One more public school in Philadelphia will have their library reopened soon thanks to the great work of the West Philadelphia Alliance for Children (WePAC). WePAC is opening its 14th library in the city – at West Philly’s Harrington Elementary School located at 53rd and Baltimore.

Parents, community members, and partners are invited to celebrate the reopening of the Harrington Elementary library on Tuesday, Oct. 16 from 8:45-10:45 a.m. at the school. Light refreshments will be provided (see the flier for more info).

WePAC is also looking for community volunteers for its new library program at Harrington. If interested, please contact volunteer@wepac.org for more information.  Continue Reading

WePAC head David Brown reads to Kindergartners at the Hamilton School (Photo from WePAC’s Facebook page).

The West Philadelphia Alliance for Children (WePAC) has reopened another public school library, this time at the K-8 Andrew Hamilton School (57th and Spruce). Students there have not had regular access to books in the school library, which will reopen one day a week, for 10 years, according to WePAC.

WePAC replaced most of the books, including non-fiction titles that were up to 85 years old, and spent hundreds of hours getting the library ready for Hamilton students. The library is the 13th that the organization has helped revamp, reopen and staff. Another 20 schools are on WePAC’s waiting list.

There are currently about 125 volunteers at WePAC who help operate the school libraries, which serve about 6,000 students weekly.

Most of the libraries that WePAC staff operate are on a modest schedule, opening one or two days a week. Part of WePAC’s strategy is to get libraries restocked and operating so that parents and community members can build on their work to keep the library going.

Photo from WePAC’s Facebook page.

West Philadelphia Alliance for Children (WePAC), a non-profit organization that re-opens public school libraries closed for lack of funding and staffs them with volunteers, is moving to a new location and holding a big moving sale at their current location in Powelton Village at 3603 Hamilton Street. The two-day sale began on Thursday and everything must go before their moving day this Sunday.

Lots of items are offered for free or at low-cost, including chairs, office chairs, desks, a vacuum, a portable freestanding AC, metal cabinets, freestanding metal drawers, vases, a trunk, computer monitors, computer accessories for scrap, a working laser printer, a large JB Van Scriven conference table, a coffee maker, and more.

Today’s sale started at 9 a.m. and will go on until 5 p.m. so stop by at the corner of 36th and Hamilton to check it out. Please bring a donation for the free items. All proceeds will go to WePAC’s mission.

If you have questions, send a text to 917-865-2652 or go here.

The new WePAC location starting this Sunday is at 5070 Parkside.