnership with OverDrive , the primary supplier of ebooks to public libraries. While Penguin promises that ebooks currently licensed by libraries will remain available, forthcoming titles… continue reading New Penguin Ebooks No Longer Available to Libraries
By written by Jamie W. February 17, 2012 8
The Free Library is acquiring a Techmobile, a 25’ vehicle outfitted for digital literacy training and outreach. Right now, construction is in progress and we expect you’ll see the Techmobile hitting the streets in April. Trainings will range from computer and email basics, r ésum é writing and job searching to… continue reading The Techmobile is Coming!
By written by Joel N. January 25, 2012
Today at the American Library Association’s Midwinter Meeting in Dallas, TX, the Caldecott and Newbery Award winners and honor books were announced. The Caldecott Medal awards the artist of the most distinguished American picture book , and the Newbery Medal honors the most distinguished contribution to Children’s literature . This… continue reading Caldecott and Newbery Medals Awarded
By written by Joel N. January 23, 2012
