Greetings from the City of Brotherly Love!

Well, after a madcap scramble involving dogsitting, touring somewhat questionable apartments discovered via Craigslist, and getting set up in my own cubicle in an excessively air-conditioned office, I am now finally settled in my fellowship position as a research assistant at the Free Library in Philadelphia. As a research assistant in the executive office, I will be helping the Chief of Staff and Director of the Library develop and implement the organization's in-process strategic plan. The plan promises to break new ground in terms of services provided to the citizens of Philadelphia and rethink the sort of roles libraries should play in the city and beyond in the years to come.

As part of the Library's new vision, the organization has unveiled plans to open computer "Hot Spots" around the city. Each "Hot Spot" includes computers, a printer, and broadband equipment and is staffed by computer assistants trained to provide guided instruction and open access to the computers. In a city where 40% of the population does not have access to internet at home, such "Hot Spots" are crucial. Their importance is even more pronounced since the "Hot Spots" themselves are located in neighborhoods without immediate access to a library branch. Consequently, the "Hot Spots" serve as mini-libraries (with a small collection of Free Library materials) in addition to functioning as computer labs in technology-deprived areas of the city.

I was lucky enough to attend the unveiling of the Free Library's latest "Hot Spot" this morning at Mercy Neighborhood Ministries in Northern Philadelphia. The building itself has undergone extensive, LEED-certified renovations over the past three years and recently reopened as a community center serving the youth, adults, and seniors of the surrounding community. Seeing all of the kids in summer camp gather around the door to the computer lab while the ribbon was cut poignantly underscored the importance of technology in today's world and in Philly in particular. These "Hot Spots" have enabled hundreds of people to find jobs and even provided one man with the computer training he needed to propose to his girlfriend via computer. The Free Library's involvement in such a project is exciting (at least to me) and I look forward to seeing it and other programs develop during my fellowship year.