Every year at this time, it seems like billions of “best of” lists start peppering blogs, newspapers, magazines, and morning news television shows. I gobble them up, despite the fact that the books I read, movies I see, and music I listen to rarely makes those lists. (Why “Kind of Blue” doesn’t receive a special pass to make these lists annually is beyond me.) As a result, I often experience a weird state of panic and try to jam in a few of the notable “best books” before the clock strikes midnight on December 31. This year it’s all about Detroit is the Place to Be and Broken Harbor. How about you? Any books you just have to check off the list before the calendar flips to 2013?

Book Paper Scissors

December 8, 2012

10 am - 4 pm

Parkway Central Library

Book Paper Scissors is an artists' book fair, free and open to the public, accompanied by book and paper workshops.

This festive event features prints, artists' books, handmade paper, zines, origami, blank books, paper sculpture, and jewelry, made by local artists. If it's paper-based art, it's here. Come and buy, or just be inspired! You will find hundreds of affordable and interesting gifts for everyone on your list by artists working in different disciplines at all price levels. This is a great opportunity to view and even handle unique works of art, to shop locally, and to purchase items crafted by hand.

BPS Workshops 2012 – in Room 108 (through the Home Page Café)

A Tale of Two Pamphlets with Erin Paulson

11 am - 12 pm

The pamphlet is a simple and elegant book structure that lends itself to many purposes, from zines to a special hand-written letter. In this workshop we will learn both the three-hole and the five-hole stitch, and you will walk away with two completed books!

 Thaumatropes: Victorian era toys for kids with J. Pascoe and Erin Malkowski

 2 pm - 3 pm

This workshop will explore the amazing versatility of thaumatropes -- a children's toy popular in the Victorian era that is now seen as a precursor to modern animation. Children will learn about and experiment with the thaumatrope as a vehicle to understanding basic animation, eye-hand coordination, and creativity!

Brought to you by Philadelphia Center for the Book and the Art Department of the Free Library of Philadelphia.

This is the first part in a multi-part series looking at tech news and issues relevant to the Free Library of Philadelphia’s customers and patrons.

One of the more recent buzzwords gaining attention in the tech world and in government circles is the idea of “Open Data”. In its simplest definition, it is the sharing of information by everyone, free from restrictions (albeit without violating any copyright laws or rights to privacy), for the common good and betterment of the community.

This past April, Philadelphia joined the ranks of other major U.S. cities such as New York, Chicago, San Francisco and Washington, D.C., in adopting an Open Data Policy to provide increased access to and transparency of data and information in its City government. The policy allows the City to publish collected data online and for the public to have the opportunity to participate in the City agency decision-making processes. After signing the Open Data Initiative into effect, Mayor Michael Nutter assigned Mark Headd as the City of Philadelphia's first Chief Data Officer.

So what does Open Data really mean to you and how can it be used in your everyday life?

Well, you are probably already using it and interacting with it on a daily basis and not even realizing it. Anytime you look up an address or map out directions on Google, you are accessing Open Data. If you call 911 for emergency help, the information from your call is logged into a database that may provide statistics for reports at a later date.

Recently, the Free Library hosted an all-day event in cooperation with City of Philadelphia as part of National GIS Day.

Various uses of Open Data are currently being employed in City Planning, Police Operations, Streets, Emergency Management, and most recent in the development of the Philly 311 app. Online through their website or through its mobile app, you can use Philly 311 to request non-emergency city services and report neighborhood issues such as street light outage, potholes, sanitation and abandoned automobiles.

Through GIS (Geographic Information Systems), the City has developed a robust maps website, CityMaps, that creates detailed maps out of data where you can for example find information on police crime reports and statistics, what day of the week your trash is collected, or to find out the boundaries of a specific city zip code. And this is just a very small sampling of what is currently possible with GIS and Open Data.

Next time, we'll discuss the potential benefits of Open Data for the patrons and customers of the Free Library...

Tags: Events at the Library, Government Information, databases, maps, tech

There's a new face in Philbrick Hall at Central this week - Michael R. has joined the team to be the After School Leader in the Teen Center. 

Michael graduated from Vassar College in 2011, with a major in Art History and a minor in Urban Studies.  At Vassar, he worked at the Frances Lehman Loeb Art Center, developing and teaching outreach art programming for students at Poughkeepsie Middle School.  Through this experience, Michael became interested in the ways public institutions can engage their communities with innovative, exciting, and relevant programming. 

Since graduation, he has worked at the Art Institute of Chicago and the Brooklyn Museum, and currently works at both the Pennsylvania Academy of Fine Arts and the Free Library.  As an artist and educator, Michael is interested in questioning the way we understand ourselves and those around us. 

Outside of his professional life, Michael enjoys baking cupcakes, exploring new cities, and going to museums as frequently as possible.    

Drop by and get to know him!

Tags: Free Library staff, Parkway Central, Teens

The Free Library was saddened to hear about the passing of Michael McGonigle, film lecturer at the Philadelphia Museum of Art. Michael was very generous with his time and talents and donated his time to lecture about film at the Free Library often. Some memorable lectures he has given at the Free Library include “The Titanic in Film,” “Native Americans in Film,” and “Immigrants and the American Dream in Cinema.” Michael was a featured lecturer during our annual One Book, One Philadelphia events and he was eagerly looking forward to dealing with the themes of this year's book, The Buddha in the Attic, by Julie Otsuka.