Category Archives: Philadelphia PA

Tombrarian’s Handy Guide to PLA

Although I will not be attending Public Library Association’s Annual Conference, I am excited that it is being held in my reclaimed hometown. After a four year absence, I have returned and have fallen in love with Philadelphia all over again.

The PLA site has a great list of restaurant recommendations, which includes plenty of places to keep people well-fed during the conference, but I am so enthusiastic about the restaurant scene in Philly that I can’t help but supplement the list with some of my local favorites (listed in distance from the Convention Center).

One note about the PLA list: a couple of the restaurants have since closed, including Ted’s Montana Grill and Le Bec Fin. Horizons also is closed and the owners have opened Vedge, which I haven’t been to, but it is a vegan restaurant getting rave reviews.

In Reading Terminal Market (.1 mi):

Within a mile:

Within 1 to 2 miles:

I hope this helps and if you have any questions, don’t hesitate to ask either in the comments or via email.

Computers in Libraries 2008 Schedule

Two weeks from tomorrow, I leave for glorious Crystal City, VA for Computers in Libraries 2008. I posted my tentative schedule on the CiL wiki. I will be presenting about learning commons on Monday afternoon, my 2nd time presenting at CiL. I always look forward to the great presentations at CiL, but this year, I am particularly excited about Steven Cohen’s track on Monday. I won’t be able to go to all of it because I present on Monday as well, but I should get to the morning sessions. I’m also excited that there are two other presentations about innovative spaces, Barbara Tierney’s “The Library Sandbox” and Matt Gullett and Greg Schwartz’s “Libraries as Laboratories for Innovation,” both on Tuesday.

After the conference, I’ll be taking the train (oh, I miss trains) to Philadelphia to visit family, hit some of the Philadelphia Film Festival, and even squeeze in a Phillies game.

Conference I, Alas, Will Not Be Attending

I recently joined the Society for Cinema & Media Studies. Actually, I had been meaning to do so for a while but never got around to it. Now that I am a member, I see that their annual conference is being held this February in Philadelphia. Their rather extensive program can be found here. Alas, I just returned from Philadelphia and don’t have the wherewithal to turn around and head back. I don’t see a list of future conference locations on their site, but I’m hoping to be able to attend one year.

This organization seems geared to academic film professors, but I’m curious if other film/media librarians are members.