Commentary from the November 20, 2025 Library Commission meeting

Peter Warfield public comment:

I tried to be a little bit discreet about why I was speaking about contingency planning, including the fact that I'd never been to a fire. I've never had a fire drill going on while I was at the library. So, let me tell you, there was a shooting outside that killed one of the people that involved the library's security folks and the library simply announced at about 5:00 on a Friday afternoon that they were closing. And I was sitting at a computer and I asked my neighbor, I said, "Did I understand correctly there?" There was no explanation given. It was completely in a sense chaotic. There was no staff or anybody else telling where to go. There was nobody saying where we should leave in which direction. Nothing. That's why.

Jason Gibbs public comment:

Good afternoon. Jason Gibbs, retired librarian. Sorry to be a bummer, but as Mr. Warfield noted, there was a murder at the public library, at this library. I did some investigation and the events had nothing to do with the library or its service. There were two people having their own beef outside, but that was never communicated to staff. Staff were rightly concerned that we could have had an armed murder inside of the building without any information about it. 

One thing you should know is that our security staff was excellent. One of them tried to stop the bleeding, which was profuse. This was ultimately unsuccessful because the man died even though the City Librarian never sent out notice of this happening. The murdered person was from Urban Alchemy with whom the library has worked with very closely and many staff members feel a close relationship to. They've  actually been a real asset to the library. People who are really serious about turning their lives around. 

That's what makes this event so unfortunate. So when I read about it happening, I thought, is it that guy at the Bridge? I sort of imagined that it was somebody intimately involved the library. Fortunately, it wasn't. 

But it also brings up the fact that library staff are routinely threatened by members of the public. We joke that at least once a week somebody will say to you, after you've told to adjust their behavior,  "I'm going to see you outside." And of course 99.9% of the time that doesn't happen, but it can happen and people are are truly worried and this whole event had a profound effect on staff morale at the Main Library and people feel like there was no leadership. And that the leadership did not really address the concerns of the library staff after this event. Thank you.

"Urban Alchemy worker killed after asking man to stop using drugs outside library" - KTVU.

"Colleagues mourn Urban Alchemy worker killed in front of San Francisco library" - KNTV.

"Urban Alchemy worker asked a man to stop using drugs outside S.F. Main Library. Now he’s dead" - Reddit.

"San Francisco Urban Alchemy ambassador dies days after being shot outside public library" - KGO

"San Francisco street ambassador slain while confronting drug user by library" - KRON

"San Francisco street ambassador fatally shot while trying to deter drug user" - Los Angeles Times

"San Francisco street ambassador shot dead while confronting drug user outside library" - New York Post

"Shooting in front of City Hall took place about 30 minutes ago," Tenderloin Activities [Twitter]