The Free Library of Philadelphia is the public library system that serves Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. It is the 13th-largest public library system in the United States. Unique among public libraries in the United States, it is neither a city agency nor a nonprofit organization; instead, it is governed by both an independent city agency managed by its own board of directors and a separate nonprofit organization, The Free Library of Philadelphia Foundation.
In fiscal year 2015, the Free Library hosted nearly six million patrons in person and ten million more online.
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History
Founding
The Free Library of Philadelphia was chartered in 1891 as "a general library which shall be free to all", through efforts led by Dr. William Pepper, who secured initial funding through a $225,000 bequest from his wealthy uncle, George S. Pepper. However, several libraries claimed the bequest, and only after the courts decided the money was intended to found a new public library did the Free Library finally open in March 1894. Its first location was three cramped rooms in City Hall. On February 11, 1895, the library was moved to the old Concert Hall at 1217-1221 Chestnut Street. Library officials criticized their new home as "an entirely unsuitable building, where its work is done in unsafe, unsanitary and overcrowded quarters, temporary make-shifts". In December 1, 1910, the Library was moved again, to the northeast corner of 13th and Locust Streets. Today, the Free Library of Philadelphia system is composed of 61 locations including Parkway Central Library, three regional libraries, 49 neighborhood libraries, five community Hot Spots, the Regional Research and Operations Center, and the Rosenbach Museum & Library, which became a subsidiary of the Free Library of Philadelphia Foundation in 2013, retains its own board, and is managed separately from the public library system.
Parkway Central Library
On June 2, 1927, the Parkway Central Library opened for service at its present location at 1901 Vine Street on Logan Square. The building had been in planning since 1911; various obstacles, including World War I, held up progress. The grand Beaux-Arts building was designed by Julian Abele, chief designer in the office of prominent Philadelphia architect Horace Trumbauer, and first opened its doors in 1927. Its design, that of the adjacent Philadelphia Family Court building, and their placement on Logan Circle closely follow that of the Hôtel de Crillon and the Hôtel de la Marine on Paris's Place de la Concorde. In addition to being the main library, the building serves as the system's administrative building.
Mission
The mission of the Free Library of Philadelphia is "to advance literacy, guide learning, and inspire curiosity."
Services
Programs
The Free Library of Philadelphia hosts more than 25,000 events each year, including job-search workshops, small business programming, English as a Second Language conversation groups, and computer classes. The Free Library's Culinary Literacy Center, which opened in the spring of 2014 at the Parkway Central Library, offers culinary classes for children, teens, families, and adults to teach literacy skills through cooking as well as math, chemistry, nutrition, and health. The Library hosts a renowned Author Events Series, which brings more than 100 writers, politicians, scientists, researchers, and musicians to the Free Library annually. The Library also hosts the citywide One Book, One Philadelphia program, which encourages all Philadelphians to read and discuss the same book, fostering community and connection; the Summer Reading program, which engages some 50,000 Philadelphia school children each summer; and the Literacy Enrichment After-school Program (LEAP). In addition, the Free Library hosts months-long celebrations of literary milestones, from the birthdays of influential writers like Charles Dickens and William Shakespeare to the publication anniversaries of groundbreaking titles like Pride and Prejudice and Alice's Adventures in Wonderland.
The Free Library also manages READ! by 4th, a citywide effort of public and private organizations aiming to majorly increase the number of students in Philadelphia entering the 4th grade at reading level by 2020. READ! by 4th's comprehensive strategy includes improving early learning, providing parents with resources to teach their children reading skills, emphasizing summer reading and other strategies to prevent learning loss, decreasing absenteeism by addressing behavioral and health concerns, and enhancing reading instruction in schools.
Digital services
The Free Library's digital offerings include nearly 120,000 ebooks; 1,000 public computers; 1,000-plus author event podcasts; 150 online databases; daily homework and computer literacy classes online; Hot Spot community computer training centers; and the roving Techmobile.
Hot Spots initiative
In March 2011, the library launched Free Library Hot Spots, placing new computer labs and computer trainers in existing community centers in low-income areas of the city. The initiative is funded by the John S. and James L. Knight Foundation and the Broadband Technology Opportunities Program. Each Hot Spot provides computers, internet access, printers, and a small selection of Free Library materials. (These are in addition to the 650 public-access computers and free WiFi throughout the Free Library's 54 branches.)
In April 2012, the Free Library added The Techmobile, a Hot Spot on Wheels, which brings service to neighborhoods throughout Philadelphia. The Techmobile has six public laptops.
Impact
According to a study conducted by Penn's Fels Institute of Government, in 2010 nearly 25,000 people learned to read or taught someone else to read solely because of the resources of the Free Library. In addition, nearly 1,000 people found jobs based on the career resources of the Free Library, and some 8,600 entrepreneurs were able to start, grow or improve their small businesses because of programs and resources available free of charge at the Library.
Special collections
Located at the Parkway Central Library, the Free Library's Special Collections span genres and generations, from ancient cuneiform tablets to historic photographs of Philadelphia. Scholars and curiosity seekers can find inspiration in the unique and rare items that chronicle the history of art, literature, music, and more.
The Rare Book Department features one of the world's most renowned Charles Dickens collections, with first editions, personal letters, and Dickens' stuffed pet raven, Grip, as well as extensive collections of illuminated manuscripts, Americana, Beatrix Potter, early children's books, Edgar Allan Poe, Pennsylvania German folk art, and more. The John Frederick Lewis Collection of European Manuscripts, held at the Rare Book Department, consists of over 200 illuminated manuscripts from the 11th to the 16th centuries (one of the top ten collections in North America), as well as over 2,300 cuttings and manuscripts leaves (possibly the largest such collection in the world). The collection includes over fifty Books of Hours and numerous bibles, liturgical texts, and psalters, including the Lewis Psalter (Lewis E M 185), a masterpiece of Parisian illumination from the reign of Saint Louis. Works of secular literature are also represented. Lewis' illuminated manuscripts are complemented by nine manuscripts from the Widener Collection and manuscripts from various other sources. There is also a strong collection of some 800 incunabula, of which 500 come from the P.A.B. Widerner bequest of 1899. The collection of eastern or oriental manuscripts, also from John Frederick Lewis, contains examples of Arabic, Persian, Indo-Persian, Turkish, Hindustani, Sanskrit, Nepalese, Pali, Siamese, Armenian, Coptic, Ethiopic, Hebrew, Samaritan and Syriac illumination and calligraphy. The 153 oriental manuscripts provide examples of a variety of physical formats, among them books, scrolls, accordion books, and palm-leaf books. In addition, there are some 1,200 separate miniatures. The collection of over 2,800 clay tablets, dating from 3,000 B.C. to 300 B.C., was the gift of Mr. and Mrs. John Frederick Lewis, Sr.
The Free Library's music collections are outstanding, including the Edwin A. Fleisher Collection of Orchestral Music, the largest lending library of orchestral performance sets in the world.
The Automobile Reference Collection is one of the most extensive public resources of its kind, and the Print and Picture Collection houses roughly half a million circulating pictures in the largest public picture lending library in the nation, in addition to thousands of fine art prints, drawings, and photographs. The Theatre Collection contains research materials on the history of American theatre, early film, and popular entertainment. The Free Library also has an extensive special collection devoted to maps. Many of the items in the special collections have been digitized and can be viewed online.
Additionally, the Rosenbach Museum & Library is a subsidiary of the Free Library of Philadelphia Foundation.
Neighborhood libraries
In addition to the Parkway Central Library in downtown Philadelphia, the system operates 54 neighborhood library locations throughout the city. Many of these locations were funded by Andrew Carnegie, who donated US$1.5 million to the library in 1903.<ref name=historyof /
Source of the article : Wikipedia
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