Join us this fall for our Beyond the Page public programming series. All year long, we’re collaborating with academic, community, and artistic partners to bring you lectures, panels, exhibitions, concerts, and events to inspire and engage you. We’re excited to share details about two upcoming programs:

Coltrane Festival at the Bell Tower, September 21

Stop by the Bell Tower outside Paley Library this Wednesday, September 21, between 3:00–7:00 PM and enjoy the sounds of John Coltrane. This pop up musical concert is organized by Terell Stafford, director of jazz studies and chair of instrumental studies at Boyer College of Music and Dance, with performances by Boyer students. Part of the city-wide Coltrane at 90 Celebration, this program also falls under our Music of the Great Migration series, organized by Temple University Libraries, the Charles L. Blockson Afro-American Collection, the Philadelphia Jazz Project, Ars Nova Workshop, Scribe Video Center, and the Boyer College of Music and Dance.

A Conversation with Rachel Sussman, September 27
Next week, artist Rachel Sussman stops by Temple Contemporary at 6:00 PM on Tuesday, September 27 to discuss her practice. Sussman’s’s current research centers around our changing climate and offers a global perspective on the interrelationship between geologic time and contemporary efforts of building an environmentally sustainable future. Join us for more programs in our Seeing Stories: Visualizing Sustainable Citizenship series, co-curated by Temple Contemporary and the Office of Sustainability, along with faculty and graduate students from the Tyler School of Art, the College of Liberal Arts, and the Center for the Cinematic and Performing Arts..

Check out our full schedule of lectures, concerts, exhibits, panels, and more. As always, programs are free and open to all. Hope to see you soon!

Beginning this Thursday, April 21, Temple University Libraries’ Beyond the Page public programming series presents a hybrid live performance and interactive game experience, right in Temple’s Paley Library. Developed by three local artists—Joe Ahmed, Arianna Gass, and Daniel Park—and in collaboration with Drexel University’s Entrepreneurial Game Studio, this hybrid work integrates elements of game design, physical theater, and dance and will have you looking at the library through different “eyes.”

The piece takes place in and around the library itself, and brings together theater and games in an active, public space. Daniel, one of the collaborators, finds the potential impacts of public play very exciting. “We get to examine the socially constructed rules that we’ve put on spaces, break them down, and decide which ones still feel important, and which ones are just silly. It’s especially great in Paley because while the ‘audience’ (meaning everyone else in the library) may not know what’s going on, they know there’s something weird, and it piques their interest, it gets them curious,” he says.

The creative team started the planning process last fall, and have been working on the project steadily since. Research helped them to “find artistic inspiration from the space the library, the library’s history, and Temple’s history,” according to Daniel. Consequently, Joseph Conwell’s “Acres of Diamonds” plays prominently into the performance. The team then conducted a series of written and in-person interviews with library community members, which guided them in the creation phase. Here, they started to develop games and scenes which they formed into a coherent piece. This program is the first of its kind at Temple University Libraries, and is sure to be challenging, engaging, and fun.

Are you ready to be part of this unique experience? The performances run from Thursday, April 21 – Sunday, April 24, at 7:00 PM and 9:00 PM nightly. Register here: http://library.temple.edu/diamondeye/, where you will play through the first phase of the Diamond Eye game right online, and be immediately redirected to a registration link. Each performance hits capacity at 12 participants, so you will need to sign up ahead of time.

Each year, the Libraries bring you Film Fridays, a free series that aligns with our public programming theme. This year, we are examining games, gaming, and play, and we’ve chosen films for the spring semester that explore violence—both in games and real life. This frame will allow us to question and consider the influences media has on what we think about and how we relate to the world.

Join us at the Libraries this Friday, March 11 at 3:00 PM for the latest installment of Gaming Film Fridays. We are screening the Serious Games series, which was directed by Harun Farocki and released in 2009 and 2010. The four short documentary films in this series explore intersections between gaming and the United States military, including the use of video games to train soldiers and how virtual reality can help treat post-traumatic stress disorder.

Nora Alter, professor of Film and Media Arts at Temple University, will be hand to introduce the film. Professor Alter has published extensively on film, media, and cultural studies, and one of her scholarly endeavors has been focused on Harun Faroki and his work. She knew Farocki personally and is currently working on a monograph about the late filmmaker. Her insight will surely set the stage for this thought-provoking and important documentary series.

This film will be screened in the Paley Library Lecture Hall, 1210 Polett Walk, Ground Floor. Snacks are provided. Hope to see you there!

Temple University Libraries is excited to welcome entrepreneur Ariell Johnson (FOX ’05) to campus on Tuesday, March 15 to discuss geek culture and fan fiction, the grassroots literary genre in which fans create their own stories based on characters, series, and worlds that originate in science fiction, fantasy, gaming, and cult classic texts.

photo by Betsy Manning

An alumna of the Fox School of Business, Johnson has truly embraced Temple University’s entrepreneurial spirit in opening her own local, small business—the new critically-acclaimed Amalgam Comics and Coffeehouse in the New Kensington neighborhood of Philadelphia. Since Johnson opened the shop in December, her emphasis on creating a diverse and welcoming atmosphere for all kinds of “geeks” has generated considerable buzz in the city and beyond. She and her business have been profiled on NPR, NBC News, MTV News, The Mary Sue, Philly.com, and more.

Join us for a discussion with Johnson on Tuesday, March 15 at 2:30 PM in the Paley Library Lecture Hall located at 1210 Polett Walk in the center of Temple Main Campus.

Read more about Ariell Johnson and other upcoming programs at library.temple.edu/beyondthepage

This spring, the Libraries continue to explore Games Without Frontiers, the centerpiece of our 2015-2016 Beyond the Page public programming series. The thoughtful and engaging discussions, panels, lectures, and performances presented will examine games, gaming, play, and all their social and cultural implications.

Highlights this season include:

• February 19—Media critic Anita Sarkeesian comes to Temple to discuss sexism in gaming as well as games and communities that avoid stereotypes. Registration for this program is required. Please email byndthpg@temple.edu to reserve your spot.
• February 25—Author Alexander Wolff will discuss his new book, The Audacity of Hoop (Temple University Press, 2015), which explores Barack Obama, person and president, through basketball.
• March 15—Temple alumnae and owner of Philadelphia’s Amalgam Comics and Coffeehouse Ariell Johnson will speak about geek culture and fan fiction.
• March 29 and 30—Interdisciplinary game designer and researcher, Lindsay Grace, will present his work at Temple as our spring artist/maker-in-residence.

Visit library.temple.edu/beyondthepage for a full schedule of programming. These programs, and most other activities throughout the season, take place in Paley Library Lecture Hall, located at 1210 Polett Walk in the center of Temple University Main Campus.

This spring, stop by the Charles L. Blockson Afro-American Collection to view images of acclaimed American artist, Romare Bearden, by his friend and fellow artist, photographer Frank Stewart. Bearden, known for his collages and paintings, was also a prominent leader and mentor in the mid-twentieth century art scene in New York City. Stewart’s images offer an entry point into Bearden’s legacy while also serving as a historical record of the group of prominent artists and intellectuals with whom he maintained relationships. At the same time, Stewart offers us a warm portrait of Bearden’s life, at home and with friends.

Romare Bearden, early 1980s, photo by Frank Stewart

The exhibit also features photos of Bearden from the John W. Mosley photograph collection. Mosley was a photographer who lived and worked along the east coast and whose images of African American life in mid-20th century Philadelphia are also housed in the Blockson Collection.

Visit the Blockson Collection:
9:00 am – 5:00 pm, Monday – Friday
Sullivan Hall
1330 Polett Walk, 1st Floor

Temple University Libraries is here to help you relax and refuel during the stressful end of the semester rush. Join us at Paley Library for our Crunch Time Café, a series of events during study days and final exams that includes free food, activities, and therapy dogs. See the full schedule below!

Rise and Shine
Tuesday, December 8, 7:00 AM – 12:00 PM
Join us the first day of study days for breakfast treats and coffee to start your studying off right.

Crafts ‘n’ Games
Wednesday, December 9, 5:00 PM – 10:00 PM
Take a break from studying by unwinding with crafts and games the night before final exams begin.

Destress with Dogs
Thursday, December 10, 1:00 PM – 3:00 PM
Friday, December 11, 1:00 PM – 3:00 PM
Monday, December 14, 1:00 PM – 3:00 PM
Tuesday, December 15, 1:00 PM – 3:00 PM
As exams are in full swing, can you imagine anything better than taking a break with cuddly, sweet therapy dogs? Neither can we! Stop by to hang out and destress with some furry friends.

The End is Near!
Tuesday, December 15, 7:00 PM – 12:00 AM
You are so close! Join us one last time for caffeine, treats, and healthful snacks to help you power through to the end of exams and propel you toward a much needed break.

All events will take place in the Paley Library Lecture Hall, 1210 Polett Walk, Ground Floor. Visit library.temple.edu/beyondthepage to learn more about programming at Temple University Libraries.