Calendar

Songs, stories and rhymes for children from birth to 36 months and their caregivers.

Music and books and more for children

Rollicking rhymes, songs, and books for infants to 18 months and their caregivers.

Held in the first floor community room. Please park strollers by the elevator.

Stories, songs, fingerplays and more for children ages 3-5.

Held in the first floor community room. Please park strollers by the elevator.

Rollicking rhymes, songs and books for infants to 18 months and their caregivers.

May 23 - All May long, SFPL is having a Michael Moore-a-thon during Thursdays @ Noon!

Fahrenheit 911

(2004, 122 minutes)

Michael Moore's view on what happened to the US after September 11, 2001; and how the Bush Administration allegedly used the tragic event to push forward its agenda for unjust wars in Afghanistan and Iraq.

FREE book!  Just swap us a review.

Here's how it works: Every Thursday, the Teen Librarian will bring out several books (new titles, old titles, and titles that have not been published yet) and allow teens the chance to browse through them for one that you'd like to keep.  You will, in turn, swap us a review of the book by the end of the month.

For ages 12-18

For more information, contact: Dorcas at dwong@sfpl.org

Baby Rhyme Time

Rollicking rhymes, songs and books for infants to 18 months and their caregivers.

Let's string colorful beads to make adorable ornaments. Materials provided. Limited to 6 participants, ages 8 to 18 years old. For information, please contact Jewel at North Beach Branch Library, Tel: (415)355-5626 or jewelchen@sfpl.org

Video gaming for teens and tweens!  Bring a friend to challenge on our big screen.  We will have video games here, but feel free to bring your own Wii games (rated E or T only please).  For more info, call (415) 355-5660.

The SFPL Library for the Blind and Print Disabled invites you to join us for an audio-described film, followed by a discussion.   The film selection for May is the 2010 version of a Western classic film, True Grit, which was nominated for 82 Awards, including 10 Oscars.

The following film description is taken from the Internet Movie Data Base:

Following the murder of her father by hired hand Tom Chaney, 14-year-old farm girl Mattie Ross sets out to capture the killer. To aid her, she hires the toughest U.S. marshal she can find, a man with "true grit," Reuben J. "Rooster" Cogburn. Mattie insists on accompanying Cogburn, whose drinking, sloth, and generally reprobate character do not augment her faith in him. Against his wishes, she joins him in his trek into the Indian Nations in search of Chaney. They are joined by Texas Ranger LaBoeuf, who wants Chaney for his own purposes. The unlikely trio find danger and surprises on the journey, and each has his or her "grit" tested.

Why show Audio Described films?

A Blind or partially sighted person cannot enjoy a feature film without relying on someone to whisper the visual aspects of the movie in his or her ear.  Audio-described films allow visually impaired to enjoy movies independently because they include a second soundtrack that describes the sets, costumes and any visual cues that the director uses to establish place, create mood and foreshadow events.

Join us for a movie followed by a discussion about the film and the effectiveness of the audio-descriptions.

Sighted people are welcome.  If you find it distracting to listen to the descriptions while watching the movie, you might try closing your eyes. 

Please note that we must request noise be kept to a minimum during the film so people can hear the descriptions.

Unfortunately there currently is no option to include closed captioning for the Deaf and hard of hearing with audio description in most of these movies.

Learn how to make easy and fun wallets out of colorful and patterned duct tape!  (All materials provided) Ages 7-12. For more information, contact Nicole at (415) 355-5660 or nterminigermain@sfpl.org.

Come create crafty creations at the Mission Library.

Open to children 5 and older.

Drop-in, all materials provided.

Do you need math homework help?  We can help!  Math teacher - volunteer will be on site to answer math homework questions weekly on Mondays, Wednesdays, and Fridays from 4-6pm.

Volunteer helps elementary school-aged children who want to improve their reading.

HIgh School students provide free homework assistance in math and English for school age children.

Note: Homework Help may be cancelled if volunteers are unavailable.

Come see preschool-age films based on your favorite books!

Stories and songs for children and their families.

Family Storytime

Join us as we read, sing and play together. Fun for the entire family from infants to grandparents.

Join in on the fun of storytime! Help your children foster early literacy skills through dynamic and entertaining books, songs, music, movement, and more. Playtime follows.

Join us for stories, songs, fingerplays, rhymes and fun!
In English and Spanish, geared for children 5 and under.
Cuentos, juegos de dedos, rimas y más!
En inglés y español, para niños de 5 años y menores.

After storytime join us for a craft activity!
Despues del programa invitamos a los niños a hacer una manualidad.

Born in Berkeley, California, artist and photographer Ronald Hirano, a Deaf Nisei, was "adopted" by Miss Delight Rice, who founded the Philippine School for the Deaf in 1907, when his entire family was interned to relocation camps with 120,000 Japanese-Americans during World War II. This exhibition of his works includes photography, linoleum-engraved and designed covers of the California News (the newspaper from the California School for the Deaf), linoleum-engraved cards and pen and ink cards.

There will be a lecture by Ronald Hirano and a reception.

Rhymes, songs, and fingerplays for the very young and their caregivers.  For children under age 5.

Bilingual Storytime

Families, come join us for songs, rhymes and more in Spanish and English!

Age 6 and up

Ponyo is an animated adventure centered on a 5-year-old boy and his relationship with a goldfish princess who longs to become human.

Last Saturday of the Month Movies are for all ages.  The audience limit is 42.

The Typewriter (In The 21st Century) is a film about a machine and the people who use, love, and repair it.

The film features 30+ interviews in 10 U.S. states with Pulitzer Prize and National Book Award winning authors Robert Caro and David McCullough, collectors, repairmen, artists, musicians, inventors, and bloggers from The Typosphere - an online gathering place for typewriter enthusiasts.

The film was inspired by a May, 2010 article in Wired magazine called “Meet The Last Generation of Typewriter Repairman.” Director Christopher Lockett and Producer Gary Nicholson discussed the importance of the typewriter in 20th Century literature. The conclusion being that every great novel of the 20th Century was written on one, and if typewriters are in their final days, they deserved to be celebrated one last time.

It only took a few interviews to determine that the typewriter and its legion of fans is far from dead. By the time the “Last Typewriter Factory Closes Its Doors” article went viral in April of 2011, Lockett and Nicholson were not only already making the film, they were convinced they had a much bigger story on their hands. They did.

Funded largely through Kickstarter, the film eventually featured not only typewriter people – the aforementioned technicians, collectors, bloggers, users and fans – but famous typewriters as well. The film features machines once owned by Ernest Hemingway, Jack Kerouac, Tennessee Williams, John Steinbeck, Jack London, Sylvia Plath, George Bernard Shaw, John Lennon, Joe DiMaggio, Helen Keller, The Unabomber, John Updike, Ray Bradbury and Ernie Pyle.

Find out more about the film at http://typewritermovie.com/the-film/

Saturday at the Movies will take place on the 4th Saturday of the month at 3:00. This month we'll show Born Yesterday (1950) Starring Judy Holliday, Broderick Crawford and William Holden  

Uncouth junkyard tycoon Harry Brock descends upon Washington D.C. to buy himself a congressman or two, bringing with him his mistress, ex-showgirl Billie Dawn. Brock hires newspaperman Paul Verrall to see if he can make her more presentable in capital society. But Harry gets more than he bargained for as Billie absorbs Verall's lessons in U.S. history.

Black and White; 103 minutes.

Join Summer Reading Teen Volunteer Training to help the Summer Reading Program at Portola Branch Library and gain community service credits.  Registration is required, schedules will be given first come first serve.   For ages 12 to 18, bring a friend.   For information, please call (415) 355-5660. 

When a small town comes under siege by zombies, who can it call? Only misunderstood local boy Norman, who is able to speak with the dead. In addition to the zombies, he’ll have to take on ghosts, witches and, worst, of all, grown-ups, to save his town from a centuries-old curse. But this young ghoul whisperer may find his paranormal activities pushed to their otherworldly limits.

Kodi Smit-McPhee, Anna Kendrick, Christopher Mitz-Plasse
Focus Features; Directed by Chris Butler and Sam Fell
Rated PG; 92 minutes; 2012

HIgh school students provide free homework assistance in math and English for school age children.

Note: Homework Help may be cancelled if volunteers are unavailable.

Music books and more for children ages 18 to 36 months. Storytime lasts 30 minutes followed by playtime.

Stories, songs, fingerplays and more for children 0-5 yrs. Limited to first 42 participants, in line, day of storytime. Tickets for this storytime are handed out at the Children's Room Entrance (entering from playground) only! 

Books, rhymes, music, movement and more for toddlers 18 to 36 months and their caregivers.

Stories, songs, fingerplays and more for ages 3 to 5.

Family Storytime

Join us as we read, sing and play together.  Fun for the entire family from infants to grandparents.

Stories, songs, fingerplays and more for children, ages 3 to 5 years old.

Join in on the fun of storytime! Help your preschoolers foster early literacy skills through dynamic and entertaining books, songs, music, movement, and more. Playtime follows. Please call ahead for class visits.

Stories, songs, fingerplays and more. For children up to 5 years

Stories, songs, fingerplays and more.  For ages 3-5.

Rollicking rhymes, songs and books for infants to 18 months and their caregivers.

Do you need homwork help?  Kindergarten through 8th grade students can receive assistance completing their homework, studying for tests, and strengthening language arts and math skills. This is a co-host program between the Visitacion Valley Boys and Girls Club and Visitacion Valley Branch Library

Free photobooth pictures at Excelsior Branch! Bring your friends and leave with a strip of pics. For ages 12-18. Contact Marla at mbergman@sfpl.org or 415-355-2868 for more information.

Come play PS3 games on our big screen in the Potrero meeting room!

We have a selection, but you can bring your own T or E rated games to share.

Challenge your friends to determine who is the ultimate gamer!

♦ Some snacks will be provided! Snacks!!!♦

Ages 10-18 welcome

For more info, contact Lisa Fagundes at lfagundes@sfpl.org or 415 355 3822

Join us when Josh Kornbluth performs "Haiku Tunnel.” This story recounts the neurotic misadventures of a terrific temp ("Josh") who always becomes a terrible "perm” when he is hired by a sinister law firm, Schuyler & Mitchell (S&M) as the secretary to Bob Shelby, a highly intimidating tax attorney who Josh comes to suspect may be Satan.  A book sale & signing follows the event.

Related exhibition: On the Clock: A Playful Guide to Working Life Selections from the Schmulowitz Collection of Wit & Humor Main Library, Skylight Gallery, April 1 – May 31.

Toddler Tales

Books, rhymes, music, movement and more for toddlers 18 to 36 months and their caregivers.

Play and Grow: Toddler Fun with Reading, Rhyming and Recreation is an early literacy play group that promotes parents child interaction and kindergarten readiness. The group is intended for parents, grandparents, caregivers, and children birth-age five.

This program is a collaboration effort between Edgewood Center, Parent University, APA Family Support Services, and San Francisco Public Library.

Opera Guild preview lectures are scheduled in communities throughout the greater Bay Area by local Guild chapters. Each preview features a renowned musicologist who may use recordings and/or handouts to familiarize the audience with repertoire from the current season.

Tales of Hoffmann by Jacques Offenbach

Speaker: Timothy Flynn

Rolicking rhymes, songs & books for infants to 18 months and their caregivers.

Rollicking rhymes, songs & books for infants and toddlers to 18 months. Meet and greet playtime follows the program.Limited to first 42 participants, in line, day of storytime. Tickets for this storytime are handed out at the Children's Room Entrance (entering from playground) only!

Trouble with Technology?

We can help!

*email

*laptops

*kindles

*tablets

*cell phones

*digital cameras

*electronic gadgets

Get help from a Teen Computer Corps Volunteer at Chinatown Branch!

Drop in on Wednesdays, 5/22 & 5/29, 3:30 - 5 pm

Anhvu from WritersCorps continues to lead fun and chill creative workshops. Expect arts and crafts like spray painting, bookmaking, altered t-shirts, recycled crafts, and surprise activities. For more info, contact Marla at mbergman@sfpl.org or 415-355-2868.

Volunteer helps elementary school-aged children who want to improve their reading.

Do you need math homework help?  We can help!  Math teacher - volunteer will be on site to answer math homework questions weekly on Mondays, Wednesdays, and Fridays from 4-6pm.

The title for this month is Nadar Desnudas by Carla Guelfenbein.

Spanish language book club.

Club de lectores en español moderado por Chelis López, periodista y locutora de KPOO en el programa Pájaro Latinoamericano.
El ultimo miércoles de cada mes, 6:00-7:30 p.m.
Sala Paley, 3ª planta, Biblioteca Central.

Starting kindergarten is a big academic and social step, for both parents and their children. Parents for Public Schools – San Francisco will share parent-to-parent advice and tips to ease families with this transition.

Workshop presented in Cantonese. No child care provided.

For more information, contact Nicole at (415) 355-5660 or nterminigermain@sfpl.org.                

May meeting of the Mission Branch Book Club.

Title To Be Announced.

For more information, visit the 2nd Floor Information Desk or call 355-5735.

Songs, stories and rhymes for children from birth to 36 months and their caregivers.

Music and books and more for children

Rollicking rhymes, songs, and books for infants to 18 months and their caregivers.

For ages 3 to 5 and parents/caregivers.

We provide the room and the toys! All you need to do is show up.  Meet other parents while your children enjoy playing with each other.  For children from birth to 36 months.

Stories, songs, fingerplays and more for children ages 3-5.

For ages 3 to 5 and parents/caregivers.

Rollicking rhymes, songs and books for infants to 18 months and their caregivers.

May 30 - All May long, SFPL is having a Michael Moore-a-thon during Thursdays @ Noon!

Sicko

(2007, 123 minutes)

A documentary comparing the highly profitable American health care industry to other nations, and HMO horror stories. As the Affordable Care Act has passed into law, this film still remains highly informative and relevant.

FREE book!  Just swap us a review.

Here's how it works: Every Thursday, the Teen Librarian will bring out several books (new titles, old titles, and titles that have not been published yet) and allow teens the chance to browse through them for one that you'd like to keep.  You will, in turn, swap us a review of the book by the end of the month.

For ages 12-18

For more information, contact: Dorcas at dwong@sfpl.org

Join us as we read, sing and play together. Fun for the entire family from infants to grandparents.

Books, songs, rhymes, and fun for children of all ages unless noted.

Baby Rhyme Time

Rollicking rhymes, songs and books for infants to 18 months and their caregivers.

The reading selection for this month is Story of Edgar Sawtelle by David Wroblewski.  New members welcome!

Legos for architects, engineers and artists of the future. Parents and caregivers are welcome to build with their child! Monthly program for ages 5-12.

Starring Jennifer Lawrence, Josh Hutcherson & Liam Hemsworth. Based on Suzanne Collins best-selling trilogy.

Free movies for teens every month! Ages 13 - 18. Snacks provided. Rated PG-13. Approximately 142 minutes. For more info, contact Ileana at ipulu@sfpl.org or (415) 355-5757.

The Tales of Hoffman, by Jacques Offenbach

'A Tale of Three Women'

E.T.A. Hoffman (author of 'The Nutcracker') recalls his three tragic loves: Olympia the mechanical doll; Guilietta the greedy courtesan; and the genuinely good Antonia, who dies despite being treated by 'Dr. Miracle'.  When the drunk Hoffman's current flame Stella appears, he sees her as the embodiment of 'The Three'.  And he rejects her!

"Opera for the People" is a lecture series run by Larry Oppenheim.  Larry is currently President of the Kensington Symphony Orchestra in the East Bay, where he is co-principal oboe and solo English horn.  He also writes the program notes.  Larry's goal is to make classical music more enjoyable and accessible to "all the people".

Each opera in this lecture series is being performed by local companies (Pocket Opera or San Francisco Opera), close to the times of the lectures.  Check out the opera with your newfound knowledge!