Iffy Books | 404 S. 20th St., PHL

🪐 Speculative Futures Reading Group
2027-01-27 19:00 - 20:30, 2026-12-30 19:00 - 20:30, 2026-11-25 19:00 - 20:30 (America/New_York) | Iffy Books, 404 S. 20th St., Philadelphia, 19146, United States
The Speculative Futures Reading Group meets on the last Wednesday of every month at 7 p.m.

🎬 Make a Hand-Coded SVG Animation!
2027-01-25 18:00 - 20:00, 2026-12-28 18:00 - 20:00, 2026-11-23 18:00 - 20:00
Learn to make an animated SVG file using a plaintext editor and web browser. No fancy tools needed!
Geany text editor
Sublime Text
Happy Birthday example file
Register
coming soon!

☕️ Coffee Talk
2027-01-18 18:00 - 20:00, 2027-01-04 18:00 - 20:00, 2026-12-21 18:00 - 20:00, 2026-12-07 18:00 - 20:00, 2026-11-16 18:00 - 20:00
A social hangout every first and third Monday for trans and non-binary people, their significant others, and allies. We have snacks and coffee.

⚙️ Neo-Luddite Reading Group
2027-01-14 18:30 - 20:30, 2026-12-10 18:30 - 20:30, 2026-11-12 18:30 - 20:30
➡️ Virtual Meetup Link
Discord: Email neoluddite@victorgom.es for an invite!
Full schedule: victorgom.es/neoluddite
If you’re joining for the first time, I’d suggest you read this before anything else for brief context: What the Luddites Really Fought Against by Richard Conniff.The only expectation is that you read the chapter(s) of the book that’s listed for that meeting. You’re still welcome to participate if you haven’t done the readings as long as you are mindful. For each chapter, I’ve also noted some optional readings for context, so I’d suggest checking those out rather than reading ahead in the book. And remember, if you ever find yourself struggling with any of the readings or concepts, reach out! Either directly to me over email or to the entire group over discord.

💾☀️ Permacomputing + Solarpunk Meetup
2027-01-13 18:30 - 20:00
The Permacomputing + Solarpunk meetup is the first Wednesday every other month at Iffy Books! You can join us in person (404 S. 20th St., PHL) or remotely via Jitsi Meet.

➡️ Virtual meetup link
From Permacomputing.net: Permacomputing is a more sustainable approach to computer and network technology inspired by permaculture. Permacomputing is both a concept and a community of practice oriented around issues of resilience and regenerativity in digital technology. In a time where computing epitomizes industrial waste, permacomputing encourages a more sustainable approach, maximizing hardware lifespans, minimizing energy use and focussing on the use of already available computational resources. We do this because humans are part of nature and technology is an extension of humans, and we acknowledge that technology has been used to harm nature. We want to find out how we can practice good relations with the Earth by learning from ecological systems to leverage and re-center existing technologies and practices. We are also interested in investigating what a permacomputing way of life could be, and what sort of transformative computational culture and aesthetics it could bring forward. If you want to know more, please start reading about what is permacomputing in essence, and then dive into its principles.
Permacomputing Aesthetics: Potential and Limits of Design Constraints in Computational Culture by Mansoux, Howell, Barok, and Heikkilä (2023)

🚧 Make Your First Website
2027-01-11 18:00 - 20:00, 2026-12-14 18:00 - 20:00
Make a home page like it’s 1999! Join us at Iffy Books for a new workshop called Make Your First Website, led by Ragman a.k.a. Richard Green. You’ll learn the basics of HTML and create a static site on the free hosting service Neocities. No experience necessary!
Please bring a laptop if you have one. We’re suggesting a $10–$25 donation for this workshop, no one turned away for lack of funds.
Register:
Coming soon!

🤔 FAFIO Beginner Tech Meetup
2026-12-17 18:30 - 20:30, 2026-11-19 18:30 - 20:30
FAFIO is a meetup for folks who want to learn new tech skills, but aren’t sure where to start. Let’s fuck around and figure it out. FAFIO means there is no instructor. Instead we learn by talking and sharing knowledge, reading info in zines and online, and hands-on trial and error.

🐌 Slow Living Support Group
2026-12-16 18:00 - 20:00, 2026-11-18 18:00 - 20:00
For people who value connection, sustainability, and creativity — without AI.
Bring:
• writing projects
• craft projects
• books & book recommendations
• CDs
Do not bring:
• screens
Provided:
• zine-making supplies
• snacks

✏️ The Writing Room
2026-12-15 17:00 - 19:30, 2026-12-08 17:00 - 19:30, 2026-12-01 17:00 - 19:30, 2026-11-24 17:00 - 19:30, 2026-11-17 17:00 - 19:30
Come co-work with other writers in three 40-minute units of silent writing. Writers and projects of any type welcome. 10-minute breaks and accountability check-ins between units. BYO coffee, water, computer chargers, notepads, etc.

🧵 Anarchist Sewing Club
2026-12-13 15:00 - 17:00
Interested in learning to sew, mend or make clothes? Already know how and wanna hang out with people while sewing? Come and join us! Sewing supplies and a sewing machine will be available for anyone needing them.

Image credit

📡 Meshtastic 101
2026-12-05 10:30 - 12:00
Join us for an introduction to Meshtastic, an application that lets you send private text messages over the air using pocket-sized LoRa radio transceivers. We’ll show you how to flash the latest Meshtastic firmware to the device, customize the settings, and start chatting with your friends.
Here’s a link to our zine on LoRa + Meshtastic.
Register:
coming soon!

⊕ Quarterly Bonus Workshop
2026-11-21 10:00 - 12:00
Our quarterly off-site bonus workshop for Patreon supporters. Check out our Patreon page for details!
Questions? Email iffybooks@iffybooks.net

🚂 Model Internet Club
2026-11-14 10:30 - 12:30
The Model Internet Club is back! Join us every second Saturday from 10:30 a.m. to 12:30 p.m. for an informal meetup focused on building small-scale computer networks.
No registration needed for this event! If we run out of space we can expand into our back yard area.
