Fiber Arts Group 1 MEETS WEEKLY – Every Tuesday, 2 to 4 PM, Main room
NEW DATES! Fiber Arts Group 2MEETS MONTHLY – Third Mondays of the month: December 18. 5:30-7:00 PM., in the Downstairs Community Room.
Craving for a crafts group to meet up with? Want to connect, socially, with other creatives working on portable crafts projects? Looking to share your crafts project or project ideas with other creatives? Stop by the Library – bring a portable craft project (knitting, crocheting, hand-sewing, embroidery, jewelry, etc) that you are working on. Don’t know how, but want to learn to hand-craft from others who are passionate about their projects? Stop in and watch and learn some basics.
Lots of News from The Free Library of Philadelphia!
Here’s their October 2023 email.
The Free Library of Philadelphia Foundation
Autumn at the Library!
Pumpkin spice season is upon us, and the Free Library is a great place to celebrate all things autumn! The Library’s event calender is jam-packed with festive fun, from pumpkin painting and fall-themed crafts to storytimes and even a fall festival! Our catalog features fall reads for all ages, including pumpkin picture books for the little ones in your life.
Expanded Hours
We are happy to announce that the Free Library of Philadelphia is updating its hours of operation in many neighborhood libraries, as well as at Parkway Central Library! Every location will remain open until at least 5:00 p.m. on weekdays and as late as 7:00 p.m. at many of the neighborhood libraries, while Parkway Central Library will be open until 8:00 p.m on weekdays.
These changes will go into effect on Monday, October 16. For details and information on your library, visit our blog. Additionally, planning is underway to restore Saturday hours across our system.
It’s Banned Books Week!
October 1–7, 2023 is Banned Books Week, and this year’s theme is “Let Freedom Read!” This important observance began in 1982 in response to a surge in book challenges in libraries, schools, and bookstores with the aim of bringing together the literary and education communities under the shared goal of open access to information and knowledge.
At a time when library collections are increasingly under scrutiny by political groups seeking to limit people’s access to free and open information, it is more important than ever to exercise our freedom to read. Visit the Free Library’s blog now for more information, including a list of some of the most widely challenged books of the past year that are available in the Free Library’s catalog.
Free Library Author Events
Conversations this month include:
Siddhartha Mukherjee (The Song of the Cell: An Exploration of Medicine and the New Human) on Thursday, October 5;
Ayana Mathis (The Unsettled: A Novel) on Tuesday, October 10;
Rachel Maddow (Prequel: An American Fight Against Fascism) on Sunday, October 15 at 4:00 p.m.; and
Nikhil Goyal (Live to See the Day: Coming of Age in American Poverty) on Thursday, October 19.
All events are in person and start at 7:30 p.m., unless otherwise noted. Non-ticketed events are pay what you wish.
More To Explore in September
The Free Library offers thousands of events across our system each year, some in-person and some virtual, as well as robust services and resources! Visit our website to find something that interests you! Here’s a sampling of what you can expect to find this month:
Join the Knee-Hi Society—the Library’s membership program for families with children 12 and under—for a storytime on October 27 at 10:30 a.m. in Shakespeare Park, right across from Parkway Central Library! Intended for children six and under but a good time for all, this event will include a special guest and will be followed by a tour of the Library’s Children’s Department! For more details or to RSVP, visit our website.
The newest exhibition in Parkway Central Library opens this week! The Art and Influence of John Dowellwill be on view through March 1, 2024, and spans both the second and third floors of the building. The exhibition features prints and photographs from the Philadelphia artist, celebrating a 50-year relationship between Dowell and the Free Library while expoloring his life as an artist and educator. If you’re interested in learning more before you visit, check out the exhibition audio guide today.
Reading Promise Week is set for October 7-15! Philadelphia’s annual family literacy festival, brought to you by our friends at Read by 4th, brings free literacy events, books, and resources to families across the city. The goal is to increase access to quality reading materials as well as to highlight local resources, help build positive home literacy habits, and address the early literacy crisis through community strengths and joy.
The Free Library will be closed on Monday, October 9 in observance of Indigenous Peoples’ Day. Find up-to-date information on neighborhood library closures on the Library’s Locations page.
The Free Library is one of the most important educational and cultural institutions in Philadelphia. While the City of Philadelphia provides public funds for the operations of the Free Library, it is through the Free Library of Philadelphia Foundation and the generosity of private funding from individuals, foundations, and corporations that the Free Library is able to offer many of the Library’s incredible programs and activities that advance literacy, guide learning, inspire curiosity throughout the region, and help deliver on the promise of an equitable future for all of Philadelphia’s children, families, and communities.
Our Values The Friends of the Falls of Schuylkill Library is an all-volunteer community member organization promoting the Falls of Schuylkill Library’s services and supporting the preservation of the Library, an original Andrew Carnegie funded library. • The Friends value our library for its history, its central location, and its content which is free to everyone. • We value the Library as a community meeting place; it is the heart of East Falls. • We value literacy and library programs that work toward it. • We value meeting the needs of a diverse community by encouraging and funding library programs open to anyone, whether a library card holder or not. • We value cooperation with other East Falls organizations in supporting a vibrant community.
If you have any questions please contact us Click Here
Pumpkin spice season is upon us, and the Free Library is a great place to celebrate all things autumn! The Library’s 
location will remain open until at least 5:00 p.m. on weekdays and as late as 7:00 p.m. at many of the neighborhood libraries, while Parkway Central Library will be open until 8:00 p.m on weekdays.
October 1–7, 2023 is 
