“…WE…BELIEVE THAT THE DISSEMINATION OF EDUCATION AMONG PEOPLE IS THE ONLY SAFEGUARD TO REPUBLICAN LIBERTY AND GOVERNMENT, AND BELIEVING THE ESTABLISHMENT OF PUBLIC LIBRARIES TO BE THE BEST AND CHEAPEST MEANS OF EDUCATING THE PEOPLE…WE DO MOST HEARTILY APPROVE…THE ESTABLISHMENT OF A FREE LIBRARY IN THIS CITY…”
---Excerpt from the citizen resolution that led to the
creation of the San Francisco Public Library, 1877
Wall of Library Heroes
The history of the San Francisco Public Library is in many ways the story of citizen involvement. In creating this Wall of Library Heroes, we focus on both institutional milestones and the work of unpaid citizen volunteers whose vision and perseverance did so much to create and shape this institution.
We have selected items big and small, positive and negative, which we believe reflect the dynamic, complex history of the Library system. Not every detail or every individual who influenced the Library’s history is listed here. This history highlights the work of private citizens and civic leaders who championed its cause.
We also salute the many talented staff whose dedication has enriched the Library system in countless ways over the past 126 years. Their accomplishments, while not specifically chronicled here, are reflected in the outstanding collections and programs the public enjoys today.
A more detailed version of this history is available on our electronic archive, SFPL History.
1877
A group of San Francisco citizens meets to urge the creation of a public library. They also recommend a special tax to fund it. The project is initiated by cable car inventor Andrew Hallidie and State Senator George H. Rogers.
1878
Governor William Irwin signs the Rogers Act that authorizes cities to establish a free public library, governed by Trustees, and levy a property tax for a Library Fund to support it.
1879
The Trustees hire the first City Librarian, Albert Hart, who begins work without pay. The first Trustees include Andrew Hallidie and ten other mostly self-made men including a builder, a social radical, two lawyers and six businessmen.
The Supervisors vote to support the Library but fail to allocate sufficient funds. Supervisors also are unwilling to provide space in any publicly owned building.
On its own, the Library opens on gifts and credit, renting space in the theatre district on Bush Street. It is an immediate success with the public.
1880
The Supervisors hold up allocation of funds in a struggle over patronage jobs. A judge orders the funds released. The Library budget is $48,000.
1885
The Supervisors reduce Library revenues to $18,000 a year, eliminating the book budget.
1888
The Main Library moves to the Larkin Street wing of the new City Hall on a site later known as Marshall Square and the eventual site of the current Main Library.
The Public Library opens its first three branches in the Mission, North Beach and Potrero districts.
1892
The Richmond Branch opens near Golden Gate Park.
1896
James Duval Phelan, wealthy son of one of the original Gold Rush miners, is elected Mayor. He supports the Trustees’ goal to construct a separate Main Library. He will become a major supporter and patron of the Library.
.
To help protect the Library from patronage politics, examinations are required for Library jobs.
1898
A new City Charter increases the tax assessment for the Library Fund, setting a minimum appropriation of $75,000. But it will take five years for the Library to actually receive the full amount.
The Presidio Branch opens on Fillmore Street.
1901
Mayor Phelan donates money to build a branch South of Market Street and announces plans to build a new Main Library and several new branches.
He convinces the Andrew Carnegie Foundation to pledge $750,000.
The San Francisco Labor Council opposes the Carnegie Foundation grant because labor unions regard Carnegie as anti-labor. Supervisors disagree and vote to accept the grant although it will take years until the City is ready to use it.
VITA SINE LITERIS, MORS EST
(Life Without Letters is Death)
---Lucius Seneca, Roman philosopher (c. 4 BC-65 AD)
San Francisco Public Library’s first bookplate
1902
Businessman Andrew J. McCreery donates $45,000 for a branch in
Eureka Valley.
1903
Voters approve a bond issue for a new Main Library, but bond problems and a fight over location doom the effort. The Carnegie grant remains in limbo.
Chicago architect Daniel Burnham, a leader in the City Beautiful movement, begins to design a master plan for San Francisco, including a Civic Center with a new library building.
1906
Burnham presents his final plan for the city’s redesign.
April 18, 1906. A major earthquake destroys City Hall in seconds. The resulting fire destroys the book and periodical collections at the Main Library inside. An eyewitness said after inspecting the damage---
“There was only a thin white ash where a
hundred and sixty thousand books had been.”
The earthquake and fire destroy the Phelan (South of Market) and North Beach branches. Fifteen thousand items are out on loan at the time; 1,500 eventually come back, the last, a group of periodicals from the 1850s, in 1996.
1907
A temporary Main Library is built at Hayes and Franklin streets.
1909
The City begins to raise funds and consider new plans for Civic Center.
A new Park Branch opens near the Panhandle.
1910
Supervisors put a charter amendment on the ballot to change the Trustees from a self-perpetuating to an elected board. Voters turn it down. Angry, Supervisors cut the Library budget.
1911
Music teacher Julius Rehn Weber arranges to purchase the 10,000-item sheet music library from the Schirmer Music Library in Boston. Over the next decade Weber helps the Library to develop the music collection into one of the best in the country.
1912
Voters approve a bond measure for a new City Hall and Civic Center.
The Library asks the Carnegie Foundation to fulfill its 1901 pledge. Former Mayor and Library Trustee Edward Robeson Taylor, backed by the Labor Council, opposes accepting the Carnegie money. Library Trustees and Supervisors vote overwhelmingly to accept the funds. Opponents put the question on the ballot but voters approve the Carnegie Foundation funds.
1914
The new Richmond Branch, funded in part by the Carnegie Foundation grant, opens.
Architect George W. Kelham, who designed the Palace Hotel and is chief architect for the Panama-Pacific Exposition, wins a competition to design the city’s first publicly owned, free standing Main Library. The Library will be in a formal Beaux Arts architectural style.
Another architect who did not win the contest charges that the design is very similar to the Detroit Public Library. The Chronicle states “There has been little new in architecture in the last hundred years—that is, monumental architecture.”
1915
Ground is broken for the Main Library by Mayor James “Sunny Jim” Rolph and other officials.
1916
The cornerstone for the Main Library is laid, ten years after the devastating earthquake of 1906.
The Noe Valley Branch opens with funds from the Carnegie Foundation.
1917
By horse and wagon, books are moved into the Main Library.
February 15, 1917. The Main Library opens. Five hundred people take part in the ceremony, including former Mayor Taylor and Mayor Rolph. The building costs $1.153 million. Trustee Joseph O’Connor refers to the building as
“this magnificent chaste temple of learning.”
“MAY THIS STRUCTURE THRONED ON IMPERISHABLE BOOKS BE MAINTAINED AND CHERISHED FROM GENERATION TO GENERATION FOR THE IMPROVEMENT AND DELIGHT OF MANKIND.”
----Carved in stone, old Main Library, 1917
1918
The Sunset and Golden Gate Valley branches open with funds from the Carnegie Foundation.
1920
The Main Library begins to acquire rare books at the instigation of Library Trustee William Young. The Library also starts collecting works from
San Francisco’s fine printers and binders who are gaining international stature.
1921
The Library budget is $185,000 a year.
The Carnegie Foundation funds two new buildings: the North Beach Branch on Powell Street and the Presidio Branch on Sacramento Street
A new Eureka Valley Branch opens, replacing the McCreery Branch that was damaged in the 1906 earthquake.
1925
The Excelsior and Ingleside branches open.
1926
A report by the San Francisco Center indicates that Library children’s services are under-funded and that the Library “does not appreciate the value of assistants who are graduates of library schools.”
1927
The Glen Park and Bayview branches open.
The Library names its rare book and fine printing collection in memory of
Max J. Kuhl, a rare book collector and the attorney for the Panama-Pacific Exhibition of 1915.
1928
The Portola and Ocean View branches open.
Trustees President James Phelan commissions an outside study of the Library. The report concludes that the Library has an excellent collection considering its near destruction in the 1906 earthquake and fire, but the Library is under-funded, and its staff is largely untrained and seriously underpaid.
1929
With the Great Depression, Library funding declines while the number of people using the Library skyrockets.
The Business Branch opens in the financial district.
1931
A new City Charter converts the Library Board of Trustees into a Library Commission appointed by the Mayor.
1932
The Anza Branch opens.
1933
As poor economic times continue, Mayor Angelo Rossi appoints a Citizens Advisory Committee that recommends major cuts in the Library budget. The book budget is cut significantly.
1935
The Visitacion Valley Branch opens.
1936
The Parkside, West Portal and Bernal branches open, all in rented sites.
1940
Library staff, almost entirely women, campaigns successfully for civil service protection.
A new Bernal Branch opens in a city-owned site.
Local businessman Alfred Furhman leaves money in his will to the Library. The bequest, still generating income as of 2004, has enabled the Library to acquire thousands of additional books and materials on economic and political subjects.
1943
Shelf space for the Main Library’s collection reaches capacity.
The City seeks federal Works Progress Administration funds to build an addition to the Main Library but is unsuccessful.
Mayor Roger Lapham seeks federal funds for construction of ten branches but is also unsuccessful.
1945
Commission Secretary Laurence J. Clarke is appointed City Librarian and begins to make plans for a bond issue for an addition to the Main.
1947
On April Fools’ Day, Library Commissioner Nat Schmulowitz donates his collection on wit and humor to the Library with an endowment to buy additional books in the years ahead. The gift, named the Schmulowitz Collection of Wit & Humor in his honor, eventually grows to become one of the largest of its kind in the world.
1948
A bond issue for 18 new branches and an addition to the Main Library, championed by City Librarian Clarke, fails by 12,000 votes.
1949
Citizens concerned about the future of the Library meet to form the first, short-lived Friends of the San Francisco Public Library. Nat Schmulowitz presides. Dr. Charles Albert Schumate is elected President. One of the participants, Mary Louise Stong, will champion the Library cause for the next half century.
“OUR FREE PUBLIC LIBRARY IS THE
ONE INSTITUTION THAT SERVES ALL
REGARDLESS OF WHO YOU ARE OR
WHAT YOU DO.”
---Mary Louise Stong, friend of the Library (1920- 2002)
1951
The new Parkside and Potrero branches open, replacing rented facilities.
1953
Voters turn down a bond issue to remodel the Main Library to make it more efficient.
1954
The Marina Branch opens.
1956
The Ortega Branch opens.
1957
Anna E. Waden, a City Health Department employee of modest means, leaves money in her will to construct a new branch in Bayview/Hunters Point.
The Chronicle runs a series of articles critical of the Library by reporter
Hale Champion. One headline asks, “Where are the books?” while another article states “Public Library a Disgrace to San Francisco.”
1958
The Library Commission retains Emerson Greenaway, President of the American Library Association, to survey San Francisco’s Library and make recommendations. The report urges the City to increase Library funding, hire professionally trained staff, and, ultimately, replace the Main Library with a larger facility.
The Merced Branch opens.
1959
Mayor George Christopher appoints a ‘Committee of 50’ prominent citizens, including Marjorie Stern, to examine the decline of the Library system, particularly the Main Library.
A civil grand jury reports that the Main Library is gloomy, soiled and odoriferous, a kind of skid row hostel for the homeless, and a building that is out of date. Only 1500 books were checked out from the Main Library in 1959 vs. 12,000 a year previously.
The new North Beach Branch opens. The old North Beach Branch, a Carnegie building on Powell Street, is renamed the Chinatown Branch.
1960
San Franciscans for a Better Library, a citizens group, is formed.
1961
Prominent residents meet to form another Library support group, the
San Francisco Library League.
The Committee of 50, San Franciscans for a Better Library and the
San Francisco Library League join forces under a new name:
Friends of the San Francisco Public Library. (See Box 1)
City Librarian William R. Holman makes a master’s degree in library science a requirement for new librarians.
1962
A new Eureka Valley Branch opens.
1963
Calligrapher Richard Harrison donates his collection to the Library.
The Library adopts new selection criteria for children’s books that celebrates diverse cultures and does not perpetuate social stereotypes. It proves to be a pioneering effort in libraries nationwide. Twenty years later the Effie Lee Morris Historical and Research Collection of Children’s Literature is created, honoring the Library’s first Coordinator of Children’s Services.
1964
The Friends organization holds its first annual book sale of donated materials. It is chaired by Hilde Kolb and raises $4,000 that is used to purchase rare materials for the Library. Over the years, this sale becomes the biggest in the western United States. (See Box 1)
The Main Library establishes a San Francisco history collection.
“IN BOOKS LIES THE SOUL OF THE
WHOLE PAST TIME; THE ARTICULATED
AUDIBLE VOICE OF THE PAST.”
---Carved in stone, old Main Library, 1917
1965
The Friends lobby the City for more funds and the book budget gets a significant increase.
The Library acquires the private collection of Robert Grabhorn on the History of Printing and the Development of the Book, in part with help from the Friends.
1966
Margaret ‘Mig’ Mayer becomes the first Executive Director of the Friends. She will work behind the scenes supporting improved library services for 25 years.
The Library orders its first Japanese language materials for both the Main and Western Addition Branch. A special Friends of the Japanese Collection raises money for several years to expand the collection. The Library will eventually collect materials in over forty languages.
The Western Addition Branch opens.
The State Librarian designates San Francisco Public Library as the hub of the Bay Area Reference Center (BARC), one of two regional reference groups in California.
1967
City Librarian Holman resigns. The Examiner says Holman inherited “one of the most infamous cultural fossils in the country” and moved it in the direction of becoming a modern library.
The Library develops its first African American collections for Bayview, Western Addition, Ocean View and Ingleside branches.
1968
Marjorie Stern is appointed to the Library Commission, where she will serve
until 1989.
A new Excelsior Branch opens. Community leader Walter Jebe plays an important role in its creation.
1969
San Francisco librarians organize a union, the Librarians Guild, which later becomes an affiliate of SEIU, Local 790. The Library Employees Association Fund, a separate staff association, continues through the early 1990s.
The new Anna E. Waden Branch, named after its benefactor, opens in Bayview/Hunters Point.
1971
The Friends donate the first bookmobile to serve homebound persons.
1972
New federal legislation funds the Early Childhood Project, linking the Library with adults who work with children. The funds also launch Dial-a-Story.
Friends members form a new organization to lobby the state and city for more funding---Keep Libraries Alive! Leaders include Sally Brunn, Grace Macduff Parker, Billie Pearl-Schuler, Mary Louise Stong and Marjorie Stern.
1974
A pivotal fight develops over the development of Marshall Square. Mayor Joseph Alioto, believing Library supporters cannot raise enough private money for a new Main Library, supports locating a new Symphony Hall on the site. Library Commission President Ed Callanan and Library supporters lead the effort to preserve Marshall Square for an eventual new Main Library. With the help of Supervisors Ron Pelosi and Bob Mendelsohn, and assistance from attorney William Coblentz, the Board of Education makes a parking lot on
Van Ness Avenue available for the Symphony Hall and the Library gets Marshall Square.
The Library becomes an innovator in using video and audiotapes for the
hearing and sight impaired.
1975
A Performing Arts Archive is created and placed in the Presidio Branch through the collaboration of City Librarian Kevin Starr and former ballet costume designer Russell Hartley. In 1981 the collection moves out of the Library. In 1989 the independent Performing Arts Library and Museum is established.
1976
The Library installs its first automation system to help improve circulation.
The first children’s bookmobile is purchased.
1978
Passage of Proposition 13 rolls back property taxes and seriously diminishes the City’s ability to fund the Library and other public services.
Mayor George Moscone and Supervisor Harvey Milk are assassinated at City Hall. The Eureka Valley Branch is renamed in memory of Milk, a longtime Library supporter and former Friends Board member.
City Guides, offering free neighborhood history tours, is started in the Main Library’s San Francisco History Room by Judith Lynch.
1979
San Francisco and Shanghai develop a Sister City relationship under leadership from the mayors of both cities, Dianne Feinstein and Jiang Zemin. Eventually this will include a library book exchange program between the public libraries in both cities. Library Commissioner Ed Bransten will play a leadership role in the exchange of thousands of donated books between the two libraries in the years ahead.
“LEARNING IS A TREASURE THAT WILL FOLLOW ITS OWNER EVERYWHERE.”
---Chinese proverb
1980
City Librarian John Frantz threatens to close eleven branches if a proposed 20 percent budget cut is enacted. Keep Libraries Alive! demonstrates at City Hall. The Friends agree to temporarily pay the rent for the Business Branch.
The Friends agree to take over the popular but unbudgeted City Guides program.
1981
A budget compromise keeps all branches open.
1982
A report by Columbia University Library expert Lowell Martin recommends consolidation of branches to save money and improve service. The report is not well received by neighborhood activists who support branch libraries.
The Friends open Book Bay at Fort Mason to sell donated books and materials. The money helps fund Library projects the City could not otherwise afford.
The Friends and City Arts & Lectures, led by Sydney Goldstein, launch a literary lecture series that proves popular with the reading public.
Mary Louise Stong is appointed to the Library Commission, where she will serve for the next six years.
1983
The Friends launch Project Read, a program teaching adults how to read.
Olive “Babs” Waugh is its first director. Later, the Library will take over the program.
“YOU CANNOT UNEDUCATE THE PERSON WHO HAS LEARNED TO READ.”
---United Farm Workers founder Cesar Chavez (1927-1993)
1985
Attorney James W. Haas, a member of the Friends board, convinces the group to support a master plan for the entire Civic Center that would locate a new Main Library on Marshall Square and a museum in the old Main Library building.
Mayor Feinstein expresses skepticism that Library supporters can raise the private money needed for a new building at a meeting about the master plan with City Librarian Frantz and commissioners Callanan, Stern and Stong.
Mayor Feinstein asks for a ten percent budget cut from the Library and other departments to address a budget shortfall.
1986
Mayor Feinstein appoints a task force headed by Deputy City Mayor
Peter Henschel to develop a Civic Center master plan.
A report on the Civic Center by consultants Becker and Hayes/Omni-Group criticizes the Main and calls for building a new Library next door on Marshall Square.
Hundreds meet at the Main Library on the 25th anniversary of the Friends.
New York City Librarian Vartan Gregorian speaks eloquently about the need for a new Main Library.
1987
The Fire Marshal calls the Main Library a fire hazard and closes the stacks until 100,000 books are removed.
The Friends start organizing a bond campaign for the new Main Library.
(See Box 1)
Deputy Mayor Henschel asks Asian Art Museum chair Judy Wilbur if the museum is interested in taking over the old Main Library building. The idea is controversial. The Museum Board expresses interest but makes no commitment.
Ken Dowlin, one of the nation’s leading advocates for the high tech library of the future, is hired as the new City Librarian.
A second study by Becker and Hayes/Omni-Group underscores the advantages of Marshall Square for a new Library. Yet another study, this one by consultant Skidmore Owings & Merrill, recommends that the existing Main Library be used as a museum.
Mayoral candidate Art Agnos advocates construction of a new Main Library, saying, “We’ve had enough studies. Let’s act.” He is elected in December.
In the final weeks of her term, Mayor Feinstein sends the Board of Supervisors a series of recommendations for the Civic Center, including building a new
Main Library on Marshall Square and turning the old Library into a museum. Worried about winning voter approval of a bond issue over $100 million, city officials reduce the recommended bond amount by $15.5 million from construction cost estimates.
Marjorie Stern begins discussions with various business and community leaders about forming a Library Foundation to raise millions of dollars for the new Main. Many are skeptical about the likely success of such fundraising for a public library. (See Box 3)
1988
Mayor Agnos and the Board of Supervisors approve Proposition A that would authorize bonds to build the new Main Library and to start branch renovations. They also approve Proposition N that would allow the Asian Art Museum to take control of the old Main Library building.
Seventy-six percent of voters approve the bond for a new Main Library and branch renovations. Proposition N is also approved. (See Box 1)
The Asian Art Museum Board agrees to relocate to the old Main Library and leave Golden Gate Park.
Marjorie Stern leaves the Library Commission and is named Honorary Commissioner for Life.
Mayor Agnos, facing a major budget shortfall, proposes cuts for various departments including the Library. A major political fight erupts between city officials and neighborhood activists over possible closure of several neighborhood branch libraries. Eventually only the Business Branch is closed.
(See Box 1 and electronic archives)
Mel and Charlotte Swig, major civic and philanthropic leaders, agree to chair the fundraising campaign for the new Main Library if an experienced foundation executive such as Martin Paley becomes Executive Director of the Library Foundation. Paley agrees.
1989
A committee of 25 community leaders interviews various architects for the new Main Library and recommends two firms working in association. The City approves the recommendation and hires Simon Martin-Vegue Winkelstein Moris of San Francisco, and Pei Cobb Freed & Partners of New York City.
(See Box 1)
Mig Mayer retires as Executive Director of the Friends.
The Loma Prieta earthquake severely damages the Main Library. The glass floors in the seven-level book stacks twist as the earth moves, shearing into long thick shards and dumping hundreds of thousands of books on the floor. City building officials close the Library and decide that staff members cannot be ordered into such an unsafe space. Ignoring the danger, staff members volunteer to retrieve the books and, working with community volunteers, they move the books to a temporary storage space in an empty building in the Presidio that staff calls the Carlson Stacks in honor of Library Commissioner
Dale Carlson, who helped broker use of the building. Main Library repairs take several months.
When the Main re-opens, hundreds of people gather for a celebration, including a troupe of accordion players.
The Library forms the Council of Neighborhood Libraries to provide activists a forum to discuss library policies. (See electronic archives)
In support of freedom of speech, the Library hosts “I am Salman Rushdie” Day at the Main Library.
Another difficult budget year forces the Library to cut services, including updating the out-of-date and labor-intensive card catalog.
1990
Sheet music collector Dorothy Starr dies, leaving a collection of 500,000 pieces of published music. The Friends purchase the collection from her estate for the Library.
Design work for the new Main Library is underway. Because the City had earlier reduced the bond size by $15.5 million, officials eliminate one entire floor from the plan to stay within budget.
At the Presidio Branch, users of the Library for the Blind meet to decide whether to relocate to the new Main Library. After vigorous debate, community leader Rose Resnick makes an impassioned speech to move to the new Main Library. The group votes overwhelmingly to move.
1991
Chronicle columnist Herb Caen proclaims that the new Library will henceforth be known as the New Main. Eventually the New Main periodical reading room will be named in his honor.
The Library Foundation organizes for the huge fundraising effort ahead.
It will be called The Main Campaign.
A fundraising study by Marts and Lundy consultant Charlie Howland suggests that the Library Foundation will be unable to raise even $20 million because California is in a recession and the Library has no existing donor base. Nevertheless, Mel Swig sets the goal at $25 million, with an additional $5 million to start an endowment. Actions by the Foundation, Commission, various communities and individuals contribute to the success of the campaign.
Library Foundation Executive Director Paley believes the democratic role of a public library in society is key to the success of the campaign. He asks communities often ignored by major civic campaigns to take leadership roles in The Main Campaign. Community leaders respond with enthusiasm.
The Library Commission, believing the New Main offers a rare chance to revitalize the Library system, adopts a Five Year Strategic Plan initiating new services for traditionally underserved communities, organizing around special collections where there is broad public interest, achieving wider use of current Library resources and developing more dependable sources of revenue.
Library Commission President Steve Coulter advocates creating a gay and
lesbian historical archive, the first in a public library in the U.S. At a press
conference announcing its creation, author Randy Shilts warns the crowd:
“We’re losing far too many people to the AIDS epidemic—
it’s essential we not lose our history, too.”
Gay and lesbian leaders, including publisher Sherry Thomas, civic
leaders Alvin H. Baum, Jr., Coulter, Chuck Forester, Gary Gielow, Marya
Grambs, James W. Haas, James C. Hormel, Dorrwin Buck Jones, Robert W.
Sass, Jan Zivic and others work to define and shape the archive.
(See Box 3 and our electronic archives)
The Library Foundation organizes fundraising committees around special collections and the Library designates specific areas of the New Main as Centers for collections of community interest. (See Box 3 and our electronic archives)
The Chinatown Branch, the City’s busiest, will be doubled in size. A fundraising campaign for the branch, linked to the Chinese American Center in the Main Campaign, is organized. Community leader Rosalyn Koo plays key roles in the branch renovation and fundraising. (See Box 3)
This effort to recruit all segments of the community in the fundraising and
organizing around collections and services becomes known as the
Affinity Group Campaign. Around the country, other libraries adopt a similar model. In the years ahead, the Centers prove popular with the public and become focal points for exhibitions and special programs.
Over the next three years The Main Campaign astounds the skeptics by raising $36 million under the leadership of the Mel and Charlotte Swig, Paley and many volunteers, becoming one of the most successful campaigns in the history of American libraries.
The Main Library opens the “Prides & Joys” exhibit of rare books and fine print volumes in the collection. It is organized by printer Andrew Hoyem,
Marjorie Stern and other book collectors and rare book enthusiasts.
Library activist Sally Brunn dies. The Noe Valley Branch is named in her memory in 1992.
Labor unions help the Main building effort. The Building and Construction Trades Council led by Stan Smith agrees to tear down the old USO building on Marshall Square as a gift to the Library. During World War II, the same union built the USO as a gift to American soldiers.
The Library acquires several important gay and lesbian collections, including the largest private pulp fiction collection in the U.S. and the papers of the late Supervisor Harvey Milk and of Mattachine Society founder Harry Hay.
(See electronic archives)
1992
Ground is broken for the New Main Library on Marshall Square. Hundreds attend the ceremony, including Mayor Frank Jordan. He uses the same silver shovel Mayor “Sunny Jim” Rolph held when ground was broken for Civic Center in 1913.
The Library excavation uncovers part of the old jail and other rubble from City Hall when it collapsed in the 1906 earthquake. Also found is a wedding band, perhaps the last remains of the Yerba Buena Cemetery that once held more than 5,000 bodies and was removed in 1870.
The economy is in a recession and the Library again faces budget cuts. Keep Libraries Alive! campaigns for more Library funding.
Voters approve Proposition J, an initiative sponsored by community activists to increase the baseline spending for children’s services citywide. Library funding for children’s programs is increased.
1993
Philanthropist Mel Swig dies after a long illness. An endowment is created in his name.
Another difficult budget year forces the Library to trim its book budget and hours.
A major political fight erupts over moving the Victorian era Pioneer Monument that sits at the intersection of Hyde and Grove streets. The monument originally stood before the City Hall that was demolished by the 1906 earthquake. The Library Foundation pays to move the 800-ton monument to a site between what will become the Asian Art Museum and the New Main.
1994
More proposed budget cuts mean dramatically reducing hours at some branches, further reductions in the book budget and fewer staff.
Mayor Jordan removes six of seven Library Commissioners in a budget dispute.
The Friends, under the leadership of President Diane Filippi, launch a ballot initiative for dedicated Library funding to stop the boom and bust cycle of Library budgeting. When campaign funds run low, Mary Louise Stong loans the campaign money to continue the fight. Proposition E passes with over 70% of the vote. (See Box 1)
The Library establishes public Internet access and a Library Web site that includes an online Community Services Directory of all San Francisco government agencies, community, neighborhood, health, human service and business groups.
1995
Because of Proposition E funds, the book and materials budget triples and system open hours increase 46%. Branch libraries receive thousands of new books and staff begins weeding collections to make room for new materials.
The Main Library closes to the public at the end of the year. For the sixth time in its history, staff prepares to move the enormous Main collection, sorting through nearly a century’s worth of accumulated materials. At the same time, thousands of books from the new affinity groups and the Shanghai Sister City Collection, long housed at the University of San Francisco Lone Mountain campus, are moved to the New Main.
As librarians pull damaged, outdated or duplicate materials from the Main collection, a controversy erupts, foreshadowing rough times ahead. Critics allege that the Library is disposing of large numbers of books instead of moving them to the new building. The Library administration defends the professional standards and judgment exercised by staff in weeding obsolete materials.
1996
Mayor Willie L. Brown, Jr. appoints a new Library Commission, replacing six of seven members.
Weldon Owen publishes A Free Library in this City, a history of the
San Francisco Public Library by Peter Booth Wiley. The publisher donates the book as a gift to the Library to commemorate the years of public struggle to build the New Main Library.
In a pre-opening celebration, the Library Foundation puts up tents outside the New Main Library for a special Family Day event that draws 12,000 parents and children. Local celebrities, including actor Robin Williams, read their favorite children’s stories.
Construction of the New Main Library is complete. It is one of the first major public buildings in the U.S. to incorporate many green building features. It is also the first building in San Francisco to have talking signs to assist sight-impaired patrons.
Several major pieces of art are incorporated into the building, including part of an old card catalog, a surreal spiral staircase, an illuminated wall of authors, a standing mural on Latin American writers and a domed ceiling celebrating gays and lesbians through history. (See electronic archives)
April 18, 1996. The New Main Library opens to the public. It is ninety years to the day since the great earthquake destroyed the old City Hall and the Main Library inside. Thousands crowd Fulton Street and take part in the opening ceremonies. (See electronic archives)
Fourteen thousand people come through the building on its first day. A million visit the building in just over three months. Library staff is overwhelmed but works hard to meet the demand.
A public debate over the New Main erupts, often lively and sometimes shrill, and rages for months. The new seven-level library is dramatically different from the old Main in size, style, technology, open space and organization. The controversies become a national media story. (See Box 2)
For the first year, New Main Library circulation is up 71%, adult programming increases 705% and children’s programming increases 224%. By the end of 1996, attendance levels out at 5,500 a day, seven days a week.
The New Main’s Brooks Walker Patent & Trademark Center becomes one of five California sites designated as a federal patent depository library. It includes complete patents from 1790 to the present.
The New Main’s Daniel E. Koshland San Francisco History Center contains more than 250,000 photographs dating from 1850. City records and photographs provide detail on thousands of homes and buildings.
A new budget controversy develops. City Librarian Ken Dowlin, saying that he has met many of his goals, resigns. Kathy Page, Chief of the Main, steps in as Acting City Librarian.
1997
The Library seeks a closer relationship with the literary community and the Library Foundation begins an annual Library Laureates dinner in the New Main, honoring leading authors from Northern California. Author Amy Tan and U.S. Poet Laureate Robert Hass co-chair the inaugural event.
The Wallace Stegner Environmental Center holds a series of public debates on environmental issues, underwritten by the Richard & Rhoda Goldman Fund. Actor Robert Redford attends a press conference announcing the program.
Library computers prove so popular with the public that time limits are necessary at peak hours.
Regina Minudri, past President of the American Library Association, steps in to manage the library and is eventually named City Librarian, the first woman to hold the post on a permanent basis.
The New Main Library begins staging a dozen major exhibits a year in its new exhibition spaces as well as many smaller ones from specific collections. One popular exhibit this year is Brave Little Girls, depicting young women heroines in children’s literature.
The American Institute of Architects and the American Library Association present the New Main Library the Award of Excellence for Library Architecture.
1998
Through My Father’s Eyes: Pioneers of the San Francisco Filipino Community exhibit opens at the New Main Library. The photography exhibit, featuring the work of Richard Alvarado, eventually becomes part of the Smithsonian Institution.
1999
E-mail reference service begins.
The Mission Branch is renovated.
The Friends and the Library Foundation merge into one organization called the Friends & Foundation of the San Francisco Public Library.
Margie O’Driscoll and Chuck Forester are named co-executive directors.
A Community Book Redistribution Program is implemented to ensure that all books no longer needed by the Library find new homes in schools, hospitals, jails, non-profits and other community service organizations. Due to a voracious demand for English language reading materials in the Philippines, South Korea, China and other countries, the program expands to become international in scope.
2000
City Librarian Minudri steps down for health reasons and Deputy City Librarian Susan Hildreth becomes Acting City Librarian and later permanent City Librarian.
A bond issue, Proposition A, is placed on the ballot after lobbying by the Friends & Foundation. It will build five new branches, upgrade 19 others for earthquake safety, and improve electrical systems and access for people with disabilities. City officials reduce the size of the bond by $10 million to $106 million. The measure passes with 74% of the vote.
The new Ocean View Branch opens, replacing a rented facility. Mayor Willie L. Brown, Jr. uses budget surplus funds to pay for the building. A fundraising effort, organized by the Friends & Foundation and strongly supported by the neighborhood, provides furniture, fixtures and a new computer-training center.
2001
Nearly five million people visit the San Francisco Public Library system in fiscal year 2000-01, checking out 6.3 million items. Millions more use library reference material or online services. Over 182,000 children attend special programs.
2002
Mary Louise Stong, champion of public libraries for over a half-century, dies.
The Friends & Foundation, under new Executive Director Martin Gomez and Board Chair Deborah Doyle, commence work on a $16 million neighborhood library campaign for furniture, fixtures and other needs not covered by the Proposition A branch renovation bonds.
2003
The new Asian Art Museum opens in the remodeled old Main Library building.
The Library purchases property for five new City-owned branch libraries to replace rented facilities. Over the next decade, new branches are planned for construction in Mission Bay, Glen Park, Visitacion Valley, Portola and Ingleside and 19 existing branches will be upgraded.
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The Library Commission approves creation of this Wall of Library Heroes, January 6, 2004, to capture the history of the Library system
and honor the many community leaders who fought for the values of a great public library. Their stories are a legacy that will inspire others.
Future generations may want to add their own stories.
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We acknowledge Peter Booth Wiley and his book A Free Library In This City
as a key reference in this history. We are grateful for his help.
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This project was made possible by a grant from the
Friends & Foundation of the San Francisco Public Library, 2003
“THE TRUE UNIVERSITY OF THESE DAYS
IS A COLLECTION OF BOOKS.”
---Thomas Carlyle (1795-1881)
Carved in stone, old Main Library, 1917
Above the doorway, Jewett Gallery, New Main Library, 2003
Box 1
Friends of the San Francisco Public Library, 1961-62
Founding members of the Friends of the San Francisco Public Library include:
President: Alan K. Browne. Vice Presidents: General Edwin L. Johnson, David Magee, Jack Pollatsek, Marjorie Stern. Treasurer: William Mackey. Secretary: Mary Louise Stong. Board Members: John Bransten, Mortimer and Janet Fleishhacker, Jr., Mr. and Mrs. R. Gwin Follis, Dr. and Mrs. Frank Gerbode, Mr. and Mrs. Walter Haas, Lucille Mohr, Judith Pollatsek, Mr. and Mrs. Albert Schwabacher Jr., Mrs. Nion Tucker, George and Sally Williams, Mrs. Dean Witter, Mr. and Mrs. J.D. Zellerbach.
Over the next year, the Friends board membership grows to include: Mildred Bell, Mrs. Donald Biggs, William Brinton, Mrs. Francis Carroll, William Coblentz,
Hunt Conrad, Mrs. Richard Dakin, Mrs. Ralph Doscher, Robert Drewes,
Dr. Frank Fenton, E.H. Gauer, Carlton B. Goodlett, M.D., George Johns,
Gustav Knecht, Jr., Lewis Lengfeld, Mrs. Robert MacDuff, Mrs. Alfred McLaughlin, Robert Marcus, William Monihan, Eugene M. Price, Alvin Rockwell, Nat Schmulowitz.
Friends Book Sale
Leadership for the first book sale in 1964 includes Hilde Kolb who volunteered to sort and price books when the Library found it had an excess of donated materials. Richard Reinhardt, Helen Louise Weinstein and others also provided leadership. Other activists emerge over the years including Hugh Cook, Ann Grace, Erma Kuta, Joan Leaf, Leslie Luttgens, Elaine Mundy and Ken Train, among others.
Main Bond Campaign, 1988
The Friends start organizing for the anticipated Library bond in 1987. Marilyn Smulyan is hired to build grassroots support. Volunteers are recruited to build public support, including community leaders Aileen Hernandez and Joanne Foo, attorney Fred Rodriguez and labor leader Steve Neuberger of SEIU Local 790.
Once approved for the ballot, a formal bond campaign is formed. Sherry Agnos, wife of the new Mayor, and School Superintendent Ramon Cortines are honorary co-chairs. Marilyn Smulyan runs the campaign with leadership from political consultant Dick Pabich, attorney James W. Haas, Caryl Mezey, Jack Berman and help from a Franciscan brother and Tenderloin neighborhood activist, Kelly Cullen. Hundreds of others assist the campaign effort.
Save the Branches, 1988
A plan to temporarily close some neighborhood branches because of City budget problems leads to an outpouring of support that keeps neighborhood libraries open. Some of those active in the campaign include the following: Jean Amos, Ann Anderson, Judy Baston, Karen Bevelander, Miriam Blaustein, Sally Brunn, Sue Cauthen, Margaret Coughlin, Karen Crommie, Dorothy Danielson, Marcia DeHart, Ella Driscoll, Ellen Egbert, Tiffany Farr, Harriet Fielding, Barbara Gersh, Andrew Grimstad, Julie Kavanaugh, Carolyn Kleymeyer, Marty Koshuba, Lucretia Levinger, Miriam Pavis, Dr. Rose Resnick, Carol Steiman, Larry Ware, Landis Whistler and Naomi Williams.
Designing & Building the New Main
Architects James Ingo Freed and Cathy Simon lead the design team with Project Manager Anthony Bernheim. Other members in leadership roles include City Librarian Ken Dowlin, Library Project Director Kathy Page and Library Commission President Steve Coulter.
San Francisco’s Chief Administrative Officer Rudy Nothenberg leads the building efforts for the City with the help of project managers Russ Abel and
Jim Cheng.
Prop E Campaign for Library Funding, 1994
The Friends of the Library launch a successful initiative to help stabilize Library funding and face significant opposition in their campaign. Leadership includes Friends President Diane Filippi, Mary Louise Stong, Carol Steiman, Dale Carlson, City Librarian Ken Dowlin, campaign managers John Whitehurst and Robert Barnes, David Spero, pollster David Binder, and others.
Box 2
The New Main Controversy
The San Francisco Public Library is a popular institution and the dramatic differences between the old and New Main buildings thrill many but startle others. San Francisco becomes the focus of a national debate on books, technology and the role of libraries in the 21st Century.
The Criticism: The exterior design is too modern, there is too much open space inside and the layout is confusing. There is not enough bookshelf space for an expanding collection and the aggressive weeding of the collection for the move into the New Main was because the new space was not big enough. There is too much emphasis on technology, particularly computers and the new electronic card catalog. The old card catalog, though out of date, has information not available on the electronic catalog. Private fundraising is bad for a public institution and the City should provide greater taxpayer support.
The Praise: The New Main succeeds against the odds and is an inspiring civic presence. Private fundraising is necessary and thousands of San Franciscans gave generously, furnishing the building and expanding collections, in one of the most successful campaigns in American library history. The open space and natural light replace a gloomy, odoriferous, inefficient old Main. The New Main has many important green building features and provides easy access and new services for people with disabilities. Technology, particularly the popular new electronic card catalog and Web site, brings the Library into the 21st Century. The new collections better reflect the diversity of the City.
The Library Commission votes to maintain the old card catalog in the basement as a historical resource.
The media covers the debate: ¸ “It will grow on us,” writes the U.S. Poet Laureate in the Chronicle about the outside of the building, adding that “inside...is a marvel, so deeply delicious you forget your previous ideas of what a library is.” ¸ “An ugly modern shopping mall”, fumes a critic of the building in a newspaper article. ¸ A “Mall for the Mind” writes Newsweek. ¸ “A Wonderment to Discover” for people with disabilities, writes the World Institute on Disabilities.
¸ “The curves and twists of stairs around the rotunda are enough to make a person dizzy,” rages one letter in the Examiner. ¸ “A dynamic, light-filled space as inviting as it is joyous” writes Art in America. ¸ “A Trojan horse concealing an invasion force of private interests,” writes a critic. ¸ “Room for Imagination in a Temple of Reason,” headlines the New York Times architectural review.
The Mayor calls for a neutral third party audit to study some of the issues and cool tempers. Several suggestions to improve the building are adopted. An Examiner editorial gives this advice to all sides in this sometimes shrill debate: “Shush!”
Box 3
Library Foundation & the Main Campaign, 1987-96
The initial founding members of the Foundation include: Ben Dial, James Edgar (Board President), Leslie Luttgens, Michael Mellor, Caryl and Peter Mezey, Ellen Newman, Martin Paley, Marjorie Stern (Board Founding Chair), Olive Waugh and Ann Witter. As campaign design work begins, membership expands to include: Mayor Art Agnos, Dale Carlson, Hector Chinchilla, Renee and
Arthur Coleman, M.D., Steve Coulter, Carlota del Portillo, Ken Dowlin, Chuck Forester, Michael Garland, Ellen Huppert and Tatwina Lee.
Campaign co-chairs: Mel and Charlotte Swig
Honorary co-chairs: civic leader Ann G. Getty and John W. Gardner, former HEW Secretary and founder of Common Cause
Executive Directors: Martin Paley (1988-92), Sherry Thomas (1993-96)
“THE ‘HOUSE OF THE BOOK,’ AS THOMAS JEFFERSON CALLED THE LIBRARY, SHOULD BE WORTHY OF ITS MISSION…IT SHOULD REFLECT THE PRIDE, THE CULTURE, AND THE VALUES OF THE DIVERSE COMMUNITIES IT SERVES.”
---Main Campaign brochure, 1991
Affinity Group Campaign, 1991-94
Numerous community leaders step forward to take part and lead the effort to develop and help fund special collections of significant community interest. Chairs of the Affinity campaigns are listed below. A full listing of committee members is in the Library’s electronic archive, SFPL History. Donor recognition plaques are located inside the Library.
African American Group
Co-chairs: Dr. Arthur Coleman and Renee Dorsey Coleman
A memorial fund in honor of Dr. Coleman is established in 2002.
Children’s Group
Honorary Co-Chairs: Doris Fisher and Charlotte Mailliard Swig
The Children’s Center is named in honor of the Don and Doris Fisher family,
philanthropists and civic leaders.
Chinese American Group
Honorary Co-Chairs: Virginia C. Gee and Tom Hsieh
Co-Chairs: Tatwina Chinn Lee and Rosalyn Koo
Friends of the Chinatown Branch
Co-Chairs: Thomas Ng and Reverend Harry Chuck
Vice Chairs: Helen Chin and Rosalyn Koo.
Environmental Group
Co-Chairs: Lucy Blake and Jerry Tone
The Center is named in honor of the late Wallace Stegner,
a California author and Pulitzer Prize winner.
Filipino American Group
Chair: Agaton Gualberto, M.D.
Gay & Lesbian Group
Co-Chairs: Diane Benjamin and Chuck Forester
The Center is named in honor of James C. Hormel, a philanthropist, civic
leader and, a few years later, the first openly gay man in U.S. history to be
appointed as a U.S. Ambassador.
Latino/Hispanic Group
Co-Chairs: Carlota del Portillo and Fred A. Rodriguez
The Latino/Hispanic group asks that a community meeting room, a place to bring
people together, be named for their community.
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