‘Where Mind Meets Education & Explores History’
The Free Library of Philadelphia is located on Vine Street, not far from Logan Square. This large free standing structure is situated right off of the Ben Franklin Parkway, which could be classified as “Museum Row”. That’s because of such fine museums as the Philadelphia Museum of Art, the Franklin Institute, the Rodin Museum, and others that are in the same vicinity.
Free Library of Philadelphia History
Opening in March 1894, the Free Library of Philadelphia’s first location was three cramped rooms in City Hall. It was then moved to the Old Concert Hall on Chestnut Street on February 11, 1895. But the building was deemed unsafe, unsanitary and had overcrowded quarters. So yet again, it was moved to the northeast corner of 13th and Locust Streets on December 1, 1910.
Finally, plans were to build the massive new library as we see it today, in 1911. But the new Free Library of Philadelphia didn’t open until June 2, 1997, due to unfortunate circumstances such as World War I and other reasons, which halted its progress.
Since then, over the years, there have been numerous branches that have been added to the Free Library system. Today, there are 54 branches citywide, including three larger regional libraries and the Library for the Blind and Physically Handicapped.
Free Library of Philadelphia Experience & Atmosphere
The Free Library of Philadelphia is more than just a hub for book knowledge. It’s like a fine piece of jewelry for the good people of Philadelphia. While the Beaux-Arts styled architecture in itself is worth the visit, it’s what’s inside that makes this location unique to the area.
Visitors can explore a massive collection of rare works, featuring one of the world’s most renowned Charles Dickens collections. They can explore other collections such as that of Edgar Allan Poe, Beatrix Potter, old maps and medieval manuscripts. These special collections have been digitized and can be viewed online.
The Library has 12 million visits annually: 6 million at its 54 locations throughout Philadelphia and another 6 million online at freelibrary.org. The online system itself offers 150 databases, 34,000 ebooks, down-loadable events by authors, daily homework help, and much more.
According to a most recent study at the University of Pennsylvania which was conducted by the 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. On top of that, there were nearly 1,000 individuals who found jobs based on the career resources of the Free Library, and some 8,600 entrepreneurs were able to start or improve their small businesses because of certain programs and resources available at the Library that were free of charge.
The Free Library of Philadelphia is more than just a large Library. It’s part of many communities throughout the City of Philadelphia, to where they will sponsor author reading events and lectures, special exhibits and their annual festival.
References : Some of the information came from Wikipedia.
Location
1901 Vine St
Philadelphia, PA 19103
Hours
Monday – Wednesday | 9 am – 9 pm
Thursday – Saturday | 9 am – 5 pm
Sunday | 1 pm – 5 pm
Phone
(215) 686-5322
Web Site
picture by Jeff Belonger of MyPhillyAlive
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