Free Library Blog - Posts by Michelle S.

Check Us Out: Meet Adam!

Michelle S. — 2013-05-16T14:18:00-05:00

You may have noticed a few of our librarians' shining faces around town lately on buses, billboards, subway placards, and more, as part of our ad campaign in partnership with ADLOOP. We thought you may want to get to know a little more about these awesome information gurus who smile back at you every day on your commute home. So without further ado, meet Adam!

Your favorite thing about your job:
It’s very satisfying when patrons approach me with questions, curiosities, or in-depth research problems, and I am able to lead them successfully to an answer. Or alternatively, introduce them to new voices weighing in on the topic. Not only is it satisfying to help someone come to those breakthrough moments, but it’s also rewarding to be learning all the time with them.

Your librarian superpower:
Dudes, I’m the people's professor. You’ve been to school. It’s the law after all. Maybe you’ve been to university, or are taking classes now. I know for a fact that teachers and professors have wielded their own position of power against you as a matter of course. Well, my librarian superpowers include the fact that I’m an educator who has no unnatural authority over you. At least no authority beyond my duty to ensure that everyone else in the community can share in the skills we have and the resources we can unlock. If you have the desire to learn, I will join you in your quest.

Most pervasive (and incorrect) librarian stereotype:
I find the idea that we would somehow be scared of the internet hilarious and a little bit sad. It’s as preposterous as a doctor being afraid of nanotechnology or an MRI device. All technologies are tools that make us more powerful at what we do. The folks who think the internet will replace libraries let alone librarians rather than strengthen the two are living in a cave. They are mistaking the flickering of shadows on the walls for the life out in the sunshine. Or something like that.

Most pervasive (and, okay, maybe a *little* correct) librarian stereotype:
Shushing. For a minute it was hip in the professional literature to rag on quiet. I do profoundly agree that the library ought to be a place of collaboration, but a public space where contemplation, reflection, and quiet study can be had is essential too. Basically, I’m excited to witness the conversations that are constantly sparked in the library, but I’m also not afraid to ask you to take your phone call and at least some of your drama outside.

Insider tip about the Music Department:
First and foremost, the librarians who work in the Music Department are extremely knowledgeable and fluent masters of the full spectrum of musical discourses. When you see one of us working at the Reference Desk, please don’t be shy about asking us questions. You’re never interrupting. We’re all enthusiastic about questions big and small.

Secondly, there’s a wealth of print, audio, and digital resources behind the scenes that we can unearth for you. If you stop by to ask, we can reveal everything from lost tunes buried in fakebooks and Tune-Dex cards, to vinyl records not yet digitally catalogued, and on to print or digital journals and magazines and the indexes that get you deep into them.

Finally, recently we’ve been experimenting with a friendly sort-of book club for musicians we’ve been calling Readings from the Chamber Music Collection. This collection represents complete part sets for about 30,000 or so works from the across the chamber music repertoire. Musicians have been forming impromptu groups, checking out the music to take home, and then gathering once a month at the library to “read” through works or movements of works. They form new connections, put together new ensembles, and then the process repeats. Audiences are welcome to check out the Readings. The next one is Sunday, May 26, after that it’s the second to last Sunday of each month 2:00-3:00 p.m. in Room 108 next to the Home Page Café.

Upcoming Community Forums

Michelle S. — 2013-05-16T10:57:00-05:00

As part of its 21st Century Libraries initiative, the Free Library will be holding a series of forums to welcome feedback from community members about how they use and value their neighborhood libraries. Attendees will also be able to view and discuss images of modern libraries from around the world. Feedback from the forums will inform and help to shape future renovations to these neighborhood libraries.

Community forums will be held at the following libraries:

Lillian Marrero Library
6th and Lehigh Avenues
Thursday, May 16 from 6:00 to 7:30 p.m.

Tacony Library
6742 Torresdale Avenue
Monday, May 20 from 6:00 to 7:30 p.m.

Logan Library
1333 Wagner Avenue (just off North Broad Street)
Thursday, May 23 from 6:00 to 7:30 p.m.

Lovett Memorial Library
6945 Germantown Avenue
Monday, June 10 from 6:30 to 8:00 p.m.

Parkway Central Library Renovations Update

Michelle S. — 2013-05-13T11:47:00-05:00

You may have noticed a construction crane towering over Parkway Central Library today. That crane is lifting steel into place as part of work being done to the third and fourth floors of Parkway Central—including the Skyline Room and Rare Book Department—which are undergoing a year-long, extensive renovation that will modernize and increase public access of these spaces. This work, part of the Building Inspiration plan, is made possible in large part by funds from the City of Philadelphia and the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania.

Here’s an overview of what the current renovations entail:

The fourth floor is closed to the public as it is being transformed into a conference and special event space, with several new meeting rooms and classroom areas. A state-of-the-art kitchen is also being installed so that the Library can offer hands-on cooking demonstrations and culinary literacy classes, in addition to supporting special events and programming taking place in the Skyline Room.

The Rare Book Department is also undergoing renovations to enhance its conservation and exhibition spaces, ensuring that its rare collections are stored in a museum-quality environment and also safely and artfully displayed for the public to enjoy. Additionally, the Library’s Theatre Collection—which contains more than one million items on the history of American theatre, early film, and popular entertainment—will have 4,500 square feet of storage space fitted with modern preservation systems. During these renovations, the Rare Book Department remains open to the public, though the Theatre Collection is inaccessible.

We’re excited to be restoring and modernizing our historic Parkway Central Library! Continue to check back on the blog for updates as renovations progress.

Announcing the Virtual Library at Suburban Station

Michelle S. — 2013-04-02T11:40:00-05:00

We’re so excited to announce the launch of the Virtual Free Library at Suburban Station, an awesome undertaking made possible by the Free Library and our partners at Dunkin’ Donuts, SEPTA, and Titan. The Virtual Library—believed to be the nation’s first in a train station—is featured on more than 70 advertising boards throughout Suburban Station and is home to a selection of classic and bestselling ebooks, as well as podcasts from our ever-popular Author Events Series. More than 50 titles are available for download via QR code right to commuters’ mobile devices.

These hand-picked titles offer just a taste of the Free Library's extensive digital holdings, which include access to more than 80,000 ebooks, 8,00 audiobooks, and 1,000 author podcasts!

In addition to the Virtual Library at Suburban Station, SEPTA will recognize National Library Week by sponsoring the “What are you reading?” giveaway. Through April 16, you can submit the titles of the books you're currently enjoying to SEPTA’s Facebook page and the @SEPTA_Social Twitter feed using the hashtag #enrichyourride to win prizes, including a monthly transit pass, Dunkin' Donuts gift pack, and front-row seats at select author events.

Enrich your ride with reading! Be sure to pop by the bustling Suburban Station and try out the Virtual Free Library for yourself. Tell us what you think on our Twitter feed, and don’t forget to check out SEPTA’s great giveaway!

It's a Science-Spectacular April at the Free Library!

Michelle S. — 2013-04-01T11:45:00-05:00

The Free Library is excited to host several science-based children’s programs in 15 of its neighborhood libraries—as well as a special “Science Surprises” program at the Parkway Central Library— in conjunction with the Philadelphia Science Festival during the month of April.

On Sunday, April 28 at the Parkway Central Library, author Vicki Cobb will present “Science Surprises,” a fast-paced, one-woman show that invites children and their families to discover the science in their world. Audience members will experience illusions and participate in clever challenges from her bestselling books, Bet You Can! and Bet You Can’t! After the performance, audience members are invited to participate in more hands-on science activities presented by LEAP into Science, a program developed in partnership with The Franklin Institute. “Science Surprises” is part of the Margaret S. Halloran Family Literacy Programming Series at Parkway Central.

Science Festival programming for children at several of the Free Library’s neighborhood locations will explore a variety of topics, from fossils to physics. Participants will learn about the science of cooking at South Philadelphia Library, meet furry friends at Wynnefield Library, and explore how pollution affects our waterways at Torresdale Library.

Additional Free Library locations that will be hosting special Philadelphia Science Festival programs for children include: Cecil B. Moore Library, Eastwick Library, Haddington Library, Haverford Library, Independence Library, Lawncrest Library, Logan Library, Oak Lane Library, Queen Memorial Library, Richmond Library, Widener Library, and Wyoming Library.

Plus, the Free Library’s Techmobile—a Hot Spot on wheels featuring computers, broadband, and one-on-one training—will appear at the Philadelphia Science Festival’s Science Carnival on the Parkway on Saturday, April 20 from 11:00 a.m. to 4:00 p.m.!

Don't miss this science-packed April at the Free Library!

The 2013 Philadelphia Book Festival is Coming to YOUR Neighborhood Library!

Michelle S. — 2013-03-18T11:57:00-05:00

This April, the Free Library of Philadelphia is taking our annual Philadelphia Book Festival on the road, with special author events happening at all of our 54 locations throughout the city! Previously held only at the Parkway Central Library, the seventh annual Book Festival will now give you the chance to enjoy incredible author events at the neighborhood library you call home.

Taking place during National Library Week--April 14-20, 2013--the Festival will feature headlining author events at Parkway Central every day, as well as special author appearances in every neighborhood library throughout the week. Authors appearing as part of the 2013 Philadelphia Book Festival include Rachel Maddow, Baratunde Thurson, Cheryl Strayed, Solomon Jones, and the Free Library's own Mônica Carnesi. Events are being added all the time, so keep checking the Festival calendar to find an event near you!

Chatting One Book: The Buddha in the Attic, "A Disappearance"

Michelle S. — 2013-03-13T08:41:02-05:00

It’s the final week of One Book, One Philadelphia, and we couldn’t be more excited to be welcoming Julie Otsuka for the Grand Finale celebration on Wednesday, March 13 at 7:30 p.m. at the Parkway Central Library. Don’t miss your chance to meet the author of The Buddha in the Attic and ask her any questions you may have about her wonderful novel!

The final section of the book—“A Disappearance”—features a shift in perspective from the collective voice of the Japanese women to the collective voice of their white American neighbors. This masterful shift sends the message that, now interned in camps, the Japanese women no longer have a public voice. And the neighbors who for so long took them for granted, looked down on them, or looked right through them have to now grapple with the loss of an entire community of people that enriched their lives in more ways than they once realized or acknowledged. The book left me thinking: Can a community of people ever really “disappear”? And what must it have felt like for the Japanese Americans to return to their communities after they were released from the camps?

What did you take away from “A Disappearance”? Share your thoughts in the comments! And don’t miss Wednesday’s Grand Finale!

Chatting One Book: The Buddha in the Attic, "Last Day"

Michelle S. — 2013-03-06T08:46:41-05:00

Welcome to “Chatting One Book,” week seven! Just two weeks are left of One Book, One Philadelphia, and we’d love for you to share on Facebook or Twitter (or in the comments below) what your favorite One Book program has been this season.

This week, we’re discussing “Last Day,” the section that describes the women’s experiences as they are forced to leave home and are deported to internment camps after the outbreak of World War II. Something that immediately stood out to me was that, unlike other sections of the book, this one was written as one long paragraph, rather than several shorter ones. Why do you think Julie Otsuka chose to structure the section in this manner? I found the experience of reading “Last Day” to be a little intense and overwhelming, with no breaks in the text and no chance to catch my breath or pause and think. In a way, I think the experience of reading such a large block of text mirrors for the reader how the experience of deportation might have felt for the women—overwhelming.

What did you take away from “Last Day”? Share your thoughts in the comments!

Chatting One Book: The Buddha in the Attic, "Traitors"

Michelle S. — 2013-02-27T08:39:03-05:00

Welcome back to “Chatting One Book”! This week, we’re focusing on the section called “Traitors.”

In “Traitors,” I thought Julie Otsuka did an especially fine job of creating a tense atmosphere through language and setting. As rumors build about Japanese Americans being taken away from their lives and livelihoods to camps far away in the desert, the women live in a constant state of fear and apprehension. Otsuka describes the heavy rain, the cold wind, and the dust clouds that began to envelop their neighborhoods, which serves to mirror the atmosphere in the community—oppressed by anxiety, chilled with fear, unable to “see” what is going on—closed off from everyone. These smaller details really serve to enrich and enhance the story, and as a reader, I too felt myself tensing up as I read this section.

What did you take away from “Traitors”? Share your thoughts in the comments!

Chatting One Book: The Buddha in the Attic, "The Children"

Michelle S. — 2013-02-20T08:48:22-05:00

“The Children” is perhaps my favorite section of The Buddha in the Attic, if one can have a favorite part of this wholly enveloping novel. I love how Julie Otsuka describes the development of the women’s children, from toddlers playing in the fruit fields while their parents worked to young students, stuck in the back of the classroom with the handmade or hand-me-down clothes, sticking out like sore thumbs. I thought the last passage of the section was especially poignant. Despite all evidence in their lives pointing to the contrary, the children dreamed of achieving greatness, and their mothers allowed them to keep dreaming, although they sensed upcoming trouble and hardship. I believe that having dreams and hope in the face of adversity is a powerful thing, and for the women to allow their children the freedom to daydream was to allow them the freedom to hope for the future. Without hope for a better future, what’s the point of getting through a not-so-great today?

What did you take away from “The Children”? Share your thoughts in the comments!