For those Floating Library fans who’d rather peruse the shelves from the stability of solid ground, make your way to Philadelphia this month where a selection of FL books are on view. They’re part of a reading room at Vox Populi gallery, one of several sites to host exhibitions and programming as part of a city-wide project called Alternative Currencies. 

Our friends at Possible Press invited the FL to contribute a selection of books that now have the special designation in the catalog of being “drowned and rescued.”  Wrinkled and mildly faded with their taped spines and we’re gonna survive attitude, these books were packed into a Sailor Jerry’s Spiced Rum box and shipped off to Philly right before the Pope landed ashore there in mid-September.

In the gallery the shelves mimic laundry drying racks and the FL flag flies windless while pinned to the wall. You’ll find favorites such as Areca Roe’s 3-D viewfinder set, Jess Zeglin’s Friendly Microbe Coloring Book, and the two books that were dipped twice: A Book Dipped in Two Lakes (intentionally), Flood Music (unintentionally).

Alternative Currencies is a gathering of independent contemporary arts groups from around the U.S. to talk about what it means to stay “alternative.”  I’m sad to not be there for the discussions, as this question didn’t get as much play at last month’s otherwise overwhelmingly enriching Hand-in-Glove conference.

It’s certainly on the brain of the Floating Library now, as the cold, dark creeps in and we try to find a wood-burning stove around which to write grants, dream and plan for the future. (Some exciting news coming soon…). ‘Til then, give us a report from Philly if you happen to stop by!