Professor of History and Curator of the Quaker Collection Emma Lapsansky-Werner will speak at the Haverford Township Free Library on Thursday, January 26, at 7:00 p.m. in the Community Room.  Her topic will be Benjamin Franklin and his relationships with Quakers and Abolitionists.  The program is made possible by a grant from the PHC One Book, One Philadelphia.

Benjamin Franklin was born on January 17, 1706. Please join us for Cake & Punch in the lobby of Magill Library to celebrate the 300th Birthday of our favorite Founding Father!  Tuesday, January 17, 3:00-5:00 pm.  And while you’re at it, take in our exhibition Franklin & Friends before it closes on January 31.

Vivisimo, Inc., with the assistance of the State Library of Pennsylvania and Access PA, have created a Ben Franklin Portal as a public service educational resource.  For the first time, the public can search and view all of Benjamin Franklin’s writings that are available on the web–his autobiography, essays, correspondence, and proverbs–at a one-stop web portal that includes a hand-curated collection of the many thousands of websites and pages related solely to Franklin. Search results are clustered in folders by topics.

16 regional historians, artists, curators, authors and architects discuss the life of Benjamin Franklin in “About Benjamin: A Fresh Take on our Founding Father,” airing Thursday, January 12, at 9 p.m. on WHYY-TV, channel 12, and repeated January 15 at 7:30 p.m., January 18 at 10:30 p.m., and January 29 at 6:30 p.m.

Technologist Josh Peterson talks in this podcast at Seattle’s “Idea Day” about how the current development known as Web 2.0 can be explained by the thoughts and actions of Benjamin Franklin. Web 2.0 has been described as “a social phenomenon referring to an approach to creating and distributing Web content itself, characterised by open communication, decentralization of authority, freedom to share and re-use, and ‘the market as a conversation’.”

The Franklin Speaker Series concludes Wednesday, December 7 at 4 pm, Magill Library, Philips Wing. David Waldstreicher, Professor of History at Temple University, is the author of Runaway America: Benjamin Franklin, Slavery and American Revolution. He will speak on the topic of Franklin, Quakerism and Slavery. Free and open to the public.

Why, after 300 years, are Benjamin Franklin’s insights and achievements still relevant to our times? Emma Lapsansky, curator of the Quaker Collection, and a panel of Franklin scholars will address this and other questions on a program on Wednesday, November 30, in The Montgomery Auditorium of the Free Library of Philadelphia.

The Franklin Speaker Series continues Tuesday, November 29 at 4 pm, Magill Library, Philips Wing. David Fox, Director of the Penn Reading Project at the University of Pennsylvania, will speak about the renowned first-year reading program, which this year featured Franklin’s Autobiography. Free and open to the public.

Read on for the answer to Benjamin Franklin’s rebus, or word puzzle: “The Art of Making Money Plenty In every Man’s Pocket: By Doctor Franklin.”

At this time when the major complaint is that money is so scarce it must be an act of kindness to instruct the moneyless how they can reinforce their pockets. I will acquaint you with the true secret of money catching, the certain way to fill empty purses and how to keep them always full. Two simple rules well observed will do the business. First, let honesty and labor be thy constant companions. Second, spend one penny every day less than thy clear gains. Then shall thy pockets soon begin to thrive, thy creditors will never insult thee, nor want oppress, nor hunger bite, nor nakedness freeze thee; the whole hemisphere will shine brighter, and pleasure spring up in every corner of thy heart. Now therefore embrace these rules and be Happy.

Benjamin Franklin : in search of a better world is the companion book of essays to accompany the Benjamin Franklin Tercentennary exhibition of the same name at the National Constitution Center in Philadelphia. Included in the collection of essays is one by our own Emma Lapsansky, Curator of the Quaker Collection.