Free Library Festival

The programming at this year's fest goes way beyond books.

by Lauren F. Friedman

Earlier this year, when budget cuts threatened to shutter libraries all over the city, Philadelphians turned out in force to protest. "People rely on this institution and love it," says Sara Goddard, associate director of author events at the Free Library. With Mayor Michael Nutter's revised plans to keep all libraries open, there's plenty to celebrate at this year's Free Library Festival, the city's third.

The annual event was previously called the Philadelphia Book Festival, but the name was changed to reflect the variety of programming. "There's so much more than just books here," Goddard says. "We're presenting music and performances — stuff not necessarily in books."

Along with a wide array of exhibitors — including indie publishers, literary magazines, the C-SPAN civics bus and the Eagles bookmobile — the festival will present big names like Joyce Carol Oates, Amiri Baraka, Kristin Chenoweth and Peter Yarrow, as well as lesser-knowns like Raymond Luczak (a deaf gay poet), Molly O'Neill (a former food writer with The New York Times) and Tehching Hsieh (an extreme performance artist).

One of the highlights this year will be the Philly vs. Chicago StorySlam, presented by First Person Arts. Live storytelling "is a very accessible and very engaging literary form that's enjoying a kind of resurgence," says Andrew Schwalm, a First Person Arts staff member.

The competition should be fierce, but Dan Gasiewski, managing director of First Person Arts, has faith — the Philly storytellers have all won previous slams. Plus, as he says, "any fair-minded person would acknowledge that the Philly team is superior."

Sat., April 18, 11 a.m.-6 p.m.; Sun., April 19, noon-5 p.m., free, Parkway Central Library, 1901 Vine St., 215-567-4341, freelibrary.org/festival.