The Mysterious Travelers are back, and something special is brewing! For the past four years, the Free Library has teamed up with the Philadelphia Jazz Project for a concert series showcasing the… continue reading
By Kate C. February 19, 2019
The Free Library helps people explore new worlds—through fictional tales of far-off places and its international music collections, as well as through its robust foreign-language… continue reading
By Victoria G. February 15, 2019
It’s 11:30 a.m. on a Tuesday morning and nearly a dozen seniors at the Fumo Family Library are stretching, strengthening, and sweating to Funk, Disco, and Soul tunes. While it’s not… continue reading
By Abbe K. February 15, 2019
It's Valentine’s Day and I feel like this is the perfect time to indulge in a good imaginary romance. I don’t know about you but I love a good teen romance novel: I love the… continue reading
By Rachel F. February 14, 2019
Throughout Jesmyn Ward’s Sing, Unburied, Sing , we see how the characters connect, or disconnect, from each other. The novel focuses in on relationships and what one needs for such… continue reading
By Lo I. February 13, 2019
The last decades of the 19th century produced a backlash that diminished much of the progress made by blacks in the south after emancipation and led large numbers to travel to the… continue reading
By Sally F. February 12, 2019 1
Tomi Ungerer (November 28, 1931 - February 8, 2019) was a complex man. His artwork reflected that complexity. Ungerer’s work has often been called subversive for its themes of war,… continue reading
By Chris B. February 11, 2019 1
Happy National Inventors’ Day! This special day was proclaimed by President Ronald Reagan in 1983 “in recognition of the enormous contribution inventors make to the nation and the… continue reading
By Sharyl O. February 11, 2019 1
Get your scented candles and bath bombs ready, because February 9 is Read in The Bathtub Day! We know you’ve probably already got an attractive paperback you’ve been dying to find time… continue reading
By Violet L. February 8, 2019
The Free Library Book Bike program is now entering its 4th season! The Book Bikes are bicycle-powered mobile libraries that go to local events, bringing a piece of the Free Library outside of our… continue reading
By Link R. February 8, 2019
We've said it before and we'll say it again, we owe it all to Billy Penn! Err, wait, that was a lyric my music teacher wrote for our elementary school choir. But...Ms. Moore was on to… continue reading
By Jenn D. February 7, 2019
Happy Birthday, Charles Dickens! The celebrated author was born February 7, 1812 in Landport near the city of Portsmouth, England. Dickens professional writing career began in the early… continue reading
By Joe S. February 7, 2019
It’s Laura Ingalls Wilder's Birthday today, February 7, and like many people born in the 1970s and who grew up in the 1980s, I read (and by read, I mean devoured) the Little House on the… continue reading
By Rachel F. February 7, 2019 4
Storm Rhodes is a Library Assistant at the David Cohen Ogontz Library , and a member of Cohort 1 of the Skills for Community-Centered Libraries training. In this post, she shares what she has… continue reading
By Community-Centered Libraries February 6, 2019
February is Black History Month – an annual commemoration that recognizes and celebrates the heritage, culture, contributions and achievements of African Americans to American history and… continue reading
By Monica C. February 6, 2019
Long before Comic-Con , long before the Hugo and Nebula awards, long before the sci-fi superhero film Black Panther made $1.3 billion dollars globally and became one of the highest grossing… continue reading
By Violet L. February 5, 2019
Teens at the Philadelphia City Institute (PCI) Library are diving deep into big issues this month through the Teen Reading Lounge (TRL) program . Program participants are… continue reading
By Erin H. February 4, 2019
Join the Free Library of Philadelphia as we celebrate Chinese New Year and the Year of the Pig! Chinese New Year is a fifteen-day celebration which starts on the new moon (also known as Lunar new… continue reading
By Administrator February 4, 2019
Julius Bittner was born in Vienna in 1874, growed up just outside of his hometown, and died in that same town in January 1939. He was pretty much immediately forgotten after his death. Well, in… continue reading
By Fleisher Collection February 1, 2019
With February being Black History Month , may we suggest some new adult, teen, and children’s titles by African American authors, including the latest by Angie Thomas (the author of The Hate… continue reading
By Paul A. February 1, 2019