Library Commission April 16, 2026 meeting

Minutes of the Regular Meeting of April 16, 2026
Location: Main Library, Koret Auditorium; public access via Zoom webinar.
Call to Order: Approximately 4:30PM.

CALL TO ORDER AND LAND ACKNOWLEDGEMENT
Commission Affairs Analyst Margot Shaub opened the meeting, explained Zoom and public comment procedures, and the Commission delivered the Ramaytush Ohlone Land Acknowledgement.

ROLL CALL
Present: President Calhoun; Vice President Jones; Commissioners Lopez, Bolander, Kenaston, and Menon (quorum established).

1. GENERAL PUBLIC COMMENT

Anonymous Citizen — Criticized perceived Commission elitism and disengagement, referencing a prior meeting joke about adjournment; argued Commissioners should welcome engagement; used a racial epithet, and the chair halted the comment.

Anonymous Citizen public comment
Thank you very much, commissioners. Speaking as an anonymous citizen, of course, and stop the hate, stop the ignorance, don't give money to Friends of the Library, don't accept money from the Friends of the Library. And there are no agendas in the back of the room.

Conceive of this as a two-part presentation. The first part today and the second part in May. So to the extent that you're following at all, the conclusion will be in May. At the last meeting, the president of this commission made a joke. He was not trying to be profound or insightful. He thought it was a little witicism with just enough of a hint of the truth to make it funny. Do you remember he said,

"Now we come to the favorite part of my of the agenda adjournment."

He's glad when he thinks it's over. Don't you know in your heart of hearts that if this were a just society, library commissioners would be looking forward to the agenda, would be looking forward to engaging with the public and engaging with people who cared about the library. Of course they would. What does it mean when the library commissioners are the ones who dread the meetings? 

I mentioned before that you attempt to establish your elitism by disain displaying your disdain for power of language because a it it there's an aphorism which demonstrates that the idea that you demonstrate your elitism by your disdain for the public. That aphorism operates on many levels cannot be paraphrased and the phrase is no one hates a field [ __ ] like a house [ __ ] The thing t's it's an aphorism that's existed for a long time. icrophone cut]

[a link to Malcolm X's explanation of this aphorism]

Commission Analyst Margot Schaub:

So the legally safest course is to your comment is off topic and I'm stopping your time. So yes. 

Anonymous citizen

No abs...

Commission Analyst Margot Schaub:

Absolutely. Thank you. Okay. Can you turn the mic off, please?

Allison Fong, Friends of the Library Board, — Praised Night of Ideas as dynamic and joyful; announced June 6 Block Party Book Sale; promoted the Friends’ new Hammer Guides collaboration hoodie via the SFPL store.

Jason Gibbs, Retired Librarian — Commended Mission Branch renovation and restoration of Leo Lentelli’s sculpture; described historic significance of Lentelli’s works removed from the old Main; urged retention of valuable collections (e.g., LPs) that might otherwise be lost. 

Jason Gibbs' Public Comment
About three meetings back, we had a nice presentation from the facilities director that went into
Mission Branch in its renovation. And I was very pleased recently to to walk past there and see that the the sculpture there by Leo Lintelli -- two children reading a book -- is looking better than ever. 

Leo Lentelli was a fairly significant part of of San Francisco life for a time. He was part of the City Beautiful Movement that that helped create the San Francisco Civic Center. When you go to Market Street, it's called the path of gold - he designed the light standards that are in the on that path of gold. He had five sculptures at the front of the old Main Library representing art, literature, philosophy, science, and law. When it became an Asian art museum, the iconoclasts of the Asian Art Museum and the Art Commission had them removed and I think they're in some collector's backyard in Contra Costa County,  these fine sculptures.

But that brings me to l the celebration of 30 years of the main library. I was here on the day that we moved in. I was part of the moving process and one thing I remember distinctly from that time is we had a collection of LP records at the old Main Library and we were given instructions by the chief of the new main library to get rid of that collection. At that time I was supervised by a woman who was about as mild-mannered and cooperative a person that you could imagine but she was not going to have that. And so when we moved over, we brought over the LP collection. 

Basically they wanted a new library and a new collection and new technology. But who would suspect now that LPS surpass CDs in sales today? If we had followed her idea for right sizing all of those long playing records would would have been would be in a landfill right now. Nowadays there are genres of music that we can offer like opera, folk music, certain kinds of jazz -- recordings that were created before the vinyl revival that are available to the public that would have been otherwise lost. So when you think about removing collections or moving fast and doing things, you have to consider that the world changes and the values of things change where maybe right now ebooks look like they're doing better than regular books, but you get a lot of reports of how people are returning to print and finding that they want to be disconnected. So I I just to plant the seed of the idea that um that things are sometimes worth holding on to even when they don't seem like like their time has passed.

Peter Warfield, Executive Director Library Users Association, Libraryusers2004@protonmail.com, PO Box 170544 SF, CA 94117-0544 — Requested fairer handling of relevancy during public comment (allowing clarification if time is stopped); criticized SFPL’s promotion of social media citing court rulings and youth harm; urged reconsideration of publicity practices, especially for minors.

Ruben Jaurez, Circulation Supervisor; Union Officer— Thanked speakers for supporting consistent three-minute comment time; recounted essential service roles Library staff took during COVID-19 (food banks, testing sites, hotels, contact tracing); urged alternatives to layoffs for public sector workers. 

Ruben Juarez public comment
Hello, commissioners, management team members, and assembled attendees. My name is Ruben, and I'm the circulation supervisor. I'm the circulation supervisor, union officer, and the union representative on the libraries health and safety committee. First off, I would like to thank Jason for his research, diligence, and ultimately his advocacy, ensuring all future participants have three minutes to speak in this forum. Thank you, Jason, for your resolve. 

Now, I missed the March Commission meeting. That said, I thought I would share what I intended to speak to last month. I thought we'd be remiss if we didn't mark a date that was significant in March. On Friday, March 13, 2020, Mayor Breed began the process of shutting down the city due to a health emergency, the Corona virus. And last month, I wanted to reflect on that day, Friday the 13th. It was a week after the commission meeting, six years later, and how our public sector workers, including a large amount of library staff, responded to the onset of the pandemic. At a time when there was so very little information about the virus, workers stood up when our city was at its neediest. Workers staffed the food bank, food bank popups which were throughout the city, distributed flyers, t staffed testing sites, hotels, the Covid command center, offered translation services, contract contact tracing among other things. 

City workers stood up to provide vital essential services when everything else was shut down. I worked principally at the food bank pop-ups where we worked where we workers bag groceries, distributed food, and managed lines. I chocked the lines measuring the distance between where clients would stand to ensure the six feet distance was maintained. Food insecurity was very real. The desire for food to provide for one's family was an urgent need. 

The image that sits in my head was the day at the Cow Palace where hundreds of people came to get food. Our public service workers showed up and showed out providing essential services showing the right stuff. 

As we are in the midst of layoffs to city workers and other departments, I think it's important to underline what workers did, what public sector workers do when the chips are down. And we ask that our workforce, our public service workers be afforded the same level of 6reciprocity when it comes to finding alternatives to layoffs. Thank you.

ITEM 2 — Approval of February 12, 2026 Minutes

Public Comment

• Anonymous Citizen — Said the February minutes were redrafted but failed to incorporate corrections raised in March; cited omissions (commissioner qualifications, labor emphasis, privacy concerns, staff reporting context); urged inclusion of full public testimony consistent with a data-driven organization.

• Peter Warfield — Asserted misrepresentation or reversal of his comments’ intent; emphasized respect for Commissioners but reiterated concerns about harmful technologies and patron privacy; asked for corrections to prevent mischaracterization.

Commission Discussion/Action : Motion from Commissioner Lopez second from Commissioner Bolander to approve the February 12, 2026 Minutes. Action: Approved unanimously. Roll-call ayes: Calhoun, Jones, Lopez, Bolander, Menon, Kenaston

ITEM 3 — Approval of March 19, 2026 Minutes

Public Comment

• Anonymous Citizen — Argued the ordinance allowing a 150-word speaker summary was misinterpreted; described difficulties submitting the summary (documentation and “include vs. attach” dispute); alleged evasive handling of public submittals. 

• Jason Gibbs — Requested replacing “another speaker” with his name; cited Sunshine Ordinance placement (summary belongs within public comment section, not addendum); asked to avoid further Task Force appeals by correctly acknowledging testimony.

• Peter Warfield — Said addenda disconnect public remarks from agenda items; argued minutes lack item linkage for commenters; reiterated concerns aboutsocial media promotion and prior inaccuracies/omissions.

Commission Discussion: Commissioners confirmed the requested correction (naming Jason Gibbs) and proceeded to vote.

Commission Discussion/Action: Motion from Commissioner Kenaston and second from Commission Jones to approve the March 19, 2026 Minutes with one edit to include Jason Gibbs name.

Action: Approved unanimously with correction

ITEM 4— 2025 Media Analysis Report

Staff Presentation — Public Information Officer Pocheolo Carsi-Cruz analyzed 2025 media coverage (paid/owned/earned); highlighted three themes (library love spectrum, diversity champion, city pride) with examples and early 2026 uptick.

Public Comment

• Anonymous Citizen — Praised the presentation but urged a national shift back to literacy-focused missions; criticized visible disengagement by some Commissioners; requested a stronger emphasis on books, history, and core literacy.

• Jason Gibbs — Commended analysis yet cautioned about PR growth versus frontline service; emphasized libraries as refuge for patrons needing quiet and help; urged balancing “bright, shiny” programming with core service. 

Jason Gibbs' public comment
A very nice presentation. I do have to say that one thing that I've noticed over my career towards the end is just how much energy and staffing has gone into public relations at the library. It really was not a big
thing in the past. And I think the combination of the set aside and the reallocation of public service jobs
towards the sixth floor to work on public relations has created a, I mean I I see it on the news all the time. 

There's a lot to be proud about at the library and I'm sure that you're proud too and that's why you enjoy doing this because there's so much to be grateful that the library does. But, you know they emphasize the loud and lively part because that seems so unlike a library. But that's where this quote from Emily Hovind comes in so well because my experience at the library is feeling the gratitude that we could provide a peaceful safe place for the people of Tenderloin people living in SRO's where they can come in and basically just be left alone and be on their own because they don't really have spaces.

And and I always worry that this overemphasis on the bright shiny stuff detracts from really recognizing and rewarding the everyday stuff. And so like I objectives and key results is one of those things that's spoken about. And again it's a matter have you devoted your institutional energy towards public relations or have you devoted them to actually being there to serve people when they need it. The one day that you need to come in and print out your resume. You don't know how to do it. Well, the the librarian is busy giving a program. You know, it's like you missed out on that person and and so my hope when I worked there was to never miss out on that person wherever they're at to provide them with service and I see the public service positions changed to be more sort of administrative or public relations jobs and I feel like it is going to have an outcome on the objectives and key results.

• Peter Warfield — Reported packet collation issues (upside-down pages, no page numbers); argued SFPL’s media narrative under-represents books/newspapers/periodicals; urged stronger reporting on collections amid declining traditional media.

Commission Discussion

• Lopez — Expressed pride in media attention, commended diverse programming and outreach success.

• Menon — Asked whether coverage correlates with program attendance or materials use; supported next-phase tracking of user pathways.

• Jones — Praised balancing positive/challenging coverage; recommended adding impression metrics and using owned/paid channels to support literacy priority.

• Bolander — Suggested earned-media dollar valuation and sentiment analysis; recommended tracking pitch success.

• Kenaston — Encouraged benchmarking SFPL against major systems(e.g., DC Public Library).

ITEM 5 — Branch Division Report

Staff Presentation — Chief of Branches Rebecca Alcala Veraflor reviewed branch history/renovations (BLIP, LIFT), district organization, multilingual services, and community partnerships; systemwide visits recovered to ~87% of pre-COVID levels with local variation (construction, demographics, staffing).

Public Comment

• Ruben — Spoke to the rewarding nature of branch work and patron relationships; noted safety importance and lack of on-site security at some branches; highlighted staffing challenges for seven-day service.

• Peter Warfield — Warned against “de-bookification”; urged capacity and visibility for book collections; criticized temporary renovation sites for limited use Commission Discussion

• Kenaston — Praised service excellence based on multiple branch visits, clean facilities, organized stacks, positive interactions.

• Menon — Highlighted libraries as teen third spaces amid rising loneliness; asked about low-hanging-fruit improvements, site-specific solutions described.

• Lopez — Commended Council of Neighborhood Libraries and language support; affirmed value of community-led input.

• Jones — Requested future district-level trend reporting and insights to address “stagnant 80” recovery cluster.

ITEM 6 — City Librarian’s Report

Night of Ideas, Michelle Jeffers, Chief Programs and Partnerships — Largest in the U.S.; 7,100 attendees at Main and ~2,500 at Asian Art Museum; 300+ presenters/performers/vendors; extensive staff support.

Main Library 30th Anniversary, Naomi Jelks, Chief of Main — Reviewed 1996 opening and affinitycenter history; programming included “Librarians on Film,” Hormel Center celebration, Civic Center cemetery-history talk, and in-library wedding ceremonies.

Public Comment

• Peter Warfield — Noted discrepancies between versions of
anniversary materials; recounted controversy about book reductions and space reallocation; criticized Night of Ideas for limited discussion of AI downsides.

Commission Discussion: Commissioners praised creativity, scale, and resilience of programming (e.g., astronomy session pivot due to rain); commended leadership and public service.

Meeting adjourned by President Calhoun. At 6:41 PM

San Francisco Public Library Commission March 19, 2026 meeting

San Francisco Public Library Commission
Minutes of the Regular Meeting of March 19, 2026
The SFPL Commission meeting was called to order at 4:30 PM

Meeting opened following the Ramaytush Ohlone land acknowledgement.

Commissioners Present: President Calhoun, Vice President Jones, Commissioner Huang, Commissioner Lopez, Commissioner Bolander, Commissioner Kenaston, Commissioner Menon.

Staff presenters / participants: Margot Shaub (Commission Affairs Analyst); City Librarian Michael Lambert; Chief of Public Services Dolly Goyal; Chief Analytics Officer Randy McClure; Youth Services Manager Ileana Poulou; Hai Ching Chen (Chinese Center Program Manager); Sachiko Iwibuchi (Japanese Language Librarian).

AGENDA ITEM NO. 1 GENERAL PUBLIC COMMENT

Jason Gibbs, retired librarian, reported prevailing at the Sunshine Ordinance Task Force (File No. 26015) requiring three minutes public comment; criticized past two-minute limits and urged the Commission to prioritize public oversight and free speech obligations under the Brown Act/Sunshine Ordinance.

Citizen Summary:

During your December 2025 meeting I tried to prevail upon the Commission to follow their bylaws and allow 3 minute public comment. Unsuccessful here, I appealed to the Sunshine Ordinance Task Force. On March 4, 2026 I prevailed in “File No. 26015: Complaint filed by Jason Gibbs against the San Francisco Library Commission for allegedly violating Administrative Code (Sunshine Ordinance), Section(s) 67.15, by failing to allow public comment for up to three minutes.” While the Commission was the named party in the matter you visibly never acted on this matter and allowed it to continue for 13 consecutive meetings even after being warned that it was improper. The Administrative Code states that the commission exists to serve the public’s interest. It are a governance body that “provides oversight and direction” to the work of the Library and should represent the public and not library leadership. 

Anonymous citizen accused the Commission of “elitism” and questioned unannounced changes in comment time 2 to 3 minutes and warned against serial meetings; urged respect for democratic process.

Citizen Summary:

General Public Comment Anonymous commenter said stop the hate, stop the ignorance, don’t give money to or accept money from the Friends of the Library. I came in February of 2025 to commemorate the fifty-year anniversary of my attendance at Library Commission meetings. I was so “horrified,” that I forgot to mention it. The institution is “Public” “Library.” Yet, anti-intellectual elitist are appointed Library Commissioners. Real elitism would be based on positive elements. Demeaning and denigrating the public to establish elitism demonstrates how thin commissioner’s elitism really is. Commissioners who cared would encourage even the less elite public. You granted three minutes of public comment on the agenda without any reference to who did it or why. Reduction to two minutes in January 2025, was also without rationalization. You are totally neglectful and oblivious to responsibility, or you have illegal seriatim meeting to make secret decisions. Respect for democracy would recognize both as equally bad. 

Peter Warfield, Executive Director of Library Users Association Libraryusers2004@protonmail.com, PO Box 170544, San Francisco California 94117-0544 faulted lack of clear announcement of 3-minute change; cited prior interruptions and minutesthat incompletely or misleadingly summarize public comments; raised concerns about AI/social media risks and privacy.

Kate Lazarus, Board, Friends of the Public Library, updated on the Mission/Chinatown remodels; Friends advocacy to restore $3.2M to the California Library Services Act; ongoing charter reform monitoring with no proposed changes to the Library Preservation Fund.

AGENDA ITEM NO. 2 APPROVAL OF FEBRUARY 12, 2026 MINUTES

Public Comment

Anonymous citizen argued drafts misrepresent/omit significant portions of prior remarks (e.g., Lynn Davidson, Peter Warfield, Jason Gibbs) and omitted Ruben Juarez entirely; urged accurate, complete minutes.

Citizen summary:

Anonymous commenter said stop the hate, stop the ignorance don’t give money to or accept money from the Friends of the Library. The City Librarian described new commissioners with comments of “millions of dollars in political giving” and “wealth management leader.” Qualifications as library commissioners would be included in the minutes. Item No. 1, Lyn Davidson’s first ten seconds are summarized. Omitting her emphasizing the role of labor is a gross misrepresentation. Peter Warfield also summarized for the first ten seconds. Omitting his point that this Commission was deliberately neglecting the important violations of privacy is a gross misrepresentation. Jason Gibbs was summarized for a minute, management’s failure to provide follow-up was not included. Ruben Juarez followed Jason Gibbs reinforcing the importance of accurate data. With no convenient way to misrepresent him, you just left him out Just erased him. Was there not a single comment from any commissioners under the budget discussion. 

 
Jason Gibbs requested explicitly including Ruben Juarez’s comments in the minutes.

Peter Warfield detailed substantive points he felt were missing (privacy audit; whistleblower Frances Haugen testimony; Surgeon General concerns; risks of uncritical social media promotion) and asked for accurate attribution of his email address and comments.

Commission Discussion

 
Commissioners proposed returning the minutes for revision rather than approving language absent exact corrections; suggestion review and bring back to April Commission meeting.

Motion: Motion by Commissioner JONES to bring back the February 12, 2026 minutes to the next meeting; seconded by Commissioner LOPEZ
Action: AYES 7-0 (Calhoun, Jones, Huang, Lopez, Bolander, Menon and Kenaston

AGENDA ITEM NO.3 VISION2030 MID-YEAR PROGRESS REPORT

Dolly Goyal, Chief of Public Services, presented Vision 2030 Mide Year Progress Report

Public Comment
Anonymous commenter criticized perceived “elitism,” questioned “right-sizing” as euphemism for book dumping; argued for preserving literacy and culture.

Citizen summary:

Anonymous commenter said stop the hate, stop the ignorance, don’t give money to or accept money from the Friends of the Library. My goodness! Did anyone understand that? Will this item appear in the minutes as a Powerpoint only without any of the staff’s presentation or any of your questions as last month’s budget discussion did? You are desperate to establish your elitism but your anti-intellectualism is unquestioned. Something called “right-sizing the collection” is now being blamed on the pandemic? Can that be anything but another euphemism for book dumping? This once prime research library has become an expensive alternative for Netflix. Will the public’s cherishing can be extended through college. You look for popularity rather than value. People will recognize that. You are abandoning literacy, intellect, culture and learning for what is popular. 

 
Youth Advisory Board intern advocated for continued investment in teen spaces across districts for safety,study, and social connection.

 
Peter Warfield warned of “de-bookification,” challenged “misalignment” rationale, and raised concerns about electronic-only titles and long holds; urged caution about social media and AI harms to youth.

 
Jason Gibbs offered an extended reflection on “thoughtful navigator” ideals, questioned training resourcing and asked for support for staff professional development time/funding.

 
Commission Discussion

 
Commissioner Menon asked about YAB–nonprofit connections; Poulou described first-year environmental scan, partnerships, teen-led program design, branch evaluations, outreach, and field trips (e.g., SF State).

Commissioner Huang pressed for visibility into data & analytics, workforce culture, and systems/operations; staff previewed patron churn analysis, equity zone mapping, HR initiatives (employee shout-outs; standard training).

Commissioner Jones encouraged organizing KPIs under thematic micro-pillars (e.g., celebration & collaboration) and blending quantitative and qualitative feedback; suggested an “engagement model” lens for CTS relabeling outcomes.

Commissioner Lopez requested clearer visuals distinguishing completed vs. active work and mapping projects to Vision 2030 goals; asked detailed questions on YAB selection/process/roles and K2C partnership responsibilities.

Commissioner Bolander praised the difficult culture shift toward outcomes/OKRs; asked for clearer visual reporting; staff emphasized accessibility work and cross-department learning.

AGENDA ITEM NO. 4 PUBLIC SERVICES PERFOMANCE MEASURES MID YEAR REPORT
Randle McClure, Chief RSA, presented Public Services Performance Measures Mid-Year Report

Public Comment

Anonymous Commenter Anonymous urged fuller minutes that capture cross-item overlap and substantive Commission discussions. 

Citizen Summary:

Library Commission President introduces public comment with the implied threat that the relevance of our comments might be narrowly construed and ruled out of order. Really? Don’t all of these issues overlap with each other? At the last meeting you had very crucial comments about the budget, particularly Commissioner Jones, that you should be reminded of. The previous item on the mid-year report pointed out that you should pay attention to details, note how things work, be thoughtful and accessible. Will that discussion be reflected in the minutes? Will you take that to heart? You have been dumbing down yourselves persistently. In this crucial transition in library service we need to be thoughtful. It is about the role of the library, not patron satisfaction. You should be open to all public comment. 

Jason Gibbs asked whether e-resource usage is reflected in active card status praised circulation gains as evidence of effective “rightsizing.”

 
Peter Warfield questioned survey methodology online-only sampling, noted hours consistently lowest, critiqued definitions, and asked about measures like visits per open hour.

 
Commission Discussion

Bolander asked for action plans to lift the bottom-three satisfaction areas(hours, website, programs). City Librarian Lambert contrasted SFPL 52.1 hours vs. national 41.9; reaffirmed all branches 7 days/week; next Open Hours Assessment in 2028.

McClure flagged DOJ ADA web requirements and the need to rethink the website for digital-native access over the next 3–5 years.

Huang explored Wi-Fi decline hypotheses, connectivity improvements, building factors.

Jones suggested benchmarking peer libraries and target-setting; posited a possible “analog third-space” trend where patrons choose books/conversation over Wi-Fi.

AGENDA ITEM NO. 5 CITY LIBRARIAN’S REPORT

Hai Ching Chen, Chinese Center Program Manager, recapped Lunar New Year programming.

Sachiko Iwibuchi, Main Librarian, highlighted the screening of “Paper Lanterns.”

City Librarian Michael Lambert reported collaboration with the Consulate General of Kazakhstan.

Public Comment

Peter Warfield praised the Kazakh concert but criticized perceived selectivity in event publicity, asking for better onsite print communications.

Commission Discussion

Menon asked how programming is strategized acrossthe year and the best waysfor the public to learn about offerings. Lambert cited the At The Library (ATL) monthly newsletter, flyers, website, and mobile app; acknowledged robust attendance and room for improvement; emphasized co-creation with partners and volume 15,000 programs/year. 

THE MEETING ADJOURNED at 6:37 PM