Lurie’s approach appears to be supportive stewardship rather than a transformative overhaul: he appoints capable leaders, funds and promotes popular literacy programs, and publicly values the institution as part of San Francisco’s civic fabric.The Mayor’s vision is of 2026, not 2030, and is backed up by overwhelming support for the library and its staff in surveys and at the ballot box. People like the library they have.
In 2019 I was interviewed on the public radio 99 Percent Invisible episode entitled "Weeding Is Fundamental." I worked at SFPL in 1996 during the scandal when famed author Nicholson Baker wrote an article for the New Yorker calling out the library for hurriedly dumping hundreds of thousands of books.
On the broadcast I presented a different perspective than Baker’s. I am certain that the book dumping happened, but not within my department. I saw no evidence that City Librarian Ken Dowlin, who was fired from his job a short time later, ordered the dumping.
I also noted that there was a real need to continually review the collection and withdraw books. The issue in 1996 is that this happened in a hurried, thoughtless manner. I told a story of redemption - how I and others on the Library’s Collections Committee, since disbanded by the City Librarian, worked on creating guidance and training to assist librarians in managing their collections. I felt sure that our days of book dumping were over.
You may recall a January 2024 Commission Meeting when you were introduced to and had a lively debate about the new strategic plan. Memorably, commissioner Susan Mall, before she was metaphorically thrown off the dais, noted that the plan did not match up with the facts on the ground, specifically meaning the physical space of the Main Library. Surprisingly, in the next and final iteration of the strategic plan a Latin X Affinity Center for the Main quietly appeared.
You all never uttered a word about that Center - however it is at the heart of SFPL’s new era of book dumping. The City Librarian aims to destroy 13 ranges of open shelving and nearly 20,000 books must go to create this new space. This is valuable open browseable shelf space in a building with vast numbers of books kept in unbrowsable closed stack shelving.
You should review the Appendix accompanying the final strategic plan. It included interviews with Spanish speakers in the community about their service needs. They “suggested that demographic data be used to place libraries where there are underserved communities. They said there are many services at the Main, but most other libraries do not have the same offerings.”
This center is evidently being created as a step to “right size” the collection. At the national level under our current president the Forest Service is cutting 57 of 77 region offices resulting in the layoffs of thousands. They call this "right-sizing." Great minds think alike.
