One of my favorite The Twilight Zone episodes is "Time Enough at Last" which stars the brilliant Burgess Meredith as Henry Bemis. Henry is a lover of books who is constantly belittled for his love of reading. One day, Henry takes his lunch break in the bank vault where he works to get some undisturbed reading time; meanwhile, an “H-bomb” is dropped, killing everyone except Henry, who was safe inside the vault.

Henry deals with the loneliness of being the “last person alive on Earth” and loses all hope--that is, until he sees the public library. Henry realizes he finally has “time enough at last” to read all the books he has always dreamed of reading.

Of course, that’s not the end of the tale, and since we are dealing with The Twilight Zone, I’m pretty sure you can imagine all is not well for Henry. I won’t give away the ending but you can borrow this episode and many more Twilight Zone episodes from the library.

Watch a portion of the television show below (or, watch the full episode):

 You can find full episodes of The Twilight Zone on CBS's website.

Tags: Reviews

On Friday, August 13, Academy Award-winning acress Emma Thompson visited the Parkway Central Library in conjunction with her new film, Nanny McPhee Returns. She spent time answering questions about acting, writing, and movie magic and signing books for a special group of children from several area non-profit organizations, including the Spring Garden Academy and Kids 4 Change.

Thompson wrote the screenplay for Nanny McPhee Returns and its predecessor, Nanny McPhee, in addition to playing the title character. She has portrayed Professor Sybil Trelawney in the Harry Potter movies and Miss Elinor Dashwood in Jane Austen's Sense and Sensibility, among many notable roles. Personally, I loved her in the British rom-com holiday mush fest, Love Actually. Read more about Emma Thompson’s visit in the Inquirer!

Attention Library Lovers: Our economic impact survey will be officially closed on Monday, August 23, so if you haven't yet filled it out, now's your chance! (And if you have, many thanks!) By taking just a few minutes, you can help us illustrate how truly valuable the Free Library of Philadelphia is to our community.

Our President and Director, Siobhan A. Reardon, wrote a powerful op-ed for the Philadelphia Inquirer this week about the Library's economic impact on the city as well as the importance of this survey. As she says in her op-ed:

"People who work in or patronize the city's library branches can tell you they know in their gut that the library is building literacy and learning and having a direct economic impact. But in these challenging times, when all institutions are being asked to prove their worth and relevance, we at the Free Library of Philadelphia have set out to give the city real, hard numbers that show the return on investment in libraries."

Read the entire op-ed here: http://www.philly.com/inquirer/opinion/20100819_Measuring_libraries__impact.html

“I will never forget the destruction and suffering I have witnessed today. In the past I have visited the scenes of many natural disasters around the world, but nothing like this."

Secretary-General of the United Nations, Ban Ki-moon

Thousands of people have been killed by recent massive floods in Pakistan, which have washed away millions of hectares of crops, submerged villages, destroyed roads and bridges, and spread disease among survivors. While the disaster does not appear to be getting the press in the United States that the Haitian earthquakes did, its scope and impact is no less dire, and it is receiving worldwide attention and support.

If you are looking for information on the disaster and how to help, here are a few sites to visit:

• One Response Pakistan - A portal to humanitarian resources and news related to the disaster; managed by the UN/OCHA
• BBC Special Reports: Pakistan Floods - News and reports related to the floods
• US Department of State - Site includes press releases, footage, fact sheets and a list of ways to give
• American Red Cross - Has a fund set aside specifically for Pakistan Disaster Relief and Development
• UNICEF - UNICEF's fund to support flood victims
• UN Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs - Contains reports and data on the disaster and response efforts.

Check out the FTC's guide to avoiding charity fraud.

Need to know more about Pakistan?  Try these resources instead of Wikipedia:

• Background Note: Pakistan - Compiled by the US Department of State; a brief encyclopedic description of the geography and history of Pakistan
• Visit our Databases Page and go to the World Book Discover Encyclopedia for a more detailed country description

Recommended Reading:

Three Cups of Tea - Also available in a Young Reader's Edition, this book describes one man's humanitarian efforts building schools in Pakistan and Afghanistan.

Pictures used with permission:  http://www.flickr.com/photos/dfid/4856605878/  / http://www.flickr.com/photos/jonnystiles/7727038/

Tags: Hot Topics

One of the Free Library’s best resources is also one that’s relatively new to the FLP—the Mayor’s Commission on Literacy. For 21 of its 27 years, the Mayor’s Commission on Literacy was part of the Mayor’s Office (hence the name). In 2004, the MCOL became part of the Free Library, located on the ground floor of Parkway Central with the Reader Development Program and Interlibrary Loan.

The Mayor’s Commission on Literacy is the umbrella for adult education services in Philadelphia. We don’t provide direct educational services, but we coordinate a variety of services, some of which involve subcontracting with direct-service providing agencies. MCOL programs and services vary between more generalized programs that apply to a wider public and more specialized ones that serve narrower audiences. General programs include an information and referral telephone service that helps adults who are looking to improve their basic skills find a program that works for them. The MCOL also recruits and trains volunteer tutors who we then refer to Philadelphia adult literacy agencies.

More specialized MCOL programs include Move Up, an adult education program for Temporary Assistance for Needy Families (TANF) recipients to help them gain the skills they need to find family-sustaining work. The MCOL also launched the College and Career Advancement Program in January 2009. CCAP provides classes in reading, writing, and math for City of Philadelphia employees who want to pursue a college education or advance in their job.  A special component of CCAP is career counseling: participants meet with a career counselor for a total of five hours over the course of a twelve week cycle of classes and attend two group workshops on topics related to college success and workplace skills. The MCOL also coordinates the Philadelphia Professional Development Center—a state funded resource that offers comprehensive professional development and ongoing support to adult education agencies. The PPDC offers customized training, practitioner inquiry groups, networking, technology support, observation and feedback, and technical assistance to the agencies and practitioners within the region.

To learn more about these and other initiatives of the MCOL—or for a referral to an adult education program or to volunteer as a tutor, call the Mayor’s Commission on Literacy at 215-686-5250 or visit our website.

--Jim Landers, MCOL Assistant Executive Director