OFF theSHELF SPRING 2014 A MAGAZINE FROM the Free Library of Philadelphia VOLUME 3 • ISSUE 2 3 • ISSUE VOLUME
Harolyn Holton Liz Heideman Acting Head of Security Marion Parkinson Children’s Librarian Cluster Leader Parkway Central Library Philadelphia City Institute North Philadelphia Neighborhood Libraries
THE Faces of the Free
Bob Rubenstein Veronica Britto Library Assistant 2 Branch Head Library Parkway Central Library David Cohen Ogontz Library
Renovation update Also inside News from around the system The Final Word with Helen Oyeyemi Secure the Free Libr ary’s Future T oday
Making a gift through your will—a bequest—to the Free Library of Philadelphia Foundation will help to ensure that the Free Library will continue to transform lives for generations to come, all while providing your heirs with potential estate tax advantages. A bequest can benefit a wide variety of programs and services at the Free Library or be restricted to support your favorite neighborhood library. Regardless of how you choose to designate your gift today, your support secures the future of the Free Library of Philadelphia for tomorrow’s customers. If you have already made arrangements to provide for the Free Library Foundation through your estate, please let us know so that we may thank you!
Now offering Charitable Gift Annuities! To learn more about our CGA rates or making a planned gift through a bequest or gift of insurance, please contact Amanda Goldstein at 215-567-7710, ext. 538 or gold [email protected].
Not intended as legal, tax, or investment advice
A SELECTION OF UPCOMING AUTHOR EVENTS
FOR MORE Info: 215-567-4341 • freelibrary.org/authorevents
APR 22 • 7:30 PM APR 24 • 7:30 PM APR 29 • 7:30 PM MAY 1 • 7:30 PM MAY 6 • 7:30 PM
FREE TICKET REQUIRED FREE TICKET REQUIRED FREE Francine Prose Marlo Thomas Ralph Nader Lovers at the Chameleon It Ain’t Over . . . Till It’s Over: Amartya Sen Unstoppable: Club, Paris 1932 Reinventing Your Life-- An Uncertain Glory: India The Emerging Right-Left Elise Juska and Realizing Your Dreams-- Alliance to Dismantle with and its Contradictions The Blessings Any Time, at Any Age the Corporate State Mona Simpson with Casebook Akhil Sharma MAY 12 • 7:30 PM MAY 13 • 7:30 PM MAY 22 • 7:30 PM MAY 29 • 7:30 PM Family Life FREE FREE FREE TICKET REQUIRED and Sebastian Barry Roz Chast Sandra Tsing Loh Michael Philippe Petit The Temporary Gentleman Can’t We Talk about The Madwoman Cunningham Creativity: The Perfect Crime Something More Pleasant in the Volvo The Snow Queen
The eighth annual Philadelphia Book Festival runs April 13 through April 19. Details on page 5 and at freelibrary.org From the President and Director
Welcome to the spring 2014 edition of Off the Shelf. You’ll no doubt spot a common theme running throughout this issue: Whether we’re celebrating Free Library of Philadelphia the Year of the Bard, kicking off the Philadelphia President and Director Siobhan A. Reardon Book Festival, or revolutionizing the way we serve Associate Director our customers, it is our librarians and staff who truly Dr. Joseph McPeak bring our programs and services to life. Vice President of Development Melissa B. Greenberg When we underwent our strategic planning process several years ago,
Vice President of External Affairs providing great, focused customer service was at the core of every Sandra Horrocks decision we made. And at the heart of great customer service is our
Director of Communications richest resource: our dedicated librarians and staff. and Brand Marketing Alix Gerz You will read about just a few of them in this issue’s feature article, “The Faces of the Free Library.” Each day, members of our team tirelessly SENIOR Writer AND Editor Michelle Saraceni Sheffer work to advance literacy, guide learning, and inspire curiosity in Philadelphians of all ages and backgrounds. Working at a library is no COMMUNICATIONS AND PRODUCTION COORDINATOR easy task, yet these individuals make it seem effortless as they lead Eileen Owens storytimes, host lively programs, and ensure that the library is a
Free Library of welcoming and safe place for all. Philadelphia Foundation 1901 Vine Street, Suite 111 In order to truly let our librarians and staff shine, we recently Philadelphia, PA 19103 underwent an organizational restructuring, creating strategic groups, or 215-567-7710 “clusters,” of libraries that are able to share staff, ideas, and resources to freelibrary.org/support create a more streamlined customer experience. Be sure to turn to From OFF THE SHELF the Neighborhoods to learn more about this groundbreaking initiative. [email protected] freelibrary.org/publications In these pages you’ll also get a peek at a Hidden Gem from The Off the Shelf is published twice annually Rosenbach of the Free Library of Philadelphia, catch up on all the latest for supporters of the Free Library of news and notes from around the system, and read what author Helen Philadelphia Foundation and showcases the Library’s educational, economic, Oyeyemi has to say about life and libraries. Enjoy! and cultural contributions to the region.
ON THE COVER: FIVE of our stellar Warmly, librarians and staff who work tirelessly to advance literacy, guide learning, and inspire curiosity Below: Librarians Liz Heideman and Veronica Britto check out a literacy app for children. Siobhan A. Reardon Photo credit: Ryan Brandenberg PRESIDENT AND DIRECTOR
WHAT’S INSIDE 8 tHe Faces of the Free Library: Profiles in Excellence
4 News and Notes 6 HIDDEN GEMS: Shakespeare’s Life in Paper 7 focus on: STUNNING SPACES 12 Putting the ‘Neighborhood’ in Neighborhood Libraries: A New Model for Library Service 14 The Final Word: Helen Oyeyemi 15 BOARD LISTS The Library recently completed one of the largest library card drives in its history! Ninety-eight thousand students in the School District of Philadelphia—from Kindergarteners to high school seniors— received cards so that now every student has a Free Library card.
All the world was a stage at the Parkway Central Library on December 7 as guests gathered for the Ball for the Bard to celebrate 450 years of the incomparable William Shakespeare, from the theatre stalls of Elizabethan England to the vibrant streets of 21st-century Philadelphia. The Ball for the Bard offered guests a spectacular evening of poetry and performance, dinner and dancing—all in honor of the Bard and in support of the Free Library! Photo c redit:K elly & Massa Photogra p hy
CLOCKWISE FROM TOP LEFT: Left to right: The Bard himself with Library President and Director Siobhan A. Reardon, Arthur Spector, Miriam Spector, Jim Reardon, and Shakespeare’s First Folio Left to right: Emily Riley, Eleanor Davis, AND Ball co-chairs Stacey Spector and Ira Brind Left to right: Board of Directors member Susan Smith with Leslie Stiles, Mike Stiles, Marjorie Rendell, and Lyn Montgomery Ball co-chairs Cookie and Ralph Smith Ball co-chairs John and Janet Haas
{ 4 } { 5 } PHOTO CREDIT: JOEL NICHOLS
1
AROUND THE SYSTEM R TOME
2 RN E R CO CU S
Pat LePera can’t remember a time when she wasn’t a card-carrying Free Library customer: “The library is the only club I’ve been a member of my whole life.”
She got her first library card at the age of five, and since then, her neighborhood libraries have tracked her path around the city: from Holmesburg to Katharine Drexel, 3 Chestnut Hill, Bushrod, and now Walnut Street West.
Her parents, avid library lovers, instilled in her a deep 4 appreciation of reading and a love of libraries at an early age. Their neighborhood library was Tacony, and her father visited religiously. He returned and checked out new books every third Friday of the month; in fact, it was one of the last things he did before he died. In honor of what would have been her father’s 75th birthday, Pat generously donated funding for benches in Tacony’s reading garden. The benches, which bear her father’s name, create a serene setting for customers to Photo credit: Curt Hudson
enjoy the Tacony Library as much as he did. 1 Children at Durham Library experiment with e-Textiles, Now President at SteegeThomson Communications and a part making plush monsters with of the Free Library Foundation’s George S. Pepper Society, Pat light-up eyes. believes in the extraordinary power people gain when they 2 Afterschool program leader Blake Boenecke created have access to a library. “Books changes lives, they broaden our finger puppets for children world,” she says. “It’s a path to lifelong learning.” at Independence Library to cut, color, and act out their The love of libraries passed down from Pat’s parents still own Nutcracker.
hasn’t left her. “I’ve never gotten over my wonder that all of 3 Northeast Regional Library celebrates its these books were available to me, for free. The library is an 50th anniversary with ribbon dancing. open door to the world.” 4 Oak Lane Library celebrates Martin Luther King, Jr. Day with an oratorical contest.
Join us for a celebration of literacy and the arts! This beloved celebration continues with events at neighborhood libraries throughout the city, along with headlining author events in the Parkway Central Library’s Montgomery Auditorium, during National Library week from April 13-19, 2014. The Book Festival now stretches into every Philadelphia community, ensuring that book worms and literacy lovers from across the city can get in on the fun. Headlining authors that will appear throughout the week at Parkway Central include Debbie Macomber, Barbara Ehrenreich, and Food Network stars Pat and Gina Neely.
Details at freelibrary.org/festival.
{ 4 } { 5 } HIDDEN GEMS Shakespeare’s Life in Paper
# To get a glimpse of He eventually published a catalogue 15 of the renowned pieces and even sent England in Shakespeare’s them to be exhibited at a Shakespeare time, one need to go only Jubilee in Stratford in 1830. While Photo c redit: EILEEN OWENS Fuller says that little is known about as far as Philadelphia’s how the models came into the Delancey Place. possession of A.S.W. Rosenbach (and eventually the museum), a researcher Nestled in The Rosenbach of the Free once posited that they crossed the Library of Philadelphia’s cozy, wood- Atlantic in 1837 when American paneled East Library sits a series of actor Edwin Forrest returned to 11 one-of-a-kind paper models paying Philadelphia from London with his tribute to places of importance in new British wife, an actress with William Shakespeare’s life. Designed possible ties to Clara Fisher. around 1830, the models range from his birthplace and Anne Hathaway’s Fuller says that aside from being cottage to the Globe Theatre and imaginative, beautiful, and truly rare, a manor house in Stratford where the real importance of the models unfounded legend has it that the lies in the fact that their existence
Bard poached some local deer. The Photo c redit: c highlights the great interest in models are incredibly intricate; Shakespeare during the late 18th and thatched roofs, peacock tail feathers, early 19th centuries. “This was really and even the little gloves hanging in the period where Shakespeare became the window of Shakespeare’s father’s ourtesy of the R osenba the greatest English playwright,” shop are made of paper. Fuller says. “He had truly transformed from one extraordinary writer in According to Rosenbach Librarian an extraordinary age to the singular Elizabeth Fuller, the little genius we know him as today.” masterpieces were made by an Englishman named Frederick George A peek at the models is c h Fisher who crafted them for his featured on house tours daughter Clara, who was a child of The Rosenbach of the actress and collector of all things Free Library of Philadelphia Shakespeare. Fisher originally Foundation. Hours and ticket created 20 models, of which the prices at rosenbach.org. Rosenbach has 11; the location— And to learn more of the indeed the existence—of the “singular genius” of William remaining nine models Shakespeare, celebrate is unknown. The Year of the Bard: Shakespeare at 450 with Fisher’s little replicas caused such the Free Library. Details at TOP: The Rosenbach’s paper model of Shakespeare’s a stir that he said he became a Globe Theatre, circa 1830. 1954.2087.001 freelibrary.org/bard. prisoner in his own home, constantly BOTTOM: A broadside advertising the models. EL3.AIju welcoming visitors to see the models. • • • BY ALIX GERZ
{ 6 } { 7 } FOCUS Stunning Spaces ON
PHOTO CREDIT: Kelly & Massa photography PHOTO CREDIT: EILEEN OWENS
LEFT: The William B. Dietrich Gallery opened on January 29 with the Shakespeare for All Time exhibition. In the foreground, Rare Book Department Head Janine Pollock greEts visitors. RIGHT: A new kitchen will be the home for a new series of culinary literacy programs as well as the caterers for special events.
The Free Library continued its work of “Building Inspiration” at the Parkway Central Library with the recent unveiling of a series of completed renovations meant to enhance the public space in the historic Beaux-Arts beauty.
On January 29 the Rare Book Department revealed the new can be merged into one larger space, a demonstration kitchen William B. Dietrich Gallery, a 1,000-square-foot exhibition space for culinary literacy programming, and an enlarged Skyline for special changing exhibitions. The inaugural exhibition in Room event space—to be used for everything from Free Library the striking new gallery is Shakespeare for All Time—held in soirées and meetings to roof-top weddings—with a state-of-the-art conjunction with the Free Library’s Year of the Bard celebrations— catering kitchen. which runs through May 31 and features the Library’s copy of Shakespeare’s renowned First Folio. Additional Rare Book Each of these major renovation efforts were Department renovations include updated museum-quality undertaken as part of the “Building Inspiration” conservation areas and an upgraded space for the Theatre plans to renovate and restore Parkway Central Collection, which resides in the Department. in strategic phases. Stay tuned to Off the Shelf Even more dramatic is the work that was undertaken on the and freelibrary.org for updates on future Fourth Floor and is nearing completion. An outdated kitchen, renovations at Parkway Central! moderately-sized event space, and several smaller rooms and offices were replaced with new adjoining conference rooms that • • • BY ALIX GERZ
LEFT: Celebrating the grand opening of the new William B. Dietrich gallery were: ROBERT Heim, Chair of the Free Library of Philadelphia Board of Trustees; Siobhan A. Reardon, President and Director of the Free Library; Tobey Dicther, Chair of the Free Library of Philadelphia Foundation Board of Directors; and John Soroko, member of the free library board of trustees and the William B. DietRich Foundation. RIGHT: The renovated and expanded Skyline Room will be home to meetings, soirÉes, and other special events.
PHOTO CREDIT: Kelly & Massa photography PHOTO CREDIT: eileen owens { 6 } { 7 } • • • By Michelle Saraceni Sheffer
The Faces of All photos by Ryan Brandenberg the Free Library: Profiles in Excellence
Helping Philadelphians find everything from a new favorite book to a new job, the talented staff of the Free Library of Philadelphia truly brings this great institution to life. Below, read more about how five staff members, through their unique talents, help advance literacy, guide learning, and inspire curiosity every day.
{ 8 } { 9 } Veronica Britto Branch Head, David Cohen Ogontz Library
Inquisitive, friendly, and always willing to lend a hand, librarian Veronica Britto loves to connect library visitors of all ages with everything from her favorite page-turners to the crucial information they need to improve their lives. There’s never a dull day for her as the Branch Head at David Cohen Ogontz Library: One minute, she may be helping an ex-offender create a résumé and get back on his or yan Brandenberg All photos by R her feet, and then next, she’s energetically singing ABCs with a group of toddlers while they wiggle in their seats.
“The longer I work as a librarian in the public library, the more I grow to appreciate how much the community needs libraries—and, of course, librarians to guide them along the way,” she says. “The Free Library is a free and public way to educate oneself on matters to improve one’s home, workplace, and society. I consider it a great blessing to be a part of an organization whose goal is to improve society through lifelong education.”
Veronica remembers fondly two young sisters who regularly visited her when she worked at Logan Library and devoured every book they could get their hands on. The sisters eventually moved away to South Philadelphia, but one day rode the subway the whole way back up to Logan just to see how Veronica was doing and to give her personal thank you letters that they had written.
“After we had spoken and they left before it got dark outside, I excused myself to the staff workroom to wipe away my tears of gratitude,” she says. “Whenever I have a challenging day, I think of my little sisters, and can hear them say, ‘Miss Veronica, give me something good to read.’”
Liz Heideman Children’s Librarian, Philadelphia City Institute
She may not carry a fancy wand or don a flowing wizard’s cape—most days—but children’s librarian Liz Heideman certainly makes magic happen every day at the Philadelphia City Institute on Rittenhouse Square. From leading lively storytimes for the library’s littlest visitors to connecting eager school students with books on any topic under the sun, Liz works tirelessly to spark the imagination and nurture the curiosity of all the children who come to the library.
“This job is a calling for me,” she says. “I can’t imagine doing anything else and having it be a fraction as fulfilling.”
Liz knew she wanted to be a librarian from a young age, thanks to the powers of her school librarian. “She could always find books I would like, even when I wouldn’t tell her what I was looking for. I was convinced that she was magic, and I still think a good librarian is part magician.”
Liz puts her own powers to great use by not only sharing great books and stories, but by designing interactive and engaging programs that foster a love of reading and learning. One summertime stories-and-experiments series was so popular that a parent asked Liz for her plans for the next few weeks, as the family was going on vacation and her son was devastated to be missing his “library science program.” And Liz is always working to put more and more children and families under her spell and bring them to the library, enchanting them with the power of books and ideas.
“There isn’t a small child who comes into the library who doesn’t think that it’s a magical place, and all of the library staff are part of creating that world,” she says. “Keep up the sorcery, everyone!”
{ 8 } { 9 } Harolyn Holton Acting Head of Security, Parkway Central Library
The oldest of seven siblings, Harolyn Holton knows a thing or two about fair-minded and flexible leadership. And as a single mother who raised her two daughters into the successful women they are today, Harolyn also knows all about the importance of a strong work ethic. As a result, she ensures that the Parkway Central Library is a warm, welcoming, and safe place for all.
Harolyn worked her way up at the Free Library over the past 20 years, from a part-time guard position to full time on the rotating overnight shift and now her current role as Acting Head of Security at Parkway Central. She loves to read, loves to laugh, and takes care to treat everyone with the respect they deserve, from homeless customers to the Library’s top donors.
“It all boils down to how you carry yourself and treat others,” she says. “I want to create a positive environment—comfortable, pleasant, and safe.”
Her fair manner hasn’t gone unnoticed. While waiting for a bus alone late in the evening after her shift, a homeless man who often used the library made sure she got on safely and thanked her for the way she always treated him with dignity.
“I just believe that what goes around comes around,” she says. “If you put good actions and words out into the world, good things will come back to you.” Harolyn has fetched missing TAFF... flowers and calmed frayed OUR LIBRARIANS AND S emotions during weddings held at the library; she’s also helped connect homeless Speak more than 30 languages visitors with the social services they need to get Answer 3 million reference questions fresh clothes or a warm meal. Underscoring it all is her deep commitment to serving others. Host 25,000 programs With Harolyn, Parkway Central Library is in good hands. Circulate more than 6.5 million books and other materials
{ 10 } { 11 } Marion Parkinson Cluster Leader, North Philadelphia Neighborhood Libraries
Avid reader Marion Parkinson always loved the library as a child, but never had the idea that she could become a librarian. But through the years of hard work, a dash of serendipity, and a spirited sense of “why not?”, this dedicated Administrative Librarian now leads one of the most innovative and important Free Library initiatives to have been developed under its strategic plan: the North Philadelphia Neighborhood Libraries pilot cluster. Through this new model, libraries within the same community will work together to share staff and resources and to create new programs in response to their community’s needs. (Read more about the cluster model on page 12.)
As cluster leader, Marion says that a “typical” day can include any or all of the following: Talking to staff about the cluster. Talking to other agencies about the cluster. Writing about the cluster. Thinking about the cluster. Dreaming about the cluster…
…you get the idea. But she wouldn’t have it any other way.
“The energy around the cluster is infectious,” she says. Staff members are excited to work together to make great things happen, including planning and organizing the “Book It!” Fun Run, which will take place on June 7 and which Marion hopes will raise funds to help implement some of their additional plans and ideas.
“Like a proud mother, I’m seeing success in the small things. Every example of collaboration is a win,” she says. Her staff members are also particularly driven to make the cluster a beacon in the community and a safe haven, as five of the six libraries sit in some of the most dangerous police districts in the city. With a capable and encouraging leader like Marion, the future of the cluster looks nothing but bright.
Bob Rubenstein Library Assistant 2, Parkway Central Library
The Free Library strives to provide equal access to information, helping people find what they need to improve their lives. No one makes information quite as fun, however, as Library Assistant 2 Bob Rubenstein, the Free Library’s resident trivia guru and host of the beloved Trivia with Bob quiz game.
Bob has worked at the Library for 25 years, the past six in the General Information Department at Parkway Central. You’ve seen his friendly face at the lobby desk, answering thousands of questions from the routine to the truly bizarre. Bob is so knowledgeable, in fact, that he served as the phone-a-friend for a pal who appeared on an episode of Who Wants to Be a Millionaire?, helping him win a $50,000 prize. (The clinching answer? Blue Oyster Cult—the band spoofed in Saturday Night Live’s famous “more cowbell” sketch.)
When he’s not answering the questions, Bob’s busy asking them. Trivia with Bob debuted in January 2012 at Parkway Central to an audience of 85 eager players. Working without a budget, he was able to secure donations from area businesses, and since then, the program has become a much-anticipated Free Library staple. He has even brought Trivia with Bob on the road to other neighborhood libraries for special events and occasions.
“I think people like coming here because you don’t have to buy anything to play,” he says. “And we’re able to offer really nice prizes, like restaurant gift certificates and signed books from Author Events.”
Bob’s favorite nugget of trivia? It seems like an easy one: What’s the third largest city in Pennsylvania? “Everyone guesses Harrisburg,” he says, “but Harrisburg is tiny. It’s actually Allentown.”Whether he’s answering questions or asking them, Bob’s talent for trivia brings information to life.
{ 10 } { 11 } from the S NEIGHBORHOOD Putting the ‘Neighborhood’ in Neighborhood Libraries: A New Model for Library Service
The neighborhood libraries have resources not only within the library itself, but at schools, community always been a staple of their centers, or wherever the residents need them most. “By moving over to the cluster model, we are pooling many resources Philadelphia communities. And and adapting them to meet the needs of our area of the city,” says since Philadelphia is a city of Marion Parkinson, leader of the initial cluster. “It allows for every neighborhoods, our 54-library cluster to have a different area of focus depending on the part of the city. The talents of the staff can be better utilized. We encourage system supports an incredibly everyone, not just librarians, to use their skills and talents in ways they diverse audience. might not have been able to before.”
To continue to serve customers better, The pilot cluster is made up of six North the Free Library is piloting a new cluster Philadelphia libraries: Cecil B. Moore, model within the neighborhood libraries. Kensington, Lillian Marrero, McPherson Through this model, libraries within Square, Ramonita G. de Rodriguez, and the same community will be grouped Widener. As a group, the North Philadelphia together to share staff and resources and Neighborhood Libraries—as their cluster is to focus on specific neighborhood needs known—is committed to providing excellent through new programming initiatives. service that is informed by their customers. The libraries will act independently on “The cluster model is generating more ideas many decisions, working on a local level and allowing more collaboration between to create programming, schedules, and libraries,” Christina Patton, Librarian at community partnerships. And since the Widener remarks. “We are communicating cluster will share staff members, each of more and thinking about programming for the libraries can be open and fully staffed the cluster, not just for our individual branch.” during its scheduled hours. The North Philadelphia cluster created a Although moving to this new model mission statement, promising to deliver will require some flexibility during the consistent service, to develop informative, transition period, Library President and Director Siobhan A. Reardon dynamic programming, and to actively work with community is excited about the benefits of clustering. “By removing the silos that partners to enrich the library. They see their libraries as community sometimes deter collaboration among neighborhood libraries, we havens. Some of the areas they hope to focus on in their cluster are allow librarians and staff to come together to choose what works best early and family literacy, health and wellness information, job seeking, for their specific community.” and specific services to new Americans, seniors, and teens.
The cluster model was developed to better address specific “With all the ideas coming to fruition amongst the staff members in neighborhood needs and to provide reliable, consistent service to the cluster,” says Patton, “the communities of North Philadelphia will customers. With the clusters in place, the neighborhood libraries take receive diverse programming and more community involvement.” on a more collaborative and critical role in their communities. Staff As the cluster program evolves and expands, the Free Library is from each of the clusters works together to tackle the most important looking forward to bringing this community-focused service across issues facing their customers, whether that’s healthcare needs, early Philadelphia. literacy development, or support for new Americans. Stepping out • • • BY EILEEN OWENS from behind their desks, area librarians can offer guidance and
{ 12 } { 13 } 100 Years OF Donatucci Library Putting the ‘Neighborhood’ in “If you have a garden and a library, Neighborhood Libraries: you have everything you need.” -Cicero The Free Library’s Thomas F. Donatucci, Sr. Library (formerly known as the Passyunk Library) in South Philadelphia’s Girard Estate community is A New Model for Library Service celebrating 100 years of service! The Library was constructed in 1913 and opened to the public in April 1914. The Donatucci Library sits on land that was once part of Stephen Girard’s former country estate, Gentilhommiere, which was willed to the City of Philadelphia to create Girard College. In order to continue to fund the school, the Board of City Trusts developed the Gentlihommiere estate in the 1900s and created a planned residential community, including a school and a library. Andrew Carnegie, who at the time was donating millions of dollars to build libraries across the world, provided the seed funding for the Passyunk Library construction in 1913. The library is one of 25 Carnegie libraries built in Philadelphia.
As the building and land are the products of the generosity of two of the wealthiest men in America, the essence of the library is an ever-evolving gift of the customers and volunteers, working with the dedicated staff, who have brought the library to life over the last 100 years. This evolution is a thread that binds Donatucci’s history with our neighbors. The community includes generations of families who have watched the library grow and change. One current and active customer remembers coming to the library as a child some 80 years ago. He came with his father, who had just immigrated to the United States. While he read children’s books, the librarian worked with his father, who was learning English.
Another dedicated customer and supporter is Ron Donatucci, who provided critical assistance in obtaining funding for the library. “The library is important and very special to me and my family. In middle school, I used to sneak away and study there because it was a quiet, peaceful place. It still acts as a gathering place for students and is a focal point of the community. As a citizen, neighbor, and elected city official, I’ll always do anything I can to help the library,” says Ron Donatucci.
In 1997, the library underwent extensive renovations including the creation of a new preschool area and the installation of computers, providing customers with free access to the internet for the first time. More recent developments include the installation of several murals inside the library by local artist Cavin Jones and Wi-Fi access throughout the building. Perhaps most special has been the creation of a public P HOTO C REDIT garden on the library’s extensive grounds for the enjoyment of library customers and community residents, bringing to life the truth that
Cicero spoke more than two millennia ago—that if you have a garden : GLENN HOLSTEN and a library, you have everything you need.
The Donatucci Library will be celebrating its 100th anniversary on Saturday, June 7 in the library and its garden. Programming for all ages will be presented throughout the day including an appearance by Mummers, book talks by local authors, a magic show, and a Venetian carnival in the public garden.
• • • BY David Mariscotti, Branch manager
TOP: Donatucci (then Passyunk) Library in 1919, just a few years after its grand opening. bottom: Donatucci Library today.
{ 12 } { 13 } To listen to the free, downloadable podcast featuring Helen Oyeyemi, visit freelibrary.org/authorevents.
OTS What role have libraries played in your life? Before her 19th birthday, HO Libraries have been very good to me all my life—they’re Helen Oyeyemi had already like infinitely expanding schools where you get to set your own curriculum and there aren’t any tests (unless you want them). My written the highly acclaimed favourite part of writing a novel is usually the bit where I get to novel The Icarus Girl, a story about be surrounded by books and the people who’ve come to silently consult them: I wrote bits of Mr. Fox at the Wellcome Library, a folklore and childhood portrayed medical history library in London, and I remember slowing down at one point, noticing that I was sitting in a section full of books “not through the distancing lens classified as being to do with “female disorders,” and then I of time, but as scary and magical thought, yes, i’m in the right place... as it really was” (San Francisco OTS What role do you think libraries play in our 21st century society? Chronicle). Her 2009 novel White is HO I think libraries fit right in with the internet age in terms of their being that interesting combination of social and anti-social: for Witching, winner of a Somerset Libraries and the internet tend to supplement each other as spaces Maugham Award and a Shirley we go to both for information and mental stimulation. Though, library flirtation is much more fun than internet flirtation, since it Jackson Award finalist, spins the has to be that bit much more mannered and subtle.
“unconventional, intoxicating, and OTS Many of your novels take inspiration from folklore and fairy tales, from Greek and Cuban mythology to Snow White deeply disquieting” (Publishers in your new book, Boy, Snow, Bird. What is it about these Weekly) gothic tale of an old house “classic” stories that sparks your imagination? HO Don’t forget Bluebeard! I like the attitude that many folk tales and a teenaged girl who share and fairy tales have toward transformation—what changes over equally bizarre and increasingly time, what holds fast, which outcomes can be prevented and which can only be lived through—these things are good to know. ravenous appetites. Her newest OTS You wrote your first novel, The Icarus Girl, before novel, Boy, Snow, Bird—named one finishing your A levels in the U.K. (the equivalency of graduating high school here in the U.S.), and you were of 2014’s most anticipated books by recently included in the Granta Best of Young British CNN, The Huffington Post, and more— Novelists list. Has early literary success freed your creativity and career or instead constricted it in some revisits the classic story of Snow ways? How so? HO All of the fun and challenges and constraints have been to White through the prism of a young do with pitting my imagination against the things I want to write mother’s experiences with race and and developing the approach I need along the way. My favorite books and films allow me to be all sorts of ages, so chronology is a family in wintry 1950s Massachusetts. muddle for me anyway.
OTS To you, the Free Library of Philadelphia is also the Free Library of ______. Why? HO It’s the Free Library of Brotherly Love! (Does everybody say that?) It’s a place to discover, sustain, or renew a love of words and their meanings.
{ 14 } { 15 } FREE LIBRARY OF PHILADELPHIA BOARD OF TRUSTEES Make a Difference Chair Robert C. Heim Members Donna Allie Steven M. Altschuler Christopher Arlene Jacqueline Barnett Walmart was again proud to Darwin Beauvais Peter A. Benoliel continue their support as lead sponsor Patricia A. Coulter Pamela Dembe Tobey Gordon Dichter of One Book, One Philadelphia in 2014. W. Wilson Goode, Sr. Melissa Grimm This year’s One Book featured selection, The Yellow Birds, Nancy D. Kolb H.W. Jerome Maddox tells the vivid story of one young soldier’s experience in Noel Mayo Sonia Sanchez Iraq and his struggles upon returning home from war. In Suzanne Simons John J. Soroko honor of our brave and talented service men and women, Sherry A. Swirsky Nicholas D. Torres Walmart has made a commitment to hire any honorably Ignatius C. Wang Shelly Yanoff discharged veteran within his or her first 12 months off Emeritus active duty. The company intends to hire 100,000 veterans Joseph F. Burke Gloria Twine Chisum over the next five years. Armand Della Porta Herman Mattleman Teresa Sarmina
Ex-Officio Michael DiBerardinis Deputy Mayor for the Environment and Community Resources Laura McColgan To learn more about the Veter ans Friends of the Free Library Welcome Home Commitment and Walmart in our community visit www.WalmartPhiladelphia.com. FREE LIBRARY OF PHILADELPHIA FOUNDATION BOARD OF DIRECTORS FOR $25,000
Chair Tobey Gordon Dichter Members Robert Adelson orking Cynthia Affleck Netw James H. Averill Phyllis W. Beck Before the Net: Peter A. Benoliel Sheldon Bonovitz Sharing George Day Andrea Ehrlich Information Daniel K. Fitzpatrick W. Wilson Goode, Sr. in THE Daniel Gordon Richard A. Greenawalt Pre-Digital Age Melissa Grimm Robert C. Heim John Imbesi Philip Jaurigue Geoffrey Kent Alexander Kerr Leslie Miller Printed pamphlets and online commenting; Thomas B. Morris, Jr. Stephanie W. Naidoff telegrams and text messages; 19th-century Instagram. Bernard Newman Patrick M. Oates The Rosenbach of the Free Library of Philadelphia’s Derek N. Pew William R. Sasso newest exhibition, Networking Before the Net asks Susan G. Smith Miriam Spector the fascinating question—has the internet really Stacey Leigh Spector Lenore Steiner changed the ways we communicate? Barbara Sutherland Monica Vachher Jay Weinstein Through June 16, 2014 Larry Weiss EMERITUS Marie Field Elizabeth H. Gemmill rosenbach.org | @RosenbachMuseum | #networkingexhibition A. Morris Williams, Jr.
{ 14 } { 15 } The Year of the Bard continues with events throughout 2014! Visit freelibrary.org/bard for a full calendar.
SUPPORT EVENTS Love, Wit, and Madness: A Shakespearean Creative Writing Workshop THE Wednesday, April 30, 7:00 p.m. • Parkway Central Library, Room 108 Shakespeare Puppet Theater Saturday, May 17, 2:00 p.m. • Lillian Marrero Library
FREE Summer of Shakespeare at the Philadelphia Museum of Art: Shakespeare and Rap Music, Presented by The Philadelphia Shakespeare Theatre Wednesday, June 18, 6:00 p.m. • The Philadelphia Museum of Art, Main Staircase, LIBRARY! 2600 Benjamin Franklin Parkway Commonwealth Classic Theatre Presents Twelfth Night To make a gift to the Thursday, July 10, 7:00 p.m. • Parkway Central Library, Shakespeare Park Foundation, please visit freelibrary.org/support ExhibitionS or call 215-567-7710. Shakespeare for All Time Rare Book Department through May 31
In his dedication to the First Folio Ben Jonson writes of his fellow playwright, “He was not of an age, but for all time.” Shakespeare embodied the Elizabethan age in his plays yet reached back to classical themes and stories. He employed the English language like no other, and his comedies, histories, and tragedies continue to be read, performed, and celebrated today. This exhibition features Shakespeare’s First Folio—one of the rarest books in existence—as well as the second, third, and fourth. It also includes editions of his plays, many beautifully illustrated, over the course of four centuries.