Calendar

Books, rhymes, music, movement and more for toddlers. 18 to 36 months and their caregivers.

Toddler Tales

Books, rhymes, music, movement and more for toddlers 18 to 36 months and their caregivers.

Computers with Internet connection are available for independent work creating or updating your resume, preparing job applications and/or searching online for jobs.

Handouts, books and some staff assistance are available during drop in hours. Bring a flash drive to store your work. Be considerate and share computer space with others.

Books, rhymes, music, movement and more for toddlers 18 to 36 months and their caregivers. 

Drop-in computer and electronic gadget help for seniors and adults.

Makers Monday

Crafts Program - Children & Teens

Do you need math homework help?  We can help!  Math teacher - volunteer will be on site to answer math homework questions weekly on Mondays, Wednesdays, and Fridays from 4-6pm.

Club de lectores en la comunidad de la Misión para leer y discutir libros en español. Las reuniónes son mensuales en el tercer lunes del mes a las 7:00 p.m. ¡Todos estan invitados!

Lugar de Reuniones:                                                                                          La Salita, 2º Piso
Mission Cultural Center
2868 Mission Street
San Francisco, CA 94110

Una colaboración entre el Centro Cultural de la Misión y la Sucursal de la Misión de la Biblioteca Pública de San Francisco.

Computers with Internet connection are available for independent work creating or updating your resume, preparing job applications and/or searching online for jobs.

Handouts, books and some staff assistance are available during drop in hours. Bring a flash drive to store your work. Be considerate and share computer space with others.

Stories, songs, fingerplays and more for children 0-5 yrs. Limited to first 42 participants, in line, day of storytime. Tickets for this storytime are handed out at the Children's Room Entrance (entering from playground) only! 

Books, rhymes, music, movement and more for toddlers 18 to 36 months and their caregivers.

Music books and more for children ages 18 to 36 months. Storytime lasts 30 minutes followed by playtime.

Stories, songs, fingerplays and more for ages 3 to 5.

Family Storytime

Join us as we read, sing and play together.  Fun for the entire family from infants to grandparents.

Titles to be Announced.

Children ages 5 and younger

Stories, songs, fingerplays and more for children, ages 3 to 5 years old.

Join in on the fun of storytime! Help your preschoolers foster early literacy skills through dynamic and entertaining books, songs, music, movement, and more. Playtime follows. Please call ahead for class visits.

Stories, songs, fingerplays and more. For children up to 5 years

Stories, songs, fingerplays and more.  For ages 3-5.

Come get help with setting up email accounts, word processing and other basic computer related tasks. 

Rollicking rhymes, songs and books for infants to 18 months and their caregivers.

WritersCorps WordStorm: A Literary Carnival

Tuesday, May 21, 2013 from 3:30-6:00pm

Students from all over San Francisco have been working with authors from WritersCorps to put their stories and thoughts down on paper. Join WritersCorps for its year-end celebration of writing as students read from new publications. We'll also have hands-on workshops for teens: Use a recording booth, learn how to sew your own journal, create a mini movie, make a button, and more! It all goes down after school on May 21.

San Francisco Public Library - Main Library

Tuesday, May 21, 2013 from 3:30-6:00pm

In the Latino Hispanic Meeting Room on the Lower Level

Third Tuesday of every month (January - May 2013)

1/15, 2/19, 3/19, 4/16, and 5/21

Do you need homwork help?  Kindergarten through 8th grade students can receive assistance completing their homework, studying for tests, and strengthening language arts and math skills. This is a co-host program between the Visitacion Valley Boys and Girls Club and Visitacion Valley Branch Library

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Authors Jason Edward Black and Charles E. Morris III edited the new collection An Archive of Hope: Harvey Milk's Speeches and Writings published by the University of California Press. Both authors will be here to discuss the legacy of Harvey Milk, and will be joined by photographer Danny Nicoletta, who worked in Harvey Milk's camera shop on Castro Street. Frank Robinson, Milk's speechwriter, political advisor and friend will also be part of this panel.

Toddler Tales

Books, rhymes, music, movement and more for toddlers 18 to 36 months and their caregivers.

Play and Grow: Toddler Fun with Reading, Rhyming and Recreation is an early literacy play group that promotes parents child interaction and kindergarten readiness. The group is intended for parents, grandparents, caregivers, and children birth-age five.

This program is a collaboration effort between Edgewood Center, Parent University, APA Family Support Services, and San Francisco Public Library.

Rolicking rhymes, songs & books for infants to 18 months and their caregivers.

Rollicking rhymes, songs & books for infants and toddlers to 18 months. Meet and greet playtime follows the program.Limited to first 42 participants, in line, day of storytime. Tickets for this storytime are handed out at the Children's Room Entrance (entering from playground) only!

Volunteer helps elementary school-aged children who want to improve their reading.

Do you need math homework help?  We can help!  Math teacher - volunteer will be on site to answer math homework questions weekly on Mondays, Wednesdays, and Fridays from 4-6pm.

Conservation photographer Bryant Austin is the only photographer in the world producing high-resolution, life-size photography of whales. A chance encounter with a humpback calf and its mother helped Austin develop a technique to create detailed, intimate portraits of his subjects. Spending days at a time submerged with groups of whales, he remains motionless, allowing humpback, sperm, and minke whales that are sometimes forty-five feet in length and weigh as much as fifty tons to come within six feet. In this presentation, Austin will describe his fearless process and reveal images from his breathtaking new book Beautiful Whale, which was recently published in April 2013 by Abrams. Hear the story behind these images that inspire people to take the future of whales-endangered throughout the oceans-into their hearts. Book signing to follow.

This is a California Academy of Sciences and Stegner Environmental Center Program.

Reservations: This is a free event but seating is limited so please RSVP online as ticketed guests will be seated first. To reserve a place today, reserve a ticket online or over the phone at 1-877-227-1831

http://www.calacademy.org/lectures

Stuart Bronstein, an estate planning and probate lawyer in San Francisco for more than 30 years, will lead participants in creating their own wills. Everyone will be able to leave the workshop with a fully functional will. Bring a blue non-erasable pen.

Space is limited. Please stop by the Information Desk or call 415-355-2858 to register.

Computer classes in Spanish.

Learn the basics about computers, email and Internet.

Sour Flour workshop

Songs, stories and rhymes for children from birth to 36 months and their caregivers.

Music and books and more for children

Rollicking rhymes, songs, and books for infants to 18 months and their caregivers.

Held in the first floor community room. Please park strollers by the elevator.

Stories, songs, fingerplays and more for children ages 3-5.

Learn how to set up a free email account as well as how to send, reply, and forward emails.  Also, learn how to open and send attachments.  Space is limited.  For more information, please call 415.355.2888.

Basic mouse and keyboard skills are required (otherwise observe).

Held in the first floor community room. Please park strollers by the elevator.

Rollicking rhymes, songs and books for infants to 18 months and their caregivers.

May 23 - All May long, SFPL is having a Michael Moore-a-thon during Thursdays @ Noon!

Fahrenheit 911

(2004, 122 minutes)

Michael Moore's view on what happened to the US after September 11, 2001; and how the Bush Administration allegedly used the tragic event to push forward its agenda for unjust wars in Afghanistan and Iraq.

Join us as we read, sing and play together. Fun for the entire family from infants to grandparents.

Books, songs, rhymes, and fun for children of all ages unless noted.

Baby Rhyme Time

Rollicking rhymes, songs and books for infants to 18 months and their caregivers.

Come and join other visually impaired and blind people for a yoga session developed by instructor Nancy Yates with you in mind. The class is every Thursday from 6 to 7:30 pm in the Library for the Blind and Print Disabled. Perfect for Seniors or beginners who want to move in a quiet, safe and purposeful way. We will infuse positive energy as we ease into stretching, balancing, flexibility and strengthening postures that open our lungs, neck, shoulders arms, hips and especially our Hearts.

Learn how to make easy and fun wallets out of colorful and patterned duct tape!  (All materials provided) Ages 7-12. For more information, contact Nicole at (415) 355-5660 or nterminigermain@sfpl.org.

Come create crafty creations at the Mission Library.

Open to children 5 and older.

Drop-in, all materials provided.

Do you need math homework help?  We can help!  Math teacher - volunteer will be on site to answer math homework questions weekly on Mondays, Wednesdays, and Fridays from 4-6pm.

Volunteer helps elementary school-aged children who want to improve their reading.

HIgh School students provide free homework assistance in math and English for school age children.

Note: Homework Help may be cancelled if volunteers are unavailable.

Come see preschool-age films based on your favorite books!

Stories and songs for children and their families.

Family Storytime

Join us as we read, sing and play together. Fun for the entire family from infants to grandparents.

Join in on the fun of storytime! Help your children foster early literacy skills through dynamic and entertaining books, songs, music, movement, and more. Playtime follows.

Join us for stories, songs, fingerplays, rhymes and fun!
In English and Spanish, geared for children 5 and under.
Cuentos, juegos de dedos, rimas y más!
En inglés y español, para niños de 5 años y menores.

After storytime join us for a craft activity!
Despues del programa invitamos a los niños a hacer una manualidad.

Born in Berkeley, California, artist and photographer Ronald Hirano, a Deaf Nisei, was "adopted" by Miss Delight Rice, who founded the Philippine School for the Deaf in 1907, when his entire family was interned to relocation camps with 120,000 Japanese-Americans during World War II. This exhibition of his works includes photography, linoleum-engraved and designed covers of the California News (the newspaper from the California School for the Deaf), linoleum-engraved cards and pen and ink cards.

There will be a lecture by Ronald Hirano and a reception.

Rhymes, songs, and fingerplays for the very young and their caregivers.  For children under age 5.

Bilingual Storytime

Families, come join us for songs, rhymes and more in Spanish and English!

Age 6 and up

Ponyo is an animated adventure centered on a 5-year-old boy and his relationship with a goldfish princess who longs to become human.

Last Saturday of the Month Movies are for all ages.  The audience limit is 42.

Saturday at the Movies will take place on the 4th Saturday of the month at 3:00. This month we'll show Born Yesterday (1950) Starring Judy Holliday, Broderick Crawford and William Holden  

Uncouth junkyard tycoon Harry Brock descends upon Washington D.C. to buy himself a congressman or two, bringing with him his mistress, ex-showgirl Billie Dawn. Brock hires newspaperman Paul Verrall to see if he can make her more presentable in capital society. But Harry gets more than he bargained for as Billie absorbs Verall's lessons in U.S. history.

Black and White; 103 minutes.

When a small town comes under siege by zombies, who can it call? Only misunderstood local boy Norman, who is able to speak with the dead. In addition to the zombies, he’ll have to take on ghosts, witches and, worst, of all, grown-ups, to save his town from a centuries-old curse. But this young ghoul whisperer may find his paranormal activities pushed to their otherworldly limits.

Kodi Smit-McPhee, Anna Kendrick, Christopher Mitz-Plasse
Focus Features; Directed by Chris Butler and Sam Fell
Rated PG; 92 minutes; 2012

HIgh school students provide free homework assistance in math and English for school age children.

Note: Homework Help may be cancelled if volunteers are unavailable.

Homework Help

For Children of all ages.

Drop-in, no registration required. Teen volunteers offer math help for kids in grades K-7.

Over 400 years old, the Hamamatsu Festival is a celebration held each year in the town of Hamamatsu, Japan, from May 3 to May 5. Local towns which participate in the kite battles and float parades of the festival create cotton banners, called tenugui, with unique designs and colors that act as logos to help spectators identify the different groups competing. The library will be presenting over 100 of these tenugui cloths, along with the history of one of Japan’s most prominent events.

A photo exhibit of contemporary China, highlighting a new wave of cultural reforms bringing greater creativity in the arts, literature and design, along with innovations in technology and new safeguards for China’s cultural heritage. From the Consulate General of the People's Republic of China in San Francisco.

The Library's annual wit & humor exhibition examines the subject of work. Most of our lives are taken up with searching for and keeping a job; how about finding a job that we love? This exhibition draws on the Schmulowitz Collection of Wit & Humor to find the the lighter side of employment: a completely silly guide to working life. 

RELATED EXHIBITION & DISPLAY

April 1-May 31: S.S. Adams, the Edison of Practical Jokes.           Exhibition, Government Information Center, 5th Floor

April 1-May 31: Works for Me: Diligence and Drudgery, With Some Distractions. A book cover display, General Collections & Humanities, 3rd Floor

RELATED PROGRAMS

April 3: Elect to Laugh: An Evening with Political Satirist Will Durst.      Main Library, Koret Auditorium, 6:30pm

May 28: Josh Kornbluth presents Haiku Tunnel. Main Library, Koret Auditorium, 6:00pm

Thursdays at Noon (Large Screen Videos)
On the Clock: Films About Jobs and Working Life. Main Library, Koret Auditorium, 12 noon

April 4: High Fidelity
April 11: Trading Places
April 18: Up in the Air
April 25: The Associate

All films are shown with captions when possible to assist our deaf and hard of hearing. All program at the Library are free.

Images: Harold Lloyd, Master Comedian by Jeffrey Vance and Suzanne Lloyd (2002); all others courtesy San Francisco History Center, SFPL.

The San Francisco Public Library presents S.S. Adams, the Edison of Practical Jokes. This exhibit is a collection of patents from, professional prankster, Soren S. Adams. The exhibition opens April 1st and continues through May 31st, on the fifth Floor of the Main Library.

S.S. Adams went from humble origins to inventing many of the famous practical jokes including the joy buzzer, sneezing powder, and the dribble glass. Soren Sorenson Adams was a first generation immigrant from Denmark. While working for a dye company in 1904, he realized that derivative of one of the dyes caused people to sneeze. He decided to market this product as “Sneezing Powder” to use to prank unsuspecting groups of people. He patented a delivery method and started the Cachoo Sneeze Powder Company. It proved to be very popular, though controversial.

Andy Diaz Hope and Laurel Roth are San Francisco artists who often collaborate in addition to their solo careers. Their most recent work together is a triptych of tapestries inspired by the Unicorn Tapestries and structured on the three fundamental conflicts in literature - Human vs Nature, Human vs Him/Herself, and Human vs Human. The first tapestry, Allegory of the Monoceros, illustrates the end of Darwinian natural selection and the growth of human-centric evolution. The second, Allegory of the Infinite Mortal, portrays a garden for contemplation of the scientific and philosophical structures humans have used throughout history to explore the concepts of infinity and immortality and our place therein. The third tapestry was created during their fellowship at the de Young Museum and explores how cooperation and conflict have shaped human evolution. Each tapestry began with extensive research at the San Francisco Public Library.

Born in Berkeley, California, artist and photographer Ronald Hirano, a Deaf Nisei, was "adopted" by Miss Delight Rice, who founded the Philippine School for the Deaf in 1907, when his entire family was interned to relocation camps with 120,000 Japanese-Americans during World War II.

This exhibition of his works includes photography, linoleum-engraved and designed covers of the California News (the newspaper from the California School for the Deaf), linoleum-engraved cards and pen and ink cards.

From the first obscure titles published by a feminist publishing cooperative in the 1970s through to titles published in last year, Randall Tarpey-Schwed brings to the San Francisco Public Library his unique collection of books that portray gay or lesbian parents. Here is the opportunity to view over seventy books which illustrate how this unique genre evolved despite political controversy. The exhibition also shows how society’s view of the LGBT community has changed.

Related Event: Book talk and discussion with Randall Tarpey-Schwed

Tuesday, May 14
6 PM
Main Library, Latino/Hispanic Meeting Room, Lower Level

Step to Poetry is a colorful literary art installation on the Main Library's staircase written by WritersCorps youth. The youth, who range in age from 12 to 19, attend an afterschool workshop run by WritersCorps at the Main Library. The installation will be on view from May 10 through June 10, and consists of nine brief poems about popular culture.

A launch event will take place on Friday, May 17 at 6 pm, featuring a stair crawl from the first to fifth floors with WritersCorps youth performing their poems along the way. Space is limited and an RSVP to the event is required as the event takes place after library hours. Contact hello@writerscorps.org or (415) 252-2546.

Afro-Futurism:  Envisioning the Year 2070 and Beyond uses art to create a future for us to aspire to.  It comes from an African American perspective.  Runaway slave and heroine Harriet Tubman once said, "I freed a thousand slaves; I could have freed a thousand more if only they knew they were slaves."  

Over 100 years later, writer James Baldwin praised Black revolutionaries for daring to break down barriers.  He wrote in a 1970 letter to activist Angela Davis:  "The enormous revolution in black consciousness which has occurred in your generation, my dear sister, means the beginning or the end of America. Some of us, white and Black, know how great a price has been paid to bring into existence a new consciousness, a new people, an unprecedented nation." 

What will be the Black consciousness in the year 2070, one hundred years after James Baldwin's letter?  

Curated by  Kheven LaGrone

Related Event: In commemoration of Juneteenth, an artists reception/talk will take place on Sunday, June 16, 2013

Main Library, Lower Level, Koret Auditorium, 2 PM