It has been 40 years since San Francisco opened a new library branch. At a time when libraries across the nation are losing patrons and providing service to fewer and fewer people, the San Francisco library system is expanding. Mayor Gavin Newsom, former Mayor Willie Brown and San Francisco Librarian Luis Herrera opened a new 7,500 square-foot branch this past week.
The new library's main desk
is shown in the photo
is shown in the photo
The new Mission Bay branch will serve the fast-growing SOMA residential neighborhood. It is located at Fourth and Berry Streets, a neighborhood once populated only by Southern Pacific Railroad tracks, warehouses, and empty lots. Today Fourth and Berry is surrounded by high-rise condominiums, the Giants ballpark, the busy CalTrain station, Safeway and Whole Foods, the UCSF Mission Bay Research Center and the new Stem Cell Research Center.
In addition to a collection of 34,000 books and audio-visual items, the new branch features a state-of-the-art community meeting room which is expected to be heavily used right from its opening day. The San Francisco Public Library system also offers an extensive online history center here and the Virtual Museum of the City of San Francisco has a collection of nearly a quarter-million historical photographs, many of which are available online here.
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