Tagged Reading

Manga 101: Related Concepts

In our Manga 101 series, we’ve answered some frequently asked questions , defined some common manga terms , and looked at some of the most popular manga genres found at the Free Library. This time, we’ll take a look at other…

Nurturing Your Baby in the Womb: The Benefits of Prenatal Education

Pregnancy is an amazing journey filled with excitement, wonder, and the anticipation of meeting your little one for the first time. Even before birth, it’s a time when parents typically start thinking about how they can provide…

Manga 101 - Horror

In our last Manga 101 installments, we touched on romance and LGBTQIA+ themes in manga. This time, we’ll take a look at a new genre:  horror . Though the roots of manga can be traced back through centuries of Japanese art,…

Manga 101: BL, GL, and Beyond

In our previous Manga 101 installment, we covered romance manga. This time, we’ll take a look at two subgenres of romance manga (BL and GL), as well as some non-romantic LGBTQ+ manga.  BL BL is an abbreviation for Boys’…

Manga 101: Romance

Previous Manga 101 installments took a look at isekai and sports manga; this time, we’ll explore another popular genre of manga: romance .  From poignant stories of high school love to doomed romances with supernatural…

Manga 101: Sports

In the previous Manga 101 installment, we took a look at the manga genre known as isekai . Now, we’ll continue with an exploration of another popular manga genre: sports! Sports manga as a genre is precisely what it sounds like…

Manga 101: Isekai

One way of classifying manga is by demographic categories like shonen and shojo (for more information, check out the previous Manga 101 blog post ). However, manga can also be divided into genres of similar subject matter. While…

Manga 101: Demographic Categories

Manga is often published chapter-by-chapter in anthology magazines which are marketed towards particular audiences. Some magazines focus on specific genres of manga (like fantasy, romance, etc.) while others publish stories in a variety…

Manga 101: Answering Common Questions

Some of the most popular titles at the Field Teen Center are manga, or Japanese graphic novels. Manga includes a wide range of genres and art styles with more than 100 titles in our collections. Navigating it all can be overwhelming,…

The Overdrive App is Being Replaced with Libby

What is Overdrive? Overdrive is the Free Library of Philadelphia’s portal to thousands of e-books, e-audiobooks, and e-magazines that you can read for free using your Free Library of Philadelphia library card. In April 2023, the…

Explore the Message of Swami Vivekananda With Our Interfaith Reading Group

The Education, Philosophy, and Religion Department strives to offer engaging and informative programs that touch on the wide variety of topics included within our collection of materials. Our upcoming program, The Message of Swami…

Announcing the 2023 One Book, One Philadelphia Selections

One Book, One Philadelphia is a signature project of the Free Library of Philadelphia that promotes literacy, library usage, and civic dialogue by encouraging the entire greater Philadelphia area to come together through reading and…

Dena's Favorite Books of 2022

Welcome to Year 11 of my annual list of favorite books and the third year of pandemic reading! I've started getting my reading mojo back and have been spending a bit more time reading than watching tv this year—268 books read…

The Adult Literacy Book Club's Fall Book Selection

With fall approaching, what better time than now to join the Adult Literacy Book Club , presented by the Free Library's Languages and Learning Center ! Improve your reading skills while reading and discussing interesting books as we…

2022 One Book, One Philadelphia: Sharing Generational Stories

"Our goal is to always promote literacy, encourage civic dialog, and amplify community storytelling." – Jim Kenney, Mayor of Philadelphia. This year’s One Book, One Philadelphia selection, My Broken Language by…

Adult Literacy Book Club's Winter Book Selection

Join the Adult Literacy Book Club, presented by the Free Library's Languages and Learning Center and Beyond Literacy . Improve your reading skills while reading and discussing interesting books! Don't always have a lot of time…

Improve Your Reading Comprehension Skills with the Free Library

The Free Library has many resources and programs for Philadelphians of all ages to improve their reading skills! Read, Baby, Read is a Free Library initiative focused on encouraging early literacy development among infants and young…

Dena's Favorite Books of 2021

It's that time of year again for my annual list of favorite books from the Philbrick Hall Fiction Department at Parkway Central Library ! Welcome to the tenth anniversary of this yearly list and the second year of pandemic reading!…

A Summer of Service: What I Learned on Philly's Play Streets

Marian Sosa spent the summer volunteering for the Free Library, with Youth Services , the Summer of Wonder , and on Philadelphia's Play Streets . Here is what she had to say about her experience... Summer in the streets of…

Celebrate Young Readers Day!

Young Readers Day was first created by a collaboration between the Library of Congress and the reading-incentives program with pizza rewards, Book It! We will happily take any excuse to celebrate reading with kids! Why is reading…