The Free Library’s Instrument Lending Collection turns 3 today and, like any sociable Libra, it stands out in its ability to attract and entertain. What’s changed? There’s been some growth spurts: music librarians have expanded the collection to nearly 100 instruments in a variety of families to the MIC (musical instrument… continue reading The Free Library Toasts Three Years of Instrument Lending with Free Drum Workshops!

By written by Perry G.    September 26, 2019    4  

• Music
• Catalog
• Digital Learning

Another year, another Banned Books Week ! Each year the American Library Association’s Office of Intellectual Freedom (OIF) compiles a list of the Most Challenged Books  in order to "inform the public about censorship in libraries and schools. The lists are based on information from media stories and voluntary… continue reading Banned Books Week | LGBTQ+ Tween and Children's Edition

By written by Rachel F.    September 26, 2019   

• Banned Books
• LGBTQ
• Childrens Books
• Recommendations
• YA Literature
• Comics and Graphic Novels

Hey, library lovers! Another Banned Books Week is upon us, this year extending from September 22-28, as libraries around the country join forces with the American Library Association (ALA)’s Office for Intellectual Freedom (OIF) and the Banned Books Week Coalition in support of our right to read what we want, when we want. This… continue reading Banned Books Week | Celebrate Your Freedom to Read!

By written by Kate C.    September 23, 2019   

• Banned Books
• Reading

We are deeply grateful to Mayor Kenney for increasing the Free Library’s budget this fiscal year. The increase allowed the Free Library to hire additional staff and will ensure that all neighborhood and regional libraries are open six days a week beginning on Saturday, September 21 . * Parkway Central Library , the system’s largest,… continue reading Welcome Back: Six Day Service Returns to All Free Library Locations for the First Time Since 2014!

By written by Jenn D.    September 17, 2019    5  

• Neighborhood Libraries

The work of two scholars has led to the astounding discovery that a Shakespeare First Folio housed in the Free Library of Philadelphia’s Rare Book Department likely belonged to English poet John Milton (1608–1674). The assertion was published in a recent article in The Guardian  citing the two scholars, who hail from the… continue reading Free Library to Display Rare Shakespeare First Folio Now Believed to Have Belonged to John Milton

By written by Kaitlyn F.    September 16, 2019    5  

• Rare Book Department
• Shakespeare

September is Adult Education Month and the Free Library is excited to announce the launch of the Languages and Learning Center at Parkway Central Library , a center dedicated to supporting the individual learning goals of Philadelphia’s adults. Nationwide, more than 36 million American adults struggle to read, write, do math, and use… continue reading Announcing the Languages and Learning Center!

By written by Liz A.    September 16, 2019    1  

• Literacy
• New Americans
• Digital Learning
• Adult Learning
• English Language Learners
• Languages and Learning

The Culinary Literacy Center has been cooking up summer fun for youth over the last five years through the Summer Thyme Cooks program. This past summer, the Nourishing Literacy team piloted week-long camp sessions for youth. Summer Thyme Camp was a success! We ran three weeks of programming—one week for students between the ages of ten… continue reading Summer Thyme Camp In Review

By written by Shayna M.    September 10, 2019   

• Childrens Programs
• Culinary Literacy

All throughout Library Card Sign-Up Month , we're sharing library card fun facts and information about the ways you can use a Free Library card. From books, movies, and DVDs to musical instrument lending, online learning tools, and digital databases, a library card grants you access to our countless resources - both the expected and the… continue reading Library Card Sign-Up Month | "Unlock a World of Possibilities Today"

By written by Kate C.    September 5, 2019    3  

• Library Card
• Library Resources

I’ll let constellations form and fall off this tongue Mold planets out of clay with clay with these hands, Create a whole universe behind these eyes I’ll spread myself across the sky in thick, bright strokes, and leave a trail of light behind me, Don’t you know I’m a shooting star? –  Mia Concepcion, 2019-2020… continue reading Meet the 2019-2020 Youth Poet Laureate!

By written by Andrew N.    September 4, 2019    3  

• Awards
• Poetry

September is Library Card Sign-up Month, and we just wanted to remind you that securing your very own Free Library of Philadelphia library card is both easy and valuable! You can sign up online or in person at any one of our 54 neighborhood library locations around the city. Anyone who lives, works, pays taxes, or attends school in the city of… continue reading September is Library Card Sign-Up Month!

By written by Kate C.    September 3, 2019    2  

• Social Media
• Library Card
• Neighborhood Libraries
• Library Resources

The calendar still says August, and the weather forecast still says summer, but the new school year is just around the corner— School District of Philadelphia will ring the bell to begin classes on Tuesday, September 3!  After a summer full of reading and fun, the Free Library is ready to help Philadelphia students and their families… continue reading Go Back to School with the Free Library!

By written by Jess P.    August 30, 2019    1  

• Childrens Programs
• Databases
• Digital Collections
• Family Programs
• Reading
• Teens
• Online Learning
• Read by 4th
• Back To School
• LEAP
• Homework Help
• Library Card

¿Conoces a un adulto hispanohablante que necesita ayuda para aprender a leer y escribir? Estamos aceptando estudiantes adultos en la biblioteca de Kensington para un curso gratuito de alfabetización en español en línea: Leamos . Leamos es un curso de alfabetización en línea e interpersonal que… continue reading Leamos en la Biblioteca: ¡Clases de Alfabetización! Leamos @ The Library: Spanish Literacy Class!

By written by Lindsay S.    August 27, 2019   

• Reading
• Literacy
• Writing
• New Americans
• Adult Learning

Naquawna Letman is a Library Assistant at Parkway Central Library and a participant in Cohort 3 of the Skills for Community-Centered Libraries trainings. Exploring Music and Food through the Senses is a program that introduces participants to various cultures and traditions, creates bridges between neighborhood libraries and their customers,… continue reading Music Department and Culinary Literacy Center Collaborate on Programming

By written by Community-Centered Libraries    August 26, 2019    1  

• Free Library Staff
• Music
• Culinary Literacy
• Community
• Neighborhood Libraries
• IMLS

If you’re getting your news mostly from social media, your information diet is probably a little lacking. You might even be consuming fake news , which the New York Times defines as "a published news report that can be easily proved false," 1 in the recently published book Fake New: Read All About It . Fake news doesn’t… continue reading Are You Reading Fake News?

By written by Jamie B.    August 20, 2019    3  

• Databases
• Digital Literacy
• Digital Media
• Newspapers
• Library Resources

Meredith McGovern is a Librarian at Falls of Schuylkill Library and a participant in Cohort 3 of the Skills for Community-Centered Libraries trainings. As a children’s librarian, I work with our youngest patrons. Many of the families in our East Falls neighborhood love nature and the outdoors. With that in mind, I decided to run a… continue reading Gardening for Kids Programs Grow Community Connections

By written by Community-Centered Libraries    August 12, 2019   

• Childrens Programs
• Free Library Staff
• Gardening
• Community
• Neighborhood Libraries
• IMLS

August 1, 2019 marked the 200th anniversary of Herman Melville ’s birth. In honor of his bicentennial, we are proud to present American Voyager: Herman Melville at 200 , a new exhibition on display at The Rosenbach , October 3, 2019–April 5, 2020, that will explore the life, works, and legacy of this iconic but under-read… continue reading Happy 200th Birthday, Herman Melville!

By written by Rosa D.    August 2, 2019   

• Exhibitions
• Rosenbach
• Literary History

The Literacy Works! 2019 program is underway! Provided by the Free Library of Philadelphia and funded by WorkReady Philadelphia, Literacy Works! is a 6-week summer program employing nearly 100 teens, known as Teen Literacy Coaches, at 45 of the city’s 54 neighborhood libraries . These teens work alongside librarians to facilitate literacy… continue reading Literacy Works!, WorkReady Philadelphia, and the Philadelphia Youth Network Create Teen Literacy Coaches in Neighborhood Libraries

By written by Jovan E.    July 25, 2019    1  

• Teens
• Summer Reading
• LEAP

In the midst of a heat wave, Science in the Summer continues to spark young minds! For over thirty years, the program has demystified the sciences with free, hands-on learning for students entering 2nd-6th grades, all the while encouraging them to consider careers in the sciences. The 2019 theme, The Science of Me, allows kids to explore the… continue reading Delving into the Science of Me

By written by Emily S.    July 24, 2019    1  

• Childrens Programs
• Summer Reading
• Science
• Summer
• Neighborhood Libraries
• STEM

I’ve always loved this expression – probably because it includes two of my favorite things: the summer season and dogs! As an idiom, the dog days are the hottest, most humid days of summer: days when all one wants to do is rest in the shade, dive in a pool, and drink plenty of iced water. It’s easy to associate those days with… continue reading More Dog Days of Summer!

By written by Monica C.    July 18, 2019   

• Childrens Books
• Recommendations
• Summer

We’re having a really exciting Author Event on the evening of Thursday, July 25 where the topics of discussion will be Trans Writers, Kids, and Books ! Lambda and Stonewall Award-winning author Kacen Callender ( Hurricane Child , This Is Kind of an Epic Love Story , and the forthcoming King and the Dragonflies and Felix Ever After ) and… continue reading Conversations About Queer and Trans Literature with Picture Book Author Kyle Lukoff

By written by Naomi S.    July 16, 2019   

• Childrens Programs
• Family Programs
• LGBTQ
• Reading
• Author Events
• Diversity Equity and Inclusion