Family Open House

Please join us on:

Saturday, April 5

2 - 4 pm

We will be having an afternoon of fun at the library. Kid's crafts provided by Simla Akyol from "It's a Piece of Cake" and music performed by the Familia Pena-Govea. Snacks and prizes!

Book Discussion Group: World Without Us

Please join us on for a book discussion on:


Wednesday, March 26
6:30 pm


What would the world be like if human beings suddenly vanished? In his well-researched book, "The World Without Us," science journalist Alan Weisman explores various aspects of this question. He considers the affect on plant and animal life, ponders the fate of our most enduring pollutants and details the often shocking changes that would occur in major cities devoid of humans.


To view the books website click here.

Book Spotlight: The Best American Comics 2007

The Best American Comics 2007 edited and with an introduction by Chris Ware.

Currently located in the New Non-Fiction section with the call number of:

741.5973

B4643

2007


Who would of thought comics would find such a welcome home in libraries? Once just relegated to the 10 cent racks at drug stores, comics have now become a well respected artistic medium and had their storylines transformed into big business at the movie theater.

If you haven't picked up a comic since you were in grade school reading Archie, you will probably be blown away by the variety and different levels of content, artistic expression and illustration. Star Wars-inspired graphic novels have a huge popularity in the children's collection, Manga (a Japanese word for comics, as well as indicating a specific style of Comic) rules the roost of the Teen area and the Adult graphic novels has a huge variety of themes-from Mature subject matter in a variety of genres of fiction to Superheroes that serve as the inspiration for the latest hollywood blockbuster.

The San Francisco Public Library currently supports 3 different types of Graphic Novel (comic) collections, Adult, Teen and Children's. At Glen Park they are all in their designated "Graphic Novel" area though some things are still shelved in the call number 741's section.

As with the Adult collection in general, please remember some Adult section titles aren't appropriate for younger ages. If you are looking to read the works of a variety of noted comic artists, The Best American Comics 2007 is a good introduction to modern themes, artists and their artwork. It has an introduction by Chris Ware, whose own work is legendary for both its intricate re-imagination of the drawn comic page as well as personal themes and narratives. The collection includes pieces by R. Crumb, Adrian Tomine, Lynda Barry and many others.

So next time you are at the library, have a look at the graphic novel area. We promise no one will peek out from behind a pharmacy counter while you're browsing and shout, "Hey You gonna buy that or what?? This ain't a library"!!!

Noe Valley Reopens!

On Saturday, March 8, the Noe Valley Branch Library reopened. The branch was closed for quite some time and Glen Park was lucky enough to have many of their staff work here during their closure.


I attended the opening day and it was a lot of fun. The Mayor and other VIP's were there:
They had a live band, magician and a lot of food. The turn out was huge and library services were in full swing once they opened the doors.

I didn't manager to get any photos of the inside of the branch (though it looked wonderful) due to so many people being there. So I guess everyone will just have to go and check out the branch to see it for themselves!

For more info on the renovation click here.

A visit from the past

The other week we had a visit from a previous branch manager of the Glen Park Library. Betty was the manager when the library moved from Diamond Street to the Chenery location in 1978. She now lives on the East Coast.

When our current location was getting ready to open, Betty was kind enough to donate her scrapbook she created during her time as the manager at Glen Park. It is a really fun look at the early days of the Chenery Location. The absence of computers and the visible old card catalog recalls a different time of library service.

Betty told me that she really likes the new location and says that downtown Glen Park has changed a lot since the late 1970's.

I would like to thank Betty for taking the time to stop by and for her scrapbook, which is now part of our archives.