The city is lifting some more coronavirus restrictions imposed on businesses on Nov. 20 due to a spike in new cases. Starting this Saturday, Jan. 16, limited indoor dining at restaurants is allowed to resume. Restaurants can reopen at 25 percent capacity and are allowed to seat only up to four people from the same household at one table. Indoor catering events and entertainment are still not allowed.

“Everyone must wear a mask at all times, especially when they are sitting and eating,” Philadelphia Public Health Commissioner Dr. Thomas Farley said on Tuesday when announcing loosening of indoor dining restrictions. Here’s what this means:  Continue Reading

              Photo courtesy of Penn Museum

Philadelphia libraries and museums have closed their doors again due to the COVID-19 pandemic until at least January 1, 2021, but it doesn’t mean that all events and activities are cancelled. The Free Library of Philadelphia is offering many programs virtually and maintains digital resources – ebooks, audiobooks, movies, TV, music, and more – that you can access anywhere with your library card.

Several Free Library locations, including Walnut Street West Library, have also started offering contactless material pickups and returns. Please visit this page for more details.

Many museums, including the Penn Museum, continue to hold events online, many of them free, for adults and children alike. Check out the Penn Museum’s events calendar for upcoming virtual events and programs.  Continue Reading

After being closed for about 18 months for maintenance and renovations, the Lucien E. Blackwell West Philadelphia Regional Library is set to reopen this weekend. The grand opening celebration will take place on Saturday, May 20, 11 a.m.-3 p.m. and will include a block party featuring fun learning activities, balloon art, face painting, giveaways, library card sign-ups, food, and more.

One of the area’s largest libraries, which serves the communities of Cobbs Creek, Cedar Park, Walnut Hill, Mill Creek, Dunlap, and West Park, the Blackwell library has been closed since the beginning of 2016, and its patrons were redirected to other neighborhood branches. The maintenance work at the library, which first opened in 1976 and was the second regional library in the city, included a complete replacement of the building’s heating and air-conditioning system and installation of new ceilings and a new electrical system.  Continue Reading

The annual One Book, One Philadelphia programming kicks off today, and here is some information on what will be happening at West Philadelphia public library branches. In their 13th season, One Book, One Philadelphia will have events through March 19, including book discussions, children’s craft workshops, historical presentations, panel discussions, and film screenings. Please note that a time capsule letter workshop will take place this afternoon at the Blanche A. Nixon/Cobbs Creek Library (see more below).

One Book, One Philadelphia is a joint project of the Mayor’s Office and the Free Library of Philadelphia. The goal of the project is to promote literacy and encourage Philadelphians to come together through reading and discussing a single book. The One Book, One Philadelphia Selection Committee chose Orphan Train by Christina Baker Kline for reading and discussion in 2015. Here’s more information about the book from the Free Library of Philadelphia website:

“Orphan Train is the compelling story of Vivian, a 91-year-old widow once orphaned as a child, and Molly, a troubled teen who has been shuffled from one unstable foster home to another. The two women develop a bond, with Vivian treasuring her Irish immigrant roots and Molly finding comfort in her ancestral Native American tradition. The novel sheds light on an era when thousands of orphaned children were taken from crowded cities to face uncertain futures in the rural Midwest and connects with the importance of heritage and memories in shaping who we are, the value of intergenerational relationships, and the fundamental power of family.”  Continue Reading

A small and relatively new West Philly non-profit recently received $100,000 to help keep school libraries open and stocked with books, just as schools look to cut funding.

The West Philadelphia Alliance for Children (WePAC) recieved the grant from the philanthropic organization Impact 100 Philadelphia on June 9 to significantly bolster its “Open Books Open Minds” program, which collects and donates books and staffs closed or severely limited libraries at several West Philadelphia elementary schools. WePAC volunteers help students select and check out books, guide research, read to students and, perhaps most importantly, they have enabled underfunded libraries at several schools just to stay open.

WePAC Executive Director David Florig called the grant a “game changer” for the organization, which started with six volunteers during the 2003-2004 school year. The money aside, the grant will help instill confidence in other potential donors because “a very significant group has chosen to invest in this,” he said.

WePAC will use the money to help keep open libraries at up to five schools and help extend services at several others. The group will also initiate new after-school “newspaper clubs.”

Made up exclusively of women ages 21 and older who each contribute at least $1,000 to a grant fund, Impact 100 Philadelphia chose WePac from some 150 applicants. A day after the grant was awarded, WePac posted a job ad for a coordinator of the Open Books Open Minds program.