There are new step-by-step instructions and screenshots illustrating how to access and bookmark the Free Library's mobile website on your mobile device of choice. By adding our mobile app icon to your mobile device's home screen, you can access all the great books, music, movies, information, resources, and services available to you from the Free Library with a tap of your finger!
You can sign in and manage your library account, search our vast catalog and databases, download ebooks and podcasts, browse through thousands of images in our extensive digital collections, view the calendar of events at your neighborhood library, and even access and read this very blog.
Leave a comment below and let us know how you use our mobile website and any features you might like to see in a future update!
If the previous year’s statistics are any indication of what consumers spent money on during the holidays, there is a good chance that you or someone you know may be receiving some sort of electronic media device as a gift this year.
Whether you are a seasoned gadget geek or “noob” to the high-tech world, the Free Library of Philadelphia has plenty of ebooks, podcasts, music, and videos for you to enjoy with your new computer, smartphone, tablet, or e-reader this holiday season!
First, you’ll need to have your library card and PIN handy as they are required to access these resources.
Don't have a library card? What are you waiting for? Get one today!
Next, head over to our digital media page, or try out the newest version of our mobile site on your smartphone or tablet.
If you need help searching for or accessing content, we have a comprehensive tutorial video to show you step-by-step how to download all the wonderful digital media we have available for borrowing.
The Free Library will host students from Philadelphia's celebrated Science Leadership Academy for a ladies-only program about cars, their care, and the role they play in our lives.
With Special Guest Dr. Frederick Simeone
On Friday, October 22, twenty female students from the Science Leadership Academy will get a chance to learn everything they ever wanted to know about cars and more by rolling up their sleeves and getting under the hood.
Recently appearing on the Ladies’ Home Journal list of America’s 10 Most Amazing Schools, the Science Leadership Academy, operated in partnership with the Franklin Institute, uses few textbooks and employs instead a ‘learning by doing’ method of education.
Learning by doing is exactly what the students will be doing under the careful tutelage of automotive technician Lori Johnson, instructor for Ladies, Start Your Engines. An automotive repair class just for women, the class gives them not only basic knowledge of cars and instruction in light maintenance but also confidence in talking to automotive technicians when a vehicle needs service.
The program will begin with a special visit from one of the city’s most distinguished gear heads, renowned neurosurgeon Dr. Frederick Simeone, whose lifelong love of all things automotive has culminated in the Simeone Foundation Museum. Assembled over a span of 50 years by the good doctor himself, the Museum collection contains over 60 of the rarest and most significant racing sports cars ever built. Dr. Simeone will provide the students with some perspective on the tremendous role the automobile has played in shaping human society, and the impact it has had not only on civilization but also on the way in which we perceive ourselves.
Responsible for conceiving and coordinating this event is the staff of the Free Library's Automobile Reference Collection. Founded in 1948 when socialite and antique car collector Thomas McKean presented his personal collection to the Free Library of Philadelphia, the "ARC" is one of the largest public archives of automotive literature in the USA. Housed on the 2nd floor of the Parkway Central Library, visiting patrons may access materials in the collection via the reference desk in the Business, Science and Industry Department, or by contacting the Automobile Reference librarian by phone or email: 215-686-5404; erefarc@freelibrary.org.
Admission: I picked up this book because of its cover. I don’t take much stock in the whole “don’t judge a book by its cover” line of thinking; I’ve always judged books by their cover and will likely continue to do so as long as there are book covers.
The thing about this cover is that, on first glance, it’s kind of misleading. How To Be Usefulis a how-to book for people facing their “Quarter Life Crisis.” (Lesser known than its Mid-Life counterpart, the Quarter Life Crisis affects 20-somethings and usually coincides with graduating college and getting one’s first job.) And as we all know, How-To books (unless about cooking, piano-playing, or computer programs) are really Self-Help books.
Which is why the jazzy cover is misleading: self-help books have covers of wise-looking authors reclining on beaches, or big pictures of apples or some other comforting object that’s meant to make us feel better immediately. They are not supposed to be covered in florescent orange doodles. But a read of Hustad’s introduction sheds light on one possible intent: the 20-somethings the book is intended for would rather be struck with the plague than be seen carrying a Self-Help book. Even the truly useful ones.
Which this one is. Summarizing over a hundred years’ worth of business-related advice to the next generation of the workforce, Hustad provides a thorough guide at how to be successful at work. There are useful anecdotes, along with chapter-closing, convenient lists and the scope of the material she presents is generous, to say the least.
And thankfully, with a cover like this, it’s not too uncool to read.
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