A library is more than a place to borrow books this weekend
Three dated Philadelphia library gatherings show how a public building becomes a shared creative space, from needlework to live viola music.
Read the story ↗PLACES FOR SHARED LIFE
The journal.
Original stories, useful discoveries and ideas to take into the world.
The Philadelphia refrigerator that belongs to everyone
Not every third space needs a stage, a café menu or a membership. Sometimes the social infrastructure is a refrigerator and pantry that neighbors can access without filling out a form. Philadelphia's community fridges of
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A free museum where the objects tell the history of everyday materials
In Old City Philadelphia, a free museum asks a wonderfully strange question: how did the substances around us become part of everyday life? The Science History Institute at 315 Chestnut Street follows the.
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What if your next power tool came from the library instead of a store?
Libraries of Things lend access to useful objects. The interesting part is the maintenance, teaching and community connections behind the shelf.
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A shared table needs a host, not just a group chat
The difference between an attractive invitation and a gathering people can enter often sits in a few practical hosting decisions.
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The chess table with a recurring invitation
A verified Radnor library gathering shows how a simple game can give a community space a regular reason to return.
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A free garden on the tidal Schuylkill that is more than a garden
What does a genuinely useful third place look like?
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A broken toaster can be an invitation to meet your neighbors
A person brings a broken appliance into a room full of strangers.
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A free museum where Philadelphia still looks like the nineteenth century
Philadelphia's Wagner Free Institute of Science offers an unusually direct kind of encounter with natural history.
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The library where a checkout can help fix a house
West Philly Tool Library puts tools and practical learning into circulation. A shared resource can give a neighborhood a reason to gather.
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