The Parkway Central Library of the Free Library of Philadelphia system has been the Philadelphia PTRC’s home since 1986. The PTRC is part of the newly renovated Business Resource and Innovation Center (BRIC) space of the library, which has ample space for those inventors, entrepreneurs, nonprofits and job seekers who want to take advantage of the department’s classes, events, one-on-one-appointments, study areas and meeting capacity.
This has been a challenging year due to the COVID-19 pandemic, but the Philadelphia PTRC was able to offer even more programming events in 2020 than in 2019 (27 versus 26). We were able to do this by utilizing virtual programming services. Virtual programming has had the added benefit of reaching patrons who would normally have had to travel great distances to obtain our services.
The Philadelphia PTRC has sought to provide introductory and also more complex learning modules to assist the most patrons as possible. The introduction of the Patent, Trademark, Copyright (& Trade Secret) Toolkit class in 2020 provided an introduction to IP. Patrons could then focus on more complex questions via more specific classes (Patenting 101: Drafting a Provisional Application for Patent and Trademark Basics), for example. Patrons could further refine their learning through a one-on-one research appointment with the PTRC librarian, or from an individual Office Hours appointment with IP professionals through our partnerships with local law schools and registered patent agents. The Philadelphia PTRC also strived to make IP interesting (and maybe even fun) through library blog posts (George Washington Carver: Inventor, Environmentalist, Mentor, and Role Model, Patent & Trademark Resources During COVID-19, and Happy Inventors Day for Monopoly Lovers!) and PTRC displays (The Story of the Invention of Monopoly and Halloween Inventions), for example. We have also sought cross-department collaborations within the library system (Free Library of Philadelphia Archives Night: Universal Design and Intellectual Property in the Kitchen and Famous Toys and their IP Protections) to outreach to the larger community.
This is our new Business Resources & Innovation (BRIC) space, which houses the Philadelphia PTRCwith meeting rooms, study areas, and event space for our patrons.
This is the Parkway Central Library, the main library of the Free Library of Philadelphia system, and the location of the Philadelphia PTRC.