News Release

Mayor Gavin Newsom, Supervisor Sophie Maxwell, Supervisor Tom Ammiano, City Librarian Luis Herrera and community members will hold a groundbreaking ceremony on the site of the new Portola Branch Library at 11:30 a.m. on July 17. A breakdancing group from the Palega Recreation Center will provide entertainment.

Located at the corner of Bacon and Goettingen streets, between E.R. Taylor Elementary and Martin Luther King Jr. Middle schools, the new single-story branch will replace the storefront spaces on San Bruno Avenue leased by the Library for more than 50 years. The new branch is scheduled to open in early 2009.

Designed by the architecture team of Noll & Tam and Stoner Meek, the branch will have a prominent reading area, an expanded children’s section, a designated teen area, a program room with after-hours access for community meetings, more functional staff spaces, a small garden and a main entrance on Goettingen. Sun-shading devices resembling book spines and well-placed functional windows for natural lighting and ventilation will add to the design.

The construction of the new branch is funded by a $105.9 million bond measure passed by voters in November 2000 and is part of the largest building campaign in San Francisco Public Library history. The Branch Library Improvement Program (BLIP) calls for 17 branches to be renovated, four leased facilities to be replaced with City-owned buildings, two branches to be replaced with new buildings, and one brand-new branch in Mission Bay.

For more information, please call (415) 557-4277.

We voted to renovate and build new branch libraries across the City.
It's happening!