The Free Library of Philadelphia, in partnership with the Delaware Valley Archivists Group, is hosting a free, interactive community fair featuring unique pop-up displays, demonstrations, and table top activities showcasing how movement and change are both documented in and catalyzed by their archives.

Thursday, October 16, 2024, 6pm-8pm
Free Library of Philadelphia
Free Library of Philadelphia, Parkway Central Library
Lobby & Heim Center
1901 Vine Street
Philadelphia, PA 19103
Free
In-person
RSVP info: https://libwww.freelibrary.org/calendar/event/141780

Stop by the fair to learn about online digital tools and resources for accessing and sharing historical photographs, documents and stories and library workers who are building information democracy.

View historical materials related to the desegregation of Girard College in 1968; German American gymnastics clubs in Philadelphia; notable HBCU and black history figures; stunt people who worked with the Three Stooges, and so much more!

Attend a free workshop, no registration required:
DIY Preservation: Caring for Your Stuff at Home (drop-in anytime 6-8pm)
Can we apply professional museum practices to our home collections? Absolutely! Join The Conservation Center for Art & Historic Artifacts to see how in a series of hands-on stations, you’ll learn how to handle and store your beloved objects and what to do when disaster strikes—from a flood in the basement, to a spill in the kitchen.

Banish Your Backlog! Learn how agile processing can quickly bring order, and access, to your most intractable collections. (starts 6pm)
Do you have an overwhelming backlog in your archives? Recently, the Kislak Center for Special Collections, Rare Book and Manuscripts has been experimenting with Agile Processing—a strategy to tackle large and unwieldy collections with a “sprint” of work by multiple people. Join staff from Kislak to learn tips and strategies for planning your own agile processing projects and getting your communities involved in transforming your backlog into publicly accessible material!

Alongside The Free Library of Philadelphia subject departments, special collections, and branches, fair participants include:

Archives for Black Lives in Philadelphia
Common History
Conservation Center for Art and Historic Artifacts (workshop presenter)
Founder’s Hall at Girard College
Genealogical Society of Pennsylvania
German Society of Pennsylvania
Library Freedom Project
Lincoln University
Lutheran Archives Center of Philadelphia
Museum Council of Greater Philadelphia
PA Photos & Documents
Penn Libraries Kislak Center for Special Collections, Rare Books and Manuscripts (workshop presenter)
South Asian American Digital Archive (SAADA)
The Stoogeum
Swarthmore College Special Collections
Villanova University