Parkway Central Library has a new “front yard!”

With generous support from the Department of Community and Economic Development of the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania, the Free Library has spent the past few months restoring and improving Shakespeare Park, directly across from our front doors. And we’re excited to announce that the cheerful new Park is now open for all to enjoy! At today’s Grand Opening Celebration, Free Library President and Director Siobhan A. Reardon discussed the importance of having green spaces, like Shakespeare Park, that allow for quiet thought and reflection. The replaced benches and sidewalks, updated outdoor lighting, and fresh landscaping certainly make a warm and welcoming entrance to the Parkway Central Library.

Shakespeare Park is named for the famed Bard, where a memorial created by Stirling Calder (the son of Alexander Calder, who sculpted William Penn on the top of City Hall) stands as a sculpture portrait of a morose Hamlet and Touchstone the fool, together representing Tragedy and Comedy. Fittingly, the Free Library’s Rare Book Department is home to William Shakespeare’s First Folio—and his second, third, and fourth, too!—as well as a comprehensive collection of his plays and scholarly works about his life and literary career.

So what are you waiting for? Come check out a good book, grab a cup of tea from our HOME Page Cafe, and settle into Shakespeare Park for an afternoon of reading!