A John Waters Holiday

Its that time of year again! Getting an ulcer at the thought of spending the holidays with your (allegedly) dysfunctional family? Well put the “fun” back into dysfunctional with the master himself: John Waters. Born in Baltimore in 1946, Waters rose to fame in the early 70s with his transgressive cult films. As the famed [...]

Beat Poets, not beat poets.

By Katie Sue Ambellan There’s jokes about it, internet memes about it and lots of opinions on it. Some are for, others are against and lots are indifferent, but the Occupy movement is still making headlines. This time, it’s because of the excessive force the UC Berkeley Police used on protesting students and faculty alike, [...]

Thanksgiving Survival Kit

Thanksgiving is just around the corner. Like it or not that means a solid month of uncomfortable family get-togethers, stressful travel disasters, and failed attempts at replicating Grandma Carol’s famous sweet potato pie.   As John Wayne one said, “Pilgrim, you cause a lot of trouble!” But never fear! Friends of the San Francisco Library [...]

SF Public Library Wins Another Award!

Congratulations to the San Francisco Public Library, winner of a National Competition to build Learning Labs for teens! The Library received $100,000 in grants from the MacArthur Foundation and Institute of Museum and Library Services (IMLS) as well as an additional $20,000 in funds to support the work from the Friends of the San Francisco [...]

Tandem Tales: Two Storytellers, One Story

By Katie Sue Ambellan I don’t know about you guys, but I am really excited for the upcoming Porchlight Storytelling Series on Monday, November 21st. Why you ask?  Well for one, it’s a Porchlight first—where two people get up and tell the same story.   Think of when your friends try and tell the same [...]

Glenn Danzig Loves Books and French Onion Soup

By Katie Sue Ambellan I’ve just returned from an AWESOME weekend at the Fun Fun Fun Festival in Austin, Texas where incredible bands like Hot Snakes, Murder City Devils, Slayer, Thee Oh Sees and Turquoise Jeep played rocking sets.  Also, Ryan Gosling was there and he was, like, standing next to me.  NBD. Glenn Danzig [...]

Weekend Kid Event Roundup

This weekend, the San Francisco Public Library is the place to be for awesome and fun children’s events! On Saturday, October 22nd, come on down to the Main Library for  Family Storytime at 10:30 a.m. and stick around as the Tricycle Music Festival presents the Lucky Diaz and the Family Jam Band! Join the fun [...]

What is your favorite branch library and why?

By Katie Sue Ambellan Libraries are essential.  They provide information, education and are pillars in communities.  The San Francisco Public Library system has 27 branches, a robust Main library, four bookmobiles and two off-site locations. Since 2000, 22 branches have been renovated or newly built through the Branch Library Improvement Program.  2011 alone has seen [...]

What book have you just never been able to finish?

By Katie Sue Ambellan So now that we know what they are reading, we wanted to know what books the 2011 mayoral candidates can’t finish.  It seems some of the candidates will never know “the secret,” the mysteries of Sesame Street or the stories of the bible. Think you can get through what the candidates, [...]

What book is on your nightstand right now?

By Katie Sue Ambellan We are 22 days away from Election Day, where San Francisco will vote into office a new mayor who will oversee 28 libraries in every corner of the city that are growing in popularity at a time when literacy is a critical issue. With that in mind, we sat down with [...]