Library Closings

This Just In: Marjane Satrapi's Persepolis selected for 2010's One Book, One Philadelphia

POSTED: Tuesday, September 15, 2009, 1:29 PM

Filed Under: Arts | News | ArtsFlash | Library Closings

persepolis

Under normal circumstances, the announcement that Marjane Satrapi's acclaimed Iranian coming-of-age story Persepolis will be 2010's One Book, One Philadelphia would be nothing but good news. After all, it's the first time OBOP has featured a graphic novel, and the second time in its eight-year history that a female writer's taken center stage to discuss politics, family and other issues central to OBOP's mission.

From the press release, embargoed till this morning:

Originally published in France in two volumes, The Complete Persepolis is Satrapiâs poignant, humorous, and heartbreaking memoir of growing up in Iran during a time of political revolution and repression. An outspoken and imaginative child, Satrapi grappled with understanding the ruling power in her country as she witnessed the overthrow of the Shahâs regime, the Islamic Revolutionâs triumph, and the chilling impact of war with Iraq. Detailed in black-and-white graphic images and accompanied by brief text, Satrapiâs story continues through her years as a young adult, as she finds her way as an expatriate student in Austria. Her first-person point of view presents readers with a unique glimpse into Iranâs political repression, the inner-workings of a family, and one womanâs experience as an outsider both at home and abroad.

But as we should all know by now, the Philadelphia library system is in great danger of shuttering -- and we hate to think what might happen to OBOP if, on October 2 (that's only a few weeks away, far before the January 2010 OBOP), no action is taken on the city's budget. We'll have to say goodbye to holds, loans, after-school programs for thousands of young Philadelphians and the amazing programming the Free Library books annually.

Some details from freelibrary.org:

Even as we remain hopeful that the State Legislature will act and pass the enabling funding legislation, we wanted to notify all of our customers of this very possible outcome. If you have any questions about impacts to Free Library services, call 215-686-5322, or visit the Free Library of Philadelphia website at www.freelibrary.org. If you have questions about changes to City services, or if you want to be kept informed about this situation, we encourage you to contact Philly 311 by calling 3-1-1 between the hours of 8am and 8 pm Monday-Friday, and 9am-5pm Saturdays, e-mail philly311@phila.gov, or visit the City of Philadelphia website at http://www.phila.gov.

In the meantime, pick up a City Paper on Thursday to read an interview with Satrapi, who will be at the Central Branch of the Free Library on Wednesday, September 23, to read from Persepolis. Go there — it might be the last chance you get for a while.

Persepolis reading/signing, Wed., Sept. 23, 7:30 p.m., free, Free Library, Central Branch, 1901 Vine St., 215-567-4341, freelibrary.org.

Posted by Carolyn Huckabay @ 1:29 PM Permalink | Post a comment

The Economist picks up the "Nutter crisis" beat

POSTED: Friday, February 20, 2009, 8:03 PM

Filed Under: News | The Budget Crisis | The Mayor | Library Closings

Is that the whole Philadelphia story?

economist.com

I know this is a little late, but I still think it's important to get out there: A number of national publications have deemed Philly's budget crisis worthy (or bizarre, or depressing) enough to cover in the past month.

The New York Times and The Economist are among them, with the latter's piece being an overly simplistic summary of the library fiasco. (Unlike our boy Isaiah Thompson's coverage, which is far more complex. Hooray local papers.)

The most interesting aspect of The Economist's article is the accompanying graph, pictured here. It paints the city of Philadelphia as essentially selfish — we've always had more libraries per person than other major U.S. cities, and we'd still have more even if Mayor Michael Nutter made his proposed cuts.

Funny thing is, the graph is straight from the Nutter's office. And despite giving prime real estate to Nutter's side, The Economist does little to explain his opposition. The writer basically says that the public is "overwhelmingly unhappy about the cutbacks," and ends it with that.

Of course, we've heard the other side of the argument before. But to Economist readers outside of Philly, it's likely one they're not familiar with. As Amy Dougherty, executive director of Friends of the Free Library, says, "This talking point ignores that in six of the nine cities to which the Nutter administration is comparing Philadelphia — Los Angeles, Houston, San Antonio, San Diego, Dallas and San Jose — all public schools have libraries staffed by trained professionals … in Philadelphia, by contrast, about half of our public schools have no libraries."

Whatever side you're on, it's an important point to remember. Unfortunately, not everyone's had the chance to hear it.

Posted by Holly Otterbein @ 8:03 PM Permalink | Post a comment

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