San Francisco Public Library

Scavenger Hunt and $3 Cookbooks at the Library's Big Book Sale

Looking for some vintage James Beard cookbooks or to read and learn the rules of hospitality from restaurant guru Danny Meyer? Consider stocking up on cookbooks at the upcoming 49th Annual Big Book Sale, which benefits San Francisco's public libraries and is held at the Festival Pavilion of Fort Mas ... More >>

By Hook or by Book

Score Bargain Cookbooks at the Library's Big Book Sale

Hey fellow cookbook obsessives, you should go to the 48th Annual Big Book Sale at Fort Mason put on by Friends of the San Francisco Public Library. The sale started today in the hanger-like Festival Pavilion and will continue through the weekend, and there are two huge tables of all manner of cooker ... More >>

Can't Beat It

Library Asks Teens to Help Grandma Close the Tech Gap

This screen is making me nauseous!​My mother, now in her 60's, has just never grasped onto any part of the computer age. She still drives to Barnes & Noble to buy books at full-price instead of getting the latest deal on Amazon. She's unsettled by the fact that a computer mouse is named after ... More >>

Boozing at the Library: Friends of the Library Hosting Happy Hour

Books Heart Booze​If you've ever heard the representative of Friends of the San Francisco Public Library drone on during Board of Supes' meetings until he's gonged off the public comment podium, you'll know that then knocking back a hard one couldn't hurt. You can even help the bookish boozing alo ... More >>

What Books Mayoral Candidates Can't Seem to Finish

Can't get through the basics?​Yesterday we learned that San Francisco has a somewhat bookish group of mayoral candidates. A video released detailed what books each candidate was currently reading in between their day jobs, raising families, and running for office.  But perhaps even more amusi ... More >>

Knowledge Is Powerfully Funny

Babka Lust, Library Tips, and the Fawaffle: This Week in Food Bloggery

Sardines: Tasty, plentiful, and local.​Highlights from the blog this week: 1. In this week's Weekly cover story, "Go Fish," Peter Jamison argues that the answer to the question "How can I make sure my seafood is sustainably sourced?" is to eat local. He provides a list of local fish and shellfish ... More >>

The New Retro

Sshh! Pound Mochi at the Library, but Quietly

hawaii/Flickr​Mochi Party Where: San Francisco Public Library, Western Addition Branch, 1550 Scott (at Post), 355-5727 When: Sat., Feb. 19, 2-3:30 p.m. Cost: Free The rundown: Like most things you do at the library, this event is sure to boost your inner peace a few decibels. At a free Sa ... More >>

Main Library Wheels In Food Carts

misocrazy/Flickr​Food Cart Smarts Where: San Francisco Public Library, Latino/Hispanic Meeting Room A and B, 100 Larkin (at Hyde), 557-4400 When: Thurs., Feb. 10, 5:30-7 p.m. Cost: Free The rundown: If you've never used the Internet or eaten a snack, maybe you haven't heard of the mobile ... More >>

San Francisco Library *Does* Know How Many Books It Has After All. Whew!

Some questions cannot be answered​Last week, after a series of inquiries, we were informed by San Francisco Public Library staff that they did not know how many books they had. Shockingly, their "Millennium" system allows them to track how many "titles" they have -- that'd be The Sun Also Rises, T ... More >>

San Francisco Library Doesn' t Know How Many Books it Has

http://www.thedctraveler.comA countless number of books. Literally. ​After calculating it might take us 11 years to get a book on hold, we queried the San Francisco Public Library regarding what book it had the most copies of. We were told that this intuitive question would require much analysis, ... More >>

Sheila Himmel, Curator of 'San Francisco Eats,' Talks

San Francisco History Center, San Francisco Public Library​After spending an hour or so at the Main Library earlier this week, poring over the menus on display at San Francisco Eats, I spoke to curator Sheila Himmel about the exhibit, which will be up until March. Himmel was a longtime restaurant ... More >>

What Book Does Library Have Most Copies Of? No One Knows.

Really, Zeitoun? Really?​After it turned out that we might be waiting 11 years for a book on hold, we grew interested in the number of copies the San Francisco Public Library keeps of certain much-loved tomes. What, we queried the library, is the book it has the most copies of? Well, it turns out ... More >>

Symphony Charges S.F. Library $480 Yearly, Despite $2.6M Annual Taxpayer Subsidy

Thanks for placing your overdue-book fines in my pocket​The San Francisco Symphony will receive $2.6 million in taxpayer subsidies during the current fiscal year. Nonetheless, it charges the San Francisco Public Library an additional $480 per year for dropping off old programs, the San Francisco c ... More >>

Salacious Cotton Candy and Holiday Brews: This Week in Food Bloggery

Cue the Barry White.​Highlights from SFoodie and beyond this week:1. This week, our Portland-bound beer columnist, Brian Yaeger, conducted his last blind tasting of local and nationally distributed holiday beers, and found that the Jews outshone the Christians and heathens alike. Pick up a six-pac ... More >>

San Francisco Eats: Main Library Takes a Close Look at City's Dining History

The exhibit exhumes 160 years of S.F. dining history.​With multiple blogs covering new restaurant openings, trends, and gossip with the fervor of Woodward and Bernstein scooping Watergate, local foodies are more than well informed as to what's going in San Francisco's present-day dining scene. ... More >>

When Your Book is Booked...

Your one book is in here somwhere...​'Tis the season for obsessive, time-consuming behavior in pursuit of material goods. Folks line up for days to exploit Black Friday and then log in for Cyber Monday. It would seem, however, that an alarming amount of tenacity is required even when obtaining goo ... More >>

'Big Book Sale' Debuts Wednesday; Literary Fiends May Already Be Lining Up

Book sale! Book sale! Book sale! ​The Friends of the San Francisco Public Library will Today commence its annual gargantuan book sale/social experiment on how insane people can possibly get about buying discount tomes. More than half a million books -- that'd be five big-rig loads -- are up for gr ... More >>

Reader's Cafe Launching Next Month at Fort Mason

​Starting next month, there'll be a new place to get your Blue Bottle fix, and for a good cause to boot. The Book Bay will be opening the Reader's Cafe in Fort Mason next door to its retail store, with proceeds to benefit the Friends of the San Francisco Public Library. There will be more tha ... More >>

A Fond Pink Remembrance of Hippopotamus Hamburger

San Francisco Public Library​We were really young when the Hippopotamus Hamburger Restaurant (aka the Hippo or Hippo Burger) was open on Van Ness, but we remember a pink, cartoony wonderland of happy hippos created by Wolo von Trutzschler. We'll never forget the dizzying array of hamburgers pr ... More >>

What Are People Viewing on S.F. Library Computers (Aside From Porn)?

'Social inclusion'?​You've seen it. We've all seen it. There's always one guy at the public library -- perhaps he's the guy with the bag full of other bags, perhaps not -- engrossed with adult materials on the public computers. And not just any adult materials. We're talking about stuff that makes ... More >>

Fort Mason Farmers' Market Launches Sunday

​If you need an actual carrot dangled in front of your nose for that healthful walk on Marina Green this weekend, Fort Mason can hook you up. The farmers' market kicks off there Sunday. The California Farmers' Market Association says to expect "over 40 certified growers and food producers at p ... More >>

Sunday: Drink Hyper-Local Wines, Donate to Ultra-Local Libraries

JoeyWan/Flickr​Large-scale wine tastings are an odd sort of bacchanal: On one side of the hundreds of tables stand industry reps from around the country, politely pouring tastes and repeating their talking points until they're hoarse. On the other side of the table, the ticket-holders stand three ... More >>

Retired Execs, Aspiring Online Romeos Show Up For Remedial Library Computer Class

Yes, students have been confused by the "return" button; they expected some parts to move. And, yes, other students had no idea that one could erase text by simply hitting "backspace." But, no, no one has ever attempted to apply Wite-Out to the computer screen. Librarian Johanna Goldschmid is a ve ... More >>

Want evidence of the decline of print media? Go to the library.

October Book Events: October Book Swap, Barbara Rose Brooker, Tamim Ansary, John Freeman & R. Crumb

Does the San Francisco Public Library Ban Books? It Did Once -- The Author Was Worried the U.S. Government Would Invade His Thoughts.

Sadly, you won't find this title at the San Francisco Public Library. But you will find the album Mind Control by Stephen Marley.​The San Francisco Public Library's planned celebration of "Banned Books Week" -- and online links to the sorts of literature that librarians elsewhere have been com ... More >>

SF Weekly Bugs Library To House Giants-Related Exhibit. Good News! It Was Already On Its Way.

Jon Leonoudakis prior to 'The Earthquake Game' in 1989​Earlier this month, SF Weekly noticed a sports-centric exhibit commemorating the Giants-Dodgers rivalry being shown in enemy territory at the Burbank Public Library. We vowed to hit up the San Francisco Public and wheedle them into hosting thi ... More >>

San Francisco Library's Usage, Circulation Skyrocketing -- But This Is Not a Good Thing

stuffunemployedpeoplelike.comYeah, we thought it was Zach Galifianakis too. It's Joaquin Phoenix -- and be quiet or he'll eat you.​You've got to salute someone who finds a way to succeed in down times. The man who invented and marketed the bindle -- he must have cleaned up during the Great Depress ... More >>

We Got the Beats

San Francisco Giant Misses His Date to Read to Kiddies at Library -- As He's Been Demoted to Minor Leagues

It's a good bet that Emmanuel Burriss would have loved to be in San Fran today reading to the kiddies rather than suiting up to play Minor League ball in FresnoWhether professional ballplayers really enjoy the litany of camera-friendly community events they're trotted out to is a matter only known b ... More >>

S.F. Library Amnesty Period Reclaims More Than 29,000 Overdue Items, Including Book Due Back During Johnson Administration

Returning library books on time can be tough, and everybody has their reasons. In fact, as part of the San Francisco Public Library's most recent amnesty campaign, those who returned items were asked to give their best excuses. It turns out, a second grader named Vaness ... More >>

S.F. Library's Simple, Smart Move Could Save Miles of Paper

Thanks to the San Francisco Public Library, receipts like this may be a thing of the pastWhen it comes down to a choice between actually helping the environment and having folks gape in wonder at the "futuristic," "21st-century," "next-generation" solutions proposed to help the environment, it's dep ... More >>

For Those of You Who Still Read Words on Paper: Hundreds of Thousands of These 'Books' On Sale This Month -- Cheap!

Ma'am? Would you be interested in purchasing said tome for a mere five dollars?Late last month, we wrote about a Friends of the San Francisco Public Library book sale featuring all the tomes you could carry away for a buck apiece. It turns out that the library's nonprofit arm will be at it again thi ... More >>

Goof-up allows misuse of S.F. Library's premium online resources

Hurry! You Have T-Minus Three Hours To Get Your Dog-Eared Copies of Robert Ludlum, Tom Clancy (and Lots of Great Stuff).

Joe EskenaziGot lunch plans? Change 'em.Who are the patron saints of rummage book sales? So many to choose from -- but, then, there are so many saints. Leon Uris, James Michener, Tom Clancy, Tony Hillerman, Ed McBain, Robert Ludlum, Harold Robbins, the authors of Time-Life hardbacks (such as Reptile ... More >>

Rare Sly Stone, Soul Music Film Clips at SF Public Library

Lou Reed, Patti Smith, the Supremes: rare footage at SF Library

Spiced Out

Boxing up the art of Shabbat

Best Walking Tour

City Guides

Do You Read Me?

Making books with the obsessed

Rolling in His Grave

At least one San Francisco lawyer had a sense of humor

Letters

Letters

Letters