SF Public Library Card

I visited a friend in Redwood City yesterday and on my way back through the city I decided to get a San Francisco Public Library Card. It is something I have been meaning to do for a while. If I had thought about it ahead of time I could have determined which branches would be open. Apparently, many of the branches are closed on Mondays. What kind of world do we live in where the richest city in the richest state in the richest country does not have enough funding for it's libraries to be open Monday through Saturday?

I first went to Sutro, a state genealogical library, which I know is open on Mondays to ask where the nearest SFPL branch might be. It was really close by, just across from Stonestown at Winston and 19th. I parked, strode up to the door and yanked on it. I fully expected it to be open on a Monday at 2:30 in the afternoon. Luckily they had a list of other libraries on the door. I made note of a few nearby and set off. First stop Ocean and Faxon, closed. To make a long story short I tried two more branches which were both closed before I stumbled across the West Portal branch in Potrero Hill. It is a tiny little library in a beautiful old building. The ceiling beams are hand-painted and are so beautiful. I could not stop looking up.



Why would I want a SFPL card? There are many databases that you can access if you are attending a university. Once you leave the university you cannot remotely (from home) access these rich databases. If you live in the San Francisco Bay Area however you can have the benefits of university quality databases through the SFPL. Anybody in the Bay Area can get a library card and even if you move away you can still have access to this valuable online resource, because your library card does not expire. For genealogists it is a holy grail library card coveted by people around the nation. I believe only the NY Public Library has a similar quality of databases available to the public. The NY Times archive is one of my favorites. You can conduct an every word search of every issue of the NY Times from 1851-2004. If you go to SFPL.org and click on articles and databases you will see what is available. I finally have my coveted SFPL card!