Calendar

Daniel Barash, of The Shadow Puppet Workshop, presents an invigorating training on how dramatic arts support preschooler’s development of narrative and vocabulary skills. 

Registration is FULL. If you would like to join the ECE Workshop Series email list, contact cestrovitz@sfpl.org.

If you have never used a computer keyboard or a mouse, volunteers are available to help acquaint you with these basic skills.

Family Storytime

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

Bilingual Storytime

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

Want to learn how to knit or crochet or hang out with other knitters and crocheters? Get Your Knit Together at Knit Happens is a big all ages (9 and up) knit and crochet gathering! The library has supplies to practice on but bring your own yarn and needles or hooks if you have a special project in mind. In general, we meet the third Saturday of each month.

Featuring Overdrive Collection. Learn how to use SFPL's website to find and download digital material to your e-readers.  Some topics to be covered will be: installing free required software, selecting compatible formats, downloading and setting up your digital media account.

Homework Help

For Children of all ages.

Join us for the 32nd Annual Northern California Book Awards. celebrating books published in 2013 by Northern California authors.

Sunday, May 19, 2013
1:00-2:30 pm: Awards Ceremony: readings and remarks by this year's award-winning authors
2:30-4:00 pm: Book signing and Reception follows in the Latino/Hispanic Meeting Room

FRED CODY AWARD FOR LIFETIME ACHIEVEMENT IN COMMUNITY AND LITERATURE
Kay Ryan, poet, educator, U.S. Poet Laureate 2008-2010

NCBR RECOGNITION AWARD
Al-Mutanabbi Street Starts Here: Poets and Writers Respond to the March 5, 2007, Bombing of Baghdad's "Street of the Booksellers," edited by Beau Beausoleil and Deema Shehabi, PM Press and the Al-Mutanabbi Street Project

FICTION
A River Closely Watched, Jon Boilard, MacAdam/Cage
Telegraph Avenue, Michael Chabon, Harper
A Partial History of Lost Causes, Jennifer DuBois, Dial Press
A Hologram for the King, Dave Eggers, McSweeney's
The Orphan Master's Son, Adam Johnson, Random House

CREATIVE NONFICTION
Married at Fourteen: A True Story, Lucille Lang Day, Heyday
A Simple Revolution: The Making of an Activist Poet, Judy Grahn, Aunt Lute Books
What Light Can Do: Essays on Art, Imagination, and the Natural World, Robert Hass, Ecco
Soul Calling: A Photographic Journey through the Hmong Diaspora, Joel Pickford, Heyday
God's Hotel:  A Doctor, A Hospital, and a Pilgrimage to the Heart of Medicine, Victoria Sweet, Riverhead Books
 
GENERAL NONFICTION
Games Without Rules: The Often Interrupted History of Afghanistan, Tamim Ansary, PublicAffairs
1616: The World in Motion, Thomas Christensen, Counterpoint
Subversives: The FBI's War on Student Radicals and Reagan's Rise to Power, Seth Rosenfeld, Farrar, Straus and Giroux
The Big Screen: The Story of the Movies, David Thomson, Farrar, Straus and Giroux
Green Illusions: The Dirty Secrets of Clean Energy and the Future of Environmentalism, Ozzie Zehner, University of Nebraska Press

POETRY
City of Rivers, Zubair Ahmed, McSweeney's
A Penance, CJ Evans, New Issues Press/Western Michigan University
The Book of a Thousand Eyes, Lyn Hejinian, Omnidawn
Plunge, Alice Jones, Apogee
Useless Landscape: A Guide for Boys, D.A. Powell, Graywolf Press
Citizen, Aaron Shurin, City Lights

TRANSLATION
Fiction
The Neruda Case: A Novel, Robert Ampuero, translated from the Spanish by Carolina de Robertis, Riverhead
Blindly, Claudio Magris, translated from the French by Anne Milano Appel, Yale University Press
Almost Never: A Novel, Daniel Sada, translated from the Spanish by Katherine Silver, Graywolf Press
Poetry
The Little Auto, Apollinaire, translated from the French by Beverley Bie Brahic, CB Editions
A Woman With Several Lives, Jean Daive, translated from the French by Norma Cole, La Presse
Opera Omnia, Luxorius, translated from the Latin by Art Beck, Otis Books/Seismicity Editions

CHILDREN'S LITERATURE

Younger Readers
Noah Webster & His Words, Jeri Chase Ferris, illustrations by Vincent X. Kirsch, Houghton Mifflin Books for Children
First Mothers, Beverly Gherman, illustrations by Julie Dowling, Clarion Books/Houghton Mifflin Harcourt

Baby Bear Sees Blue, Ashley Wolff, Beach Lane Books

Middle Grades/Young Adult
Border Town: Crossing the Line, Malín Alegría, Scholastic (age 12 and up)
The Five Lives of Our Cat Zook, Joanne Rocklin, Amulet Books (Middle Grades)

"Who Could That Be at This Hour": All the Wrong Questions, Lemony Snicket, illustrations by Seth, Little, Brown Books for Young Readers (age 8 and up, Grades 4-7)

*
The Northern California Book Awards are presented and sponsored by Northern California Book Reviewers, Poetry Flash, Center for the Art of Translation, Red Room (redroom.com), PEN West, Mechanics' Institute, San Francisco Public Library, Friends of the San Francisco Public Library, and Readers Bookstore at the Main.

Winners will be announced at the Awards. Free admission; open to the public.

For more information: Poetryflash.org, 510.525.5476, NCBR@poetryflash.org.

A book sale by Readers Books follows the event.

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.

San Francisco Public Library now has free conversational language groups.

The Conversational English Language Group is for adults who wish to strengthen their English conversational language skills. We focus on practical, everyday topics. If you are a non-native speaker who wants to practice your spoken English, then this group is the place for you!

The English Language Group meets from 3p-4:30p on Thursdays, beginning January 31, 2013. Classes will meet for a 10-week period and pre-registration is strongly recommended to ensure you have a space.

Please contact 415.557.4251 or kaiwilson@sfpl.org to sign up.

Makers Monday

Crafts Program - Children & Teens

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.

Family Storytime

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

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

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

In the poorest neighborhoods of Calcutta, a lawyer turned social entrepreneur is empowering young girls and boys to take an active role in tranforming their own lives.  Through arts programs and hands-on activities such as mapping their communities, these young girls and boys have brought clean drinking water and improved sanitation in their slums.  A panel discussion follows the film.

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.

LinkedIn is the biggest professional network on the Internet—and whether you’re currently looking for a job, or are looking to grow in one you already have, having an active account on LinkedIn can be a big help. In this workshop, business and social media experts will take you step by step through the process of creating a LinkedIn account and filling in your profile. We’ll also give you special tips for how to connect with people on LinkedIn and use it for your professional development.

The presenters are all employees of VolunteerMatch. VolunteerMatch has been using technology to connect good people and good causes since 1998.

Toddler Tales

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

Weekly meditation sessions open to all. Meditation will be guided with periods of silence. 20 - 30 minutes followed by some time for discussion.

Come to our drop-in computer help class!

This class is geared towards individuals with intermediate-level computer and internet questions!

This workshop will help you develop and share your writing with a supportive group led by WritersCorps. We will play with form, performance, and other arts to engage your creative self. All levels of writers welcome! Open to teen writers 12-19. For information or to register contact Eric at 557-4426 or ehannan@sfpl.org

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

Computer classes in Spanish.

Learn the basics about computers, email and Internet.

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.

Baby Rhyme Time

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

Looking for a job is tough, especially when you have submitted dozens of resumes and cover letters without response. For those new to the job market or the world of social media, it can be daunting. This class will provide actionable steps, utilizing social media, to help get your resume in the right hands and to get interviews.

Participants should be comfortable using online applications.

Optional: Preregister online here.

This class will cover:

• Social Media in the job search world
• Your online presence and how to make sure people can find you
• Clearly defining the positions you are interested in
• Finding those positions at companies
• Talking to the right people about that position
• Submitting a concise Cover Letter and Resume
• Getting an interview

Social Media is a tool that you can use to find the job that you want. Use it to your advantage by finding and talking to those individuals who make hiring decisions.

Guest presenters: Patrick Stern taught and trained hundreds of employees in sales and technology at Apple. He is passionate about social media, and consults with companies on how to leverage social mediums to their advantage. He brings this passion to helping others find the jobs they are looking for with social media.

Zach Cole is a part of the digital team at Edelman Silicon Valley, where he helps major technology brands understand the ins and outs of social media and emerging technology. Specifically, he spends a great deal of time making meaning of data and digital metrics.

This class is held in conjunction with the Jobs and Career Center of the San Francisco Public Library.

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.

The SFPL Library for the Blind and Print Disabled invites you to join us for an audio-described film, followed by a discussion.   The film selection for May is the 2010 version of a Western classic film, True Grit, which was nominated for 82 Awards, including 10 Oscars.

 

The following film description is taken from the Internet Movie Data Base:

Following the murder of her father by hired hand Tom Chaney, 14-year-old farm girl Mattie Ross sets out to capture the killer. To aid her, she hires the toughest U.S. marshal she can find, a man with "true grit," Reuben J. "Rooster" Cogburn. Mattie insists on accompanying Cogburn, whose drinking, sloth, and generally reprobate character do not augment her faith in him. Against his wishes, she joins him in his trek into the Indian Nations in search of Chaney. They are joined by Texas Ranger LaBoeuf, who wants Chaney for his own purposes. The unlikely trio find danger and surprises on the journey, and each has his or her "grit" tested.

Why show Audio Described films?

A Blind or partially sighted person cannot enjoy a feature film without relying on someone to whisper the visual aspects of the movie in his or her ear.  Audio-described films allow visually impaired to enjoy movies independently because they include a second soundtrack that describes the sets, costumes and any visual cues that the director uses to establish place, create mood and foreshadow events.

Join us for a movie followed by a discussion about the film and the effectiveness of the audio-descriptions.

Sighted people are welcome.  If you find it distracting to listen to the descriptions while watching the movie, you might try closing your eyes. 

Please note that we must request noise be kept to a minimum during the film so people can hear the descriptions.

Unfortunately there currently is no option to include closed captioning for the Deaf and hard of hearing with audio description in most of these movies.

In this class you will learn how to interview with confidence so that you get the job you really want!  Topics will include how to get an interview with your top picks, building your self esteem, find out what employers want to see an employee, having the right attitude, practice interview questions including the hard ones, and interview preparation with exercise and eating well.

For 25 years, presenter Mangala Meridian has had a dual career as both Legal Secretary and Adult Education Instructor of vocational and job search skills, including teaching adults with disabilities.

If you have never used a computer keyboard or a mouse, volunteers are available to help acquaint you with these basic skills.

Family Storytime

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

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.

Are you a fiction reader looking for a good book to read? With all of the millions of books out there, how can you find one you will enjoy? Do you prefer short stories to novels? Mystery to science fiction? Whatever your preferences, you can learn how to easily find books that you are sure to love. Among the long list of the library’s online databases, there are several geared to finding fiction books based on your reading interests.

Bilingual Storytime

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

Russian book club, literary discussion and/or poetry recital.

Teacher will introduce a few of popular mystery writers from different Scandinavian countries. Teacher will discuss popular detective series like Henning Mankell’s Kurt Wallender and Indrioason Arnaldur’s  Detective Erlendur;  show patrons how to search for books in this genre in SFPL’s catalog and databases like Bookbrowse, Fiction Connection and Novelist; and provide hands-on exercises. Teacher will also talk about a couple of crime fiction awards, including the Glass Key award for the best Nordic crime novel.

The Typewriter (In The 21st Century) is a film about a machine and the people who use, love, and repair it.

The film features 30+ interviews in 10 U.S. states with Pulitzer Prize and National Book Award winning authors Robert Caro and David McCullough, collectors, repairmen, artists, musicians, inventors, and bloggers from The Typosphere - an online gathering place for typewriter enthusiasts.

The film was inspired by a May, 2010 article in Wired magazine called “Meet The Last Generation of Typewriter Repairman.” Director Christopher Lockett and Producer Gary Nicholson discussed the importance of the typewriter in 20th Century literature. The conclusion being that every great novel of the 20th Century was written on one, and if typewriters are in their final days, they deserved to be celebrated one last time.

It only took a few interviews to determine that the typewriter and its legion of fans is far from dead. By the time the “Last Typewriter Factory Closes Its Doors” article went viral in April of 2011, Lockett and Nicholson were not only already making the film, they were convinced they had a much bigger story on their hands. They did.

Funded largely through Kickstarter, the film eventually featured not only typewriter people – the aforementioned technicians, collectors, bloggers, users and fans – but famous typewriters as well. The film features machines once owned by Ernest Hemingway, Jack Kerouac, Tennessee Williams, John Steinbeck, Jack London, Sylvia Plath, George Bernard Shaw, John Lennon, Joe DiMaggio, Helen Keller, The Unabomber, John Updike, Ray Bradbury and Ernie Pyle.

Find out more about the film at http://typewritermovie.com/the-film/

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.

During the 1960s and 1970s San Francisco photographer Phiz Mezey photographed some of the significant events in the City's history.  This exhibit takes the viewer on a tour of San Francisco during this time. Highlights include the redevelopment of Western Addition, the San Francisco State Strike, personalities such as Martin Luther King Jr., Jimi Hendrix, James Baldwin and others.

Related programs:
Sunday March 3: Meet the artist Phiz Mezey, Main Library, Latino Hispanic Community Room, 1:00;
Thursday April 11 The Fillmore, Film and Discussion, Main Library, Koret, 5:30.

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.

Works for Me: Diligence and Drudgery, with Some Distractions,  a book cover display  in  General Collections on the third floor of the Main Library.

California Dreaming: poems from California poets selected by Library staff.    
Join us for an exhibition of poems by California poets, lining the atrium on the third floor of the Main Library.  The 15 poems were selected by Library staff and represent some of our favorite poetry.  The exhibit will be up from April 1 (National Poetry Month) to December 1, 2013.  The poets are both well-known (Alejandro Murguia and Al Young) and new to the scene (Stewart Shaw and Monica Xu).  We're sure you will find something to love in this exhibit. 

Make your next trip to the Library a literary one with these wonderful poets.

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.

Later, he expanded his product line, inventing new gags, and renamed it to the SS Adams Company. In 1909, he invented the dribble glass, a drinking glass with minute holes in it causing water to drip on the victim. In the 1930s, he patented both the Joy Buzzer, a handheld device that imitates a shock, and a gag that involved snakes shooting out of a can. Soren S. Adams continued to invent new products through to the 1950s. 

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