Naomi Klein, bestselling author of No Logo , is back with another polemic, this time aiming to "[explode] the myth that the global free market triumphed democratically" and to expose "the puppet… continue reading
By Communications Office September 21, 2007
The Colbert Report on Comedy Central may seem like an improbable venue for serious literary discussion (and it is), but that doesn't discourage noted authors from stopping by to promote their… continue reading
By Communications Office September 20, 2007
Pulitzer Prize-winning humorist Dave Barry will be appearing at the Central Library's Montgomery Auditorium tomorrow, Thursday , September 20 , at 12:00 p.m. (This event is free ; no tickets… continue reading
By Communications Office September 19, 2007
Diane Ackerman, acclaimed author of A Natural History of the Senses , will be appearing at the Central Library's Montgomery Auditorium this Thursday , September 20 , at 8:00 p.m. (Click here to… continue reading
By Communications Office September 18, 2007
"Very dull" and "a dreary record of typical family bickering, petty annoyances and adolescent emotions"--so wrote a staff reader for Alfred A. Knopf, Inc., the publisher who subsequently rejected… continue reading
By Communications Office September 17, 2007 2
William Stafford was born in Kansas in 1914. He attended the Universities of Kansas and Iowa. He was a conscientious objector during World War II and worked in the alternative service camps. He… continue reading
By Administrator September 13, 2007
This past Saturday's installment of National Public Radio's All Things Considered featured an interview with astronaut Janice Voss , who was inspired as a young reader by Madeleine L'Engle's A… continue reading
By Communications Office September 11, 2007
Lovers of words and web-based social networks will rejoice upon discovering Wordie , yet another internet rabbit hole to tumble down, this one encouraging you to wile away abstracted hours… continue reading
By Communications Office September 10, 2007
Tomorrow is International Literacy Day . Check out what organizations are doing around the world to promote "literacy as an integral aspect of the universal right to education." There's also no… continue reading
By Communications Office September 7, 2007
Natasha Trethewey was born in 1966 in Gulfport, Mississippi. She earned an M.A. in English and creative writing from Hollins University, and an M.F.A. in poetry from the University of… continue reading
By Administrator September 6, 2007
Radio One's 100.3 The Beat and the Free Library partnered this morning to present a Start the School Year Right Anti-Violence Rally in the Central Library's Main Lobby. The program featured a… continue reading
By Communications Office September 5, 2007 2
Comic actor and travel documentary host Michael Palin will appear at the Central Library's Montgomery Auditorium this Thursday , September 6 , at 7:00 p.m. (This event is free ; no tickets… continue reading
By Communications Office September 4, 2007
Walt Whitman, one of the most famous American poets in the canon, was born in 1819. When he was 12, he started training to be a printer, which prompted him to read the works of Homer, Dante, and… continue reading
By Administrator August 31, 2007
There can be only one . . . next mayor of Philadelphia, and the Free Library wants you to be a well-informed electorate--so mark your calendars for Wednesday , September 5 at 7:00 p.m. when our… continue reading
By Communications Office August 30, 2007
The latest installment in local art bloggers Roberta Fallon and Libby Rosof's Look! series takes viewers on a tour of the Book of War exhibit currently on display at the Philadelphia Museum of… continue reading
By Communications Office August 29, 2007
Writers and musicians are inspired by one another in an artistic feedback loop that has given us, among other things, High Fidelity and The Crane Wife . While this stimulating interconnectivity… continue reading
By Communications Office August 28, 2007
You may have encountered this story in the news already. An Associated Press-Ipsos poll based on interviews conducted earlier this month and released last week indicates that one in four Americans… continue reading
By Communications Office August 27, 2007
Nan Talese, publisher and James Frey advocate, made a stir late last month when she spoke at the Mayborn Literary Nonfiction Writers Conference in Grapevine, Texas and lambasted Oprah Winfrey as… continue reading
By Communications Office August 24, 2007
Jack Agüeros was born in Harlem in 1934. He became a community activist and writer, concentrating on issues surrounding immigration, specifically identifying and exploring the Puerto Rican… continue reading
By Administrator August 23, 2007
This year marks the 50th anniversary of the first publication of Jack Kerouac's On the Road . Since 1957, the now-iconic book has been graphically interpreted in the form of dozens of book covers… continue reading
By Communications Office August 22, 2007