Brulee Catering Expansion
Center City Proprietors Association newsletter
Brûlée Catering continues to expand its industry leading repertoire of catering venues in the Philadelphia region, landing the Free Library on the Parkway as their latest exclusive account after the City of Philadelphia's recent announcement of their RFP bid selection.

#PhillyFive Things to Do: March 2, 2015
Philly.com
For a birthday: Not just a celebration, but a Seuss-abration, with Seuss storytime, crafts and Cat in the Hat snack-making at the Chestnut Hill Branch of the Free Library of Philadelphia.

Philly’s version of Academy Awards are so not boring
Philly.com
"The 2015 Award for Excellence in Customer Service" went to 53-year-old Ann Hornbach, library supervisor at the Torresdale Neighborhood Library Branch. "I am truly humbled and honored to receive this award," said Hornbach, who was described as a compassionate and energized public servant by Siobhan Reardon, president and director of the Free Library of Philadelphia. When she heard Mayor Nutter was on the phone, Hornbach said her first thought was, "Oh my God, what did I do?"

Winterthur to open ‘A Colorful Folk’ March 1
Delconewsnetwork.com
“It’s part of region-wide celebration of Pennsylvania German art,” said Lisa Minardi, curator of the current Winterthur exhibition. The Philadelphia Museum of Art, the Free Library of Philadelphia and the McNeil Center for Early American Studies also have opened or soon will open related exhibitions.

Philadelphia City Employees Recognized For Going Above And Beyond
CBS
Librarian Anne Hornbach, who oversees the Torresdale branch of the Free Library, won for excellent customer service.

Feedback: Letters to LJ, February 15 Issue
Libraryjournal.com
As a librarian and as an active user and supporter of the Free Library of Philadelphia system, I was so pleased to see ­Siobhan Reardon’s selection [as LJ’s 2015 Librarian of the Year] (John Berry, “Siobhan Reardon,“). She more than deserves this award for all that she’s done for this city in a short period of time and under such trying circumstances.

Things to Do in Philly in March
Phillymag.com
March 26: Marc Vetri at the Central Library--Philadelphia’s most opinionated and outspoken chef visits the library in support of his latest cookbook. If you want to really get him started, ask him about Restaurant Week, or his recent tirade against food journalism.

Calendar: Feb. 25—March 4
Philadelphiaweekly.com
Events including screening of 42 at Wynnefield Library, Laura Lippman with Duane Swierczynski author event (2/26), and Richard Price author event (3/3).

Free Library explores the visual art of letters in Framing Fraktur
Aldianews.com
The Free Library of Philadelphia’s Parkway Central Library kicked off “Framing Fraktur”, a three-month celebration of the historic Pennsylvania German art form running March 2 to June 14.

West Oak Lane Library hosts Lest We Forget Museum exhibit
Montgomerynews.com
The branch librarian, Irene Klemas, brings 22 years of experience with the Free Library of Philadelphia before returning to the West Oak Lane library a year ago. In fact, her very first library assistant job was working alongside longtime West Oak Lane branch head Marie Watson. Consequently, the energy was high when the branch hosted the Lest We Forget Museum’s travelling tour.

Richard Price brings crime stories, social insight to the Free Library
Philly.com
In a remarkable career spanning three decades, Richard Price has found renown in separate if inextricably linked genres… His eighth book, The Whites, follows the travails of a New York City detective who becomes obsessed with a decades-old unsolved murder. Price will talk about his work in a chat hosted by former Inquirer reporter George Anastasia at 7:30 p.m. Tuesday at the Free Library of Philadelphia's Central Library. (appeared 3/3)

Free Library recognizes German folk art with three months of programming
Phillyvoice.com
The Parkway Central Library might not be the first place you'd look for an art exhibit in Philadelphia, but the Free Library is putting on a big show for its latest, "Framing Fraktur." The celebration, which includes four exhibits spanning three floors of the building plus programming across the region, will be held now through Sunday, June 14.

Strawberry Mansion: Librarian Says Branch Offers Much More Than Books
Philadelphianeighborhoods.com
At Strawberry Mansion’s Widener library branch, the new shelves and high ceilings bounce back the sounds of a pink ukulele. At its source sits librarian Abbe Klebanoff, strumming tunes during Widener’s less busy hours. “When I started going to the libraries, I said I really want to do this for a living, so I went back to library school, and I was at several other libraries outside of the [Philadelphia] Free Library system,” said Klebanoff. “When I finally got back in [to Philadelphia … I] was very, very, happy.”

Framing Fraktur at Free Library
ABC
Video clip

10 author events bringing books to life this month
Phillyvoice.com
Features Free Library events such as One Book, One Philadelphia Grand Finale (3/19), Kazuo Ishiguro (3/20), Marc Vetri (3/26), and Leading Voices: Michael Lewis (3/27).

Ludlow: Ramonita de Rodriguez Library Hopes the Next Mayor Will Fight for Education
PhiladelphiaNeighborhoods.com
Inside the Ramonita de Rodriquez Branch of the Free Library of Philadelphia, children can be seen reading, playing, and creating school projects in a cheerful room decorated with crafts. They come every Monday through Thursday from 3:30 p.m. to 5 p.m. for the library’s Literacy Enrichment Afterschool Program (LEAP). Having comprehensive after-school programs like LEAP is something the next mayor of Philadelphia needs to foster in the Ludlow community, according to the library’s manager and after-school leader.

Making Room for Informal Learning
American Libraries Magazine
Sarah Winchowky, project coordinator at the Free Library’s Maker Jawn, was interviewed for this article, found on pages 32-34 of the magazine (starts on page 33 in the digital version).

‘A Colorful Folk’: UD alumna, doctoral student curates new Winterthur exhibition
Udel.edu
“I was totally hooked,” says Minardi, now a University of Delaware alumna and doctoral student, who is curator of a new exhibition at Winterthur Museum titled “A Colorful Folk: Pennsylvania Germans and the Art of Everyday Life.” The exhibit features many examples of fraktur, a decorated type of manuscripts and documents such as birth and baptismal certificates, as well as household items ranging from tiny pincushions to an elaborately carved tall-case clock... Related exhibitions of Pennsylvania German fraktur and decorative art are on view at the Philadelphia Museum of Art through April 26 and the Free Library of Philadelphia through June 14. Minardi is guest curator of the Free Library exhibition.

My Daughter’s Kitchen program keeps expanding
Philly.com
The mission has not changed as much as it has expanded since the lessons began with my own daughter in 2012: to convince not only students, but also parents and teachers - and our readers - that it's possible to cook fresh, healthy, really tasty meals without spending a lot. (This program is held at Parkway Central’s Culinary Literacy Center with students from the Russell Byers Charter School)

Chestnut Hill librarian to retire after 21 years
Chestnuthilllocal.com
Things change. And they change often. But at the Chestnut Hill branch of the Free Library, one thing has been constant for at least a generation: Margaret Brunton has been the branch’s head librarian for 21 years. Nothing is forever, however. On Friday, March 14, Brunton will retire from a job in which she has seen many of the neighborhood’s patrons grow to adulthood.

A neighborhood state of mind
Chestnuthilllocal.com
Last week’s edition of the Philadelphia City Paper featured an article on the work of Richard Broadman, a longtime Free Library of Philadelphia employee who has spent the last three years creating a map of Philadelphia’s neighborhoods.

A Blossoming Jewish Arts and Culture Scene This Spring
Jewishexponent.com
For literary fans, there are a number of major authors coming to town. The Free Library of Philadelphia, always the go-to place for the hottest authors, has a spectacular lineup that includes Barney Frank, the gay former U.S. congressman from Massachusetts, who will discuss his book, Frank: A Life in Politics from the Great Society to Same-Sex Marriage (March 23); legendary composer Philip Glass, talking about his book, Words Without Music (April 7); and the artist/writer Bruce Eric Kaplan, who will dish from his new memoir, I Was a Child (April 16).

The Free Library of Philadelphia Debuts Framing Fraktur, A Multi-Exhibit Celebration of Pennsylvania German Art at the Parkway Central Library
Uwishunu.com
The multi-venue Celebration of Pennsylvania German Art explores this legacy through traditional Pennsylvania German (a.k.a. Pennsylvania Dutch) art forms such as fraktur, letters and documents embellished with motifs such as birds and flowers.

Catching Up with James Carroll… Seventeen Years Later
Irishedition.com
I first met James Carroll author, ex-priest and anti-war activist in 1997 when he was invited to the Free Library of Philadelphia’s distinguished author series to read from his book An American Requiem, God, My Father, and the War That Came Between Us—winner of the National Book Award.

A weekend packed with child’s play
Philly.com
Go all Gumby at the Clay Studio in Northern Liberties. In collaboration with the Free Library's One Book, One Philadelphia program, the studio offers a two-hour course in stop-motion animation for parents and kids. Participants will read a section of the children's book Train Song by Diane Siebert and turn it into a short video after learning the basics of stop-motion - fashioning clay figures and photographing them in different poses.

Calendar: March 4-11
Philadelphiaweekly.com
Features author events for Michio Kaku on 3/5 and Jeff Benjamin on 3/11.

A Conversation with Novelist Richard Ford
WHYY.org
Much to the joy of his many fans, RICHARD FORD has brought his fictional character Frank Bascombe back to life. (appeared 11/2014)