Our Five Senses , an ongoing exhibition in Parkway Central Library 's Dietrich Gallery opened earlier this year, and over the past few months, we've had the honor of sitting down with some of the authors and illustrators who appear in the show. We’re departing from that format slightly to sit down with Megan MacCall, curator of… continue reading Our Five Senses | Sampling History: The Whiskeys of Pennsylvania

By written by Chris B.    September 26, 2019    2  

• Exhibitions
• Special Collections
• History of Philadelphia

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

This week marks 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. For the past several months, we have piloted relevant and engaging programs for adult learners throughout Philadelphia in the areas of adult basic… continue reading Languages and Learning Center | Hearing from Our Adult Learners

By written by Lindsay S.    September 20, 2019   

• Languages
• Parkway Central
• Volunteers
• Digital Learning
• Adult Learning
• English Language Learners
• Languages and Learning

Part of the excitement of creating the exhibition  Our Five Senses was having the opportunity to curate a show featuring living authors and illustrators. These artists can be found throughout the Free Library of Philadelphia's Special Collections . Illustrator Angela Dominguez  is a well-known illustrator of children's… continue reading Our Five Senses | A Conversation with Author and Illustrator Angela Dominguez

By written by Chris B.    September 19, 2019   

• Exhibitions
• Childrens Programs
• Special Collections

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

This past school year, Ms. Pinkston’s second grade class from Bayard Taylor Elementary surprised the Free Library with a new way to look at our Online Reading Challenge . During the Winter and Spring Reading Challenges, they read, wrote, and learned together, while also sharing their experience with us. Read their story and learn how you… continue reading Fall for Reading with Our Newest Online Reading Challenge!

By written by Shari K.    September 16, 2019    1  

• Childrens Programs
• Family Programs
• School
• Online Learning

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

Looking for a chance to learn or practice a world language like Spanish, Italian, or Mandarin Chinese? Interested in meeting new people, learning to cook a new recipe, and having a great time? Join us in the Culinary Literacy Center for one of our three hands-on Edible Alphabet world language cooking classes in September during Adult Education… continue reading Language Learning at the Free Library During Adult Education Month!

By written by Lindsay S.    September 4, 2019    1  

• Online Learning
• Culinary Literacy
• Digital Learning
• Adult Learning
• Languages and Learning

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

How do you get email on your new smart device? Who is Vladimir Putin and how did he climb to power as the Soviet Union collapsed around him? What does a smart consumer need to know before signing up for a luxury cruise? For 10 years, Central Senior Services , a department of the Parkway Central Library , has been answering these questions and… continue reading Happy National Senior Citizens Day!

By written by Richard L.    August 21, 2019   

• Central Senior Services

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

Our Five Senses , a new exhibition in Parkway Central Library 's Dietrich Gallery opened earlier this year, and we had the honor of sitting down with some of the authors and illustrators who appear in the show. This month, we discuss the biography Six Dots: A Story of Young Louis Braille  with its author, Jennifer Bryant .  … continue reading Our Five Senses - A Conversation with Author Jen Bryant

By written by Chris B.    August 19, 2019   

• Exhibitions
• Childrens Programs
• Children's Literature Research Collection
• Special Collections