The Free Library's Central Branch hosted a dive bar-themed author eventlast night as part of an attempt to attract an underserved demographic:young adults who have graduated from college but have not yet settleddown. “Once people have families, they tend to come back here forchildren's books; but in the meantime, people’s social lives don’tgenerally revolve around going to events at the library,” said librarycoordinator Dan Schiffner. The free event featured Philadelphia Weekly writer Brian McManus,author of Philadelphia’s “Best Dive Bars: Drinking and Diving in theCity of Brotherly Love” and “The Regulars” author-photographer SarahStolfa, who assembled portraits after tending bar at McGlinchey’s.“[It’s an] effort to bring young supporters into the library and tothe website,” library spokesman Alex Gertz said.This includesvisits from popular authors like Chuck Palahniuk and a strong Internetpresence, with social media outreach (you can become Foursquare mayor ofany of the library's 54 locations); downloadable mp3s, Ebooks, andpodcasts; online foreign language tutorials and free WiFi at allbranches. Library officials have even discussed installing a testkitchen for local cooking events as a part of upcoming renovations.
