On Tuesday, September 23rd, I took a tour of the Free Library of Philadelphia's Special Collections with the Preservation Alliance tour guides. It was a very interesting tour, and we spoke to the librarians in the Print and Picture Collection, the Map Collection, and the Art Department. We also briefly visited the Periodicals, Business Resource and Innovation Center and the Senior Services, where we had a look at their newly renovated space in progress (used to be stacks; it will be more of a community area- the books are at Penn and can be easily recalled). I have never been inside the library before, even though I grew up in Delco, and I was surprised at all of the things that they had. It's more of a research/ reference library, more like an academic institution than your local library branch. The library was founded by Dr. Pepper, and the building was designed by Horace Trumbauer and Julian Abele (another Delco connection) to imitate the Ministère de la Marine in Paris. They recently celebrated the 75th Anniversary, and there's a whole exhibit on that anniversary and more information about the library here: https://libwww.freelibrary.org/digital/feature/75th/
Some things I learned about that might be helpful in your research:
1- Search the library catalog- https://know.freelibrary.org/
You can do interlibrary loans, but they weren't quite sure if the Delaware County System would work with it, but you can get a Philadelphia System card if you're a PA resident. Some books are reference, so you'd have to see it at a branch, but requesting books and other items in the catalog gives you access to more than what is actually on the shelves (which is still a lot).
2- Search the Digital Collections- https://libwww.freelibrary.org/digital/
Many things have been digitized, especially some fragile things like the Samuel Castner Scrapbook Collection, which is a collection of Philadelphia clippings, photos, watercolors through about 1930 (there are lots of Delaware County clippings too)
3- Check the Print and Picture Collection page for more information on specific collections- https://libwww.freelibrary.org/locations/departments/print-and-picture-collection
4- Check the Map Collection page for more information on specific collections- https://libwww.freelibrary.org/locations/departments/map-collection
5- Contact the Staff with a research question. They prefer email as it gives them time to find things
Print and Picture Collection- erefpix@freelibrary.org or 215-686-5405
Map Collection- erefmap@freelibrary.org or 215-686-5397
Things they need to find what you want:
Address/ intersection
Name of owner/ business
Date of interest (so if you're looking for 1860s maps/ photos, they won't look at 1940, for example)
Type of building? Was it a business? What type of business?
Neighborhood Name/ Ward Number- especially for Philadelphia properties- look at ward maps- they change over time
Volume number/ publisher (more for maps than prints/pictures)
Architect name (more for prints/pictures than maps)
6- Make an appointment to see staff- the collections are open by appointment only, and they need to make sure they have the staff available to help you and they know the above so they can have it ready for you.
Hopefully if you follow the above steps, then you'll find what you're looking for. This can be helpful if you're going for National Register nomination, writing a book, putting together an exhibit, or are just curious about a building/ person/ event/ etc.
The Art Department https://libwww.freelibrary.org/locations/departments/art-department has tons of books and other resources on architecture, art, architects, etc. which may be helpful as well.
In addition, the Business Resource and Innovation Center helps with small businesses, getting patents, finding jobs, and also (more relevant to this group) offers workshops and resources on grant writing, nonprofit management, fundraising and other similar topics. https://libwww.freelibrary.org/programs/bric/nonprofit/ has more information.
I know this is a long post, but hopefully you've gotten to the end, and it will be helpful to you in your research. At the end of the day at the library, there's a wonderful view from the outdoor beer garden:
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