| For Immediate Release: January 22, 2004
Media Contact: Marcia Schneider (415) 557-4252
Richmond Branch Library Re-named to
Honor Senator Milton Marks
San Francisco – On January 6, 2004, the San Francisco Public Library Commission voted to rename the Richmond Branch Library,
located at 351 9th Avenue between Clement and Geary, the Richmond/Senator Milton Marks Branch Library.
The renaming, first proposed by State Librarian and historian Dr. Kevin Starr in 2001, garnered substantial community interest and was supported by a resolution
of the Board of Supervisors in 2002. Dr. Starr cites the tireless advocacy of the late Senator Marks on behalf of libraries in California over his long political career.
To date, over one thousand individuals, organizations and community leaders have written letters, signed petitions and testified in public on behalf of the proposal.
The Commission, in voting to rename the Richmond Branch Library, noted the extraordinary contributions of the late Senator Marks, lauding his
involvement in and support for the community.
It is rare for a library to be named after an individual, and it is only done for very compelling reasons. The renaming followed
Library Commission protocol and policy, which stipulates that no facility be named after any living person, or for any person deceased less than one year. Other criteria include:
the depth and breadth of the contributions of the honoree must reflect a dedication and beneficence to the San Francisco Public Library system over a great span
of time; there must be a strong consensus among library users and residents of the surrounding neighborhood to add the name of the proposed honoree to the library facility in question;
the proposed honoree should reflect the spirit of the Library’s mission of free and equal access to information for all; the new name should avoid controversy and not carry the
banner of a transitory cause, no matter how worthy; and it must be in the public interest to approve the proposed name. The geographic name of the neighborhood in which the library
is located always precedes the honorary name.
The Richmond/Senator Milton Marks Branch Library is a Carnegie building which opened in 1914. The San Francisco Landmarks Preservation Advisory Board
recommended landmark status for all of the Carnegie libraries in January, 2001. The branch is scheduled for a major renovation and expansion under the Branch Library Improvement Program,
overwhelmingly approved by San Francisco voters in November, 2000.
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