Infographic with text: Since 2017, funding for immigration policing & detention has increased by 171% while funding for libraries has increased only by 22%. Not adjusted for inflation.
Happy National Library Week.
In less than 10 years, U.S. spending on immigration policing & detention increased by 171% while funding for libraries didn't even keep up with inflation.
Some priorities. 🤔
Buy Books Spend less money on cigarettes more money on books, groceries, flowers, books, books, books, books.
Finally caught the brilliant Noah Davis exhibition at the Philadelphia Museum
of Art this past weekend. I appreciated this bit of wisdom he left behind:
Medical students in Gaza restore one of the oldest libraries after it was bombed by the Israeli occupation.
Mamdani hasn't had time to really think about all that space he now has, because he spends most of his time at City Hall and around New York City. He tries to keep a semblance of his old life by getting around the city on foot, by bike or train. "If you spend every single day driving around in a tinted window security detail, you will have a very specific view of the city," he said. "You actually meet other New Yorkers and you break out of the bubble that so many have come to expect of politics, where politicians only seem to be spending time with other politicians or the people who donated to make them politicians."
I'd say that this applies to anyone traveling in a car in any city. Being in a car versus walking, riding, or taking transit fundamentally changes how you view a place and your relationship to it. I wish more leaders set this kind of example.
www.npr.org/2026/04/16/n...
Yet another amazing and unique institution destroyed by Trump and the Republicans. The only accredited circus school in America, the Circadium, is closing in June. Philadelphia is losing something special.
Unfortunately it's "open" in name only; Philly public libraries are often closed due to insufficient staffing, deferred maintenance, and antiquated HVACs. My branch library is currenlty closed because it's 90 degrees today and we have no A/C.
Gotta love archives! This is some fantastic sleuthing.
an underrated, unforgivable belief that remains prevalent among pols and normies is that a rising tide lifts all boats when it’s been clear forever that a rising tide simply drowns the people on low lying land
Bonnets like these typically tie under the chin, and hat pins can also keep them in place, even in windy conditions.
go birds
Destroying forests for this, and affecting the watershed, along with ruining the Haw River riparian habitat by being adjacent to important natural areas. Disney does this in Florida, too.
This article describes the "poke" bonnet in more detail and is provided in context with the Little House books: www.pioneergirl.com/blog/archive...
There were fancy bonnets during this time period for outings (often trimmed with velvet/silk ribbon) vs work bonnets, but the net bonnet Ma is wearing is unusual. The straw bonnets the two girls are wearing look more typical, and lack the trimmings they maybe can't afford.
My god. Essential, horrifying reporting here.
Update! Thanks @prisonculture.bsky.social for the idea!
Name: People’s First Aid Workshop Date/time: May 9, 10am-12pm Where: Falls of Schuylkill Library Meeting Room, Midvale Entrance Description: Please join the Friends of the Falls of Schuylkill Library for a two-hour workshop on essential lifesaving training for crisis situations in which bystanders can make a difference. This non-certified training will include instruction and hands-on training including CPR, AED, Stop the Bleed, and Narcan administration. The goal of the workshop is to empower people with skills to intervene and save someone’s life in the immediate aftermath of a cardiac arrest, overdose, and other emergency situations. The training will be provided by The University of Pennsylvania Medical Emergency Response Team (Penn MERT) and is open to ages 16 and over. Additional details: Sponsored by the Friends of the Falls of Schuylkill Library. Refreshments will be provided. Registration: Free, but registration required by May 8. Registration link: https://forms.gle/duoTs6dcKp1cL7jd7
Philly! I’ve organized People’s First Aid workshop for May 9 at the Falls
of Schuylkill Library in East Falls. Please come out and learn some lifesaving skills!
Instead of asking chatgpt, why not ask a librarian? You'll get real answers and they won't tell you to kill yourself.
Rabb!
This is Sadie. She was finally reunited with her human, astronaut Christina Koch, after her mom’s voyage around the moon took her the furthest any human has ever been from their dog. She can't wait to hear all about the universe. 14/10 (IG: astro_christina)
Important documentation on US death camps. These are not immigration detention camps. They are camps designed to cause emotional, mental & physical stress to break human beings, the majority who have not committed a crime. www.sfchronicle.com/projects/202...
A group of devoted volunteers is methodically researching, cataloging and digitizing more than 10,000 concerts that one music fan recorded over four decades.
I'm currently co-chair of my neighborhood library advocacy committee and this is by far the biggest issue we are dealing with. EVERYTHING needs to be upgraded in our Carnegie building: plumbing, electrical, HVAC... It's daunting. Many Philly branches dealing with the same.
As a current Philadelphian and former Las Vegasean, I will agree with this!
too many Americans do not see the other as human.
Decades spent dehumanizing and monsterizing Iranians and Muslims are coming to fruition in a cohort of politicians who feed the worst impulses of the people they represent and also really could not care less about the US murdering schoolgirls.
Hi Congressman Evans. Are you aware you have a responsibility to lead on this issue as a House member? Work with your colleagues to build support for impeachment. The country is in serious trouble, and this moment demands leadership.
Preceeded by our supposed world leaders (including Biden) not doing squat when Gaza's hospitals and schools were destroyed...
let's be clear about what's happening: donald trump and benjamin netanyahu, whose countries have been committing genocide in gaza since 2023, unilaterally started a war with iran, and are now threatening genocide there.
i think if you tweet "a whole civilization will die tonight" you shouldn't go to the hague, the hague should get to come to you
