Collections Presentation - August 21, 2025 Library Commission meeting

City Librarian Michael Lambert

Thank you, President Wolf, and good evening, Library Commissioners, Library staff. 

Appreciate the opportunity to bring you an update on the latest collection utilization trends for our robust collections in both digital and physical formats. I'm pleased to report the fiscal year ending June 30th represents another banner year with a third consecutive year of setting an all-time new record for overall circulation. 

Shelley Cocking, our Chief of Collections and Technical Services [CTS], is joined by Alice Chan, our Collections and Technical Services Manager, Cataloging Manager. They are going to be presenting this presentation tonight. And I do want to emphasize that Shelley Cocking as the division chief, she really is the main architect in organizing our efforts to deliver customer focused collections that meet our residents needs for books and the content that they're seeking. Shelley, Alice, take it away...

Shellie Cocking

Thank you, Michael. Yes, I'm Shelley Cocking and this is Alice Chan, our collections and cataloging manager. We're going to talk about collection utilization trends and the library's role as a resource provider. 

This first slide shows you our seven-year circulation trend. And in CTS, we really want to take a look at how things have been changing since we closed for COVID. And you can see the orange part of the bar is for e-collections and the dark blue is for physical collections. During the closure, our e-collection circulation went up a lot. Our physical collection has continued to recover. But if you do look, even though we did have almost half a million increase in circulation, you will see that the increase has slowed a little bit this last year compared to the previous. So what that says to me is that we're now kind of in a new normal rather than in recovery. 

So, my staff has been taking a deep look at the statistics to see what that new normal is and where we should be applying our budget compared to where we did in the past, especially now that it's a slightly smaller budget. We taking a deeper dive. You can see here demand by format. 

Not surprisingly, the physical AV materials is down since 2019. That dark blue bar shows pre-COVID days and the dark orange bar is this last fiscal year. That's not a surprise to us because physical AV has really been going down even before COVID and in nowadays it's even hard sometimes to purchase it. We did see a little bit of a bump up in audio which I'll get to in a little bit. Digital resources are of course being used much heavier compared to fiscal year 2019 across the board. And I'm happy to let you know that books are still in a lot of demand and the usage has actually increased. 

Public Comment Ruben Juarez - June 18, 2026 Library Commission meeting

Public Comment:

My name is Ruben and I'm a Union officer and frontline worker. And there are a few items I wanted to bring up. I noticed a change in the order of the agenda topics last meeting with draft minutes being put at the end at of the meeting. Why the change? Maybe you can discuss at when we discuss this part and find out why it was moved to the end. 

Regarding the capital project presentation in May and the discussion of Ocean View branch, I believe it was important to list the Orizaba Way location prior to the meeting under evaluating opportunities. I believe it deserved a mentioned on the list for no other reason than getting clarification on a project that has been discussed broadly with the public. 

Don't our patrons deserve to be told where things are in the process? But more pointedly, I think it's important going forward where are we with the current location so we get more feedback on that piece. 

Where are we with the use of a slur in this forum? We had a variety of us come up and speak to it. Will some clarification be given on such language on how such language will be addressed in future meetings?

Public Comment on the City Librarian's report

There's so much there. There's so much wonderful things our workers do, all our staffs do. Because we learned about the summer dip that when the school year gets out, the propensity to dip. And there we jump in happily, readily to serve our patrons, to provide the presentation that Iliana so skillfully shared with us all. 

I think one of the commensurate challenges is the staffing levels to meet the demand.  I've come and spoken before but at this point I just wanted to dig in a little that to meet all the needs for our patrons requires you know happily like I said providing the service but one of the challenges is enough staffing being provided the extra hours to staff the programming and all the other pieces that go into it. 

It's just something for you all to consider when you're looking at uh what a wonderful service we provide and happily do so.

Public Comment Jason Gibbs - June 18, 2026 Library Commission meeting

 Jason Gibbs, retired librarian. 

My return to participating at library commission meetings has lasted a little over a year now. My former colleagues have been encouraging me to continue doing this so I can speak for them.

Today's commission is different from that of 30 years ago. That commission conducted business, held committee meetings, passed numbered resolutions. It was a substantive body. The current purpose of commission meetings is to polish an apple. The frankly delicious and beautiful apple that is the library. 

The city librarian has restructured library priorities to assemble a cadre of apple shiners to dazzle you. Public comment is your opportunity to ignore what's not going right beneath that shine. 

Your May 2026 meeting included an impressive presentation on staff appreciation and recognition. I was stupified to learn how much library administration values the library's employees and how appreciated library employees feel. Nothing like the library I worked for last year. 

I later spoke with staff at the main and branches and asked them about this sudden turnaround of staff morale. You may be shocked to learn that they fullthroatedly contradicted what we heard at last month's meeting. 

Do all of you know the Peanuts comic strip? One of the constant tropes is Lucy offering to place the football so that Charlie Brown can kick a field goal. He has grown wise to the fact that she's going to take the football away at the last minute. He's knows he's going to end up flat on his back. 

Welcome to the experience of the ambassadors for the San Francisco Public Library strategic plan. Several ambassadors told me about their first meeting with the Gensler crew. It was quite contentious. They knew about Lucy and Charlie Brown and expected that they would be asked to devote a good deal of time and thought into this exercise and find their contributions ignored in the final product. They were told that wouldn't be so, but they were right. It's a very old management trick. invite staff participation to present a notion of consensus and then take the project in the direction that they had intended to from the start. 

Throughout ambassadors were concerned mostly about safety and professional growth for staff. One ambassador tried to put it generously: The final plan translated the work of the library into balderdash. Circulating books is resource providing. Answering questions is thoughtful navigation. The resulting plan had nothing to do with anything they suggested. It became apparent that their role was to rubber stamp the City Librarian's pre-established goals. Lucy snatched away the football again. 

The leadership of the library can set any strategic priorities they like. They have done so. They don't even need your vote. It's going to take a lot of training to convince staff to believe in those priorities, but the library disbanded the training committee and the reference committee and the collections committee. Thoughtful navigation anyone? 

I've observed that the the current Library Commission is a powerless entity. The commissions of old actually managed the City Librarian, went into close session to conduct an annual appraisal. But you are here to shine the apple and you do it well. 

But you love data and surveys. I challenge the library to survey the staff on their morale, their safety, opportunities for growth, and on their opinion of the strategic plan and the city librarian. The results may not shine. 

Public Comment - City Librarian's Report

I really like the tote bag because the message is clear -  Read. But I'm a little puzzled that the learning goal or actually, is it a learning goal as opposed to a reading goal. It's it's just all the combin combined ways that it's possible to get this instead of just reading - the learning, listening, library time. I just think it should really be about the reading. 

Public Comment Anonymous Citizen - June 18, 2026 Library Commission meeting

Anonymous citizen

Good afternoon, commissioners. Speaking as an anonymous citizen, of course, and stop the hate, stop the ignorance, don't give money to the Friends of the Library, don't accept money from the Friends of the Library.

There is a very common literary conceit to take a real circumstance and put an fictional character into it in order to fully explore the implications. The tessential example is a Scottish sailor set ashore on a deserted coast and somebody says, "Aha, Robinson Crusoe."

So, let's do that. Let's take a fictional character, appoint him to the Library Commission, and make his very first commission meeting March 2026. Rich with possibilities, right? We need a fictional name since he's a fictional character. So, let's call him Josiah Bartlett.

Mr. Bartlett has never been to a library commission meeting, never even sat in the audience, which is typical. Before he sits down at his first meeting, he is told that the library commission that he is joining has been breaking the law for more than a year by illegally limiting public comment in an evident attempt to deter public participation.

The first thing that Josiah Bartlett says is, "Wow, San Francisco has a commission system to assure public participation." That's what they teach you in a high school. The second thing he says is, "Who do we fire?" I have a reputation for honesty and integrity. Integrity implies accountability. Nothing says accountability like firing someone. Besides, if someone let us into this, they really deserve to be fired. 

Next, we have to honor the person who blew the whistle and got this fixed. Most importantly, we have to apologize to the citizens whose rights were affected, assure them they have our deepest regrets and that it won't happen again. 

The City Librarian comes to him and says, "We're not going to do that. We undercut those laws completely because they promote democracy and reason. The city's librarian says, "Well, we undercut reason because we're the elite. And if they acknowledge reason at all, we won't be elite. Intelligent will be the elite." 

The Josiah Bartlett says, "Wait a minute. If we are against democracy and we're against reason aren't the advocates of reason and democracy our enemies? And the City Librarian says, "Aha, welcome to the library commission." Well, Josiah Bartley says, "I'm profoundly against this big, but it's going to take me a few minutes to organize my thoughts. Perhaps we'll hear what he thinks in July. 

Second Commentary - November 20, 2025 Library Commission Meeting

Jason Gibbs Public Comment

I too would like to highlight page 19, staff assistance. And when you're speaking of staff's assistance, you're talking about frontline staff, librarians, technicians, assistants, pages, custodians, security, people who are serving the public every day. And that's where the greatest satisfaction comes from. and and I feel like it would be worth your time to make a commendation to frontline staff of the San Francisco Public Library. The library has something called staff appreciation, but this past year it was relegated to people who were meeting with the city librarian strategic priorities as opposed to providing the everyday fine service that the public sees and appreciates. Um, I thought it was an apt metaphor to call the staff a symphony, but uh the problem is that I it feels like the library administration doesn't really know the musicians and the parts they play. Um, so that that's I so I again I want to be very happy about that. And when we look at circulation statistics and traffic, we also have to keep in mind that the population of the city of San Francisco has actually shrunk some. So the fact that we're holding our own is showing in a way that we're act growing and doing very well. Thank you.

Commissioner Shawn Calhoun

Thank you. I really just want to echo what Pete said. This is very difficult work. The statistical work in particular is impressive. To have the level of confidence that we need to be able to sit here and and truly trust these data is no small feat. So to all the folks who made this happen, uh one small just fact, the city population actually has been increasing the last 3 years. And so to actually um continue to do this when we are serving net new people is pretty remarkable as well. I just wanted to make sure that that was out there as well. But thank you to everyone who uh created this report. 

Email from Jason Gibbs to the Library Commission on December 7, 2025

During public comment at the November 20, 2025, I made a statement regarding to numbers of library visits remaining strong and steady. I remarked that this is outstanding because the population of San Francisco is actually decreasing. 

Later in the meeting Commissioner Calhoun contracted my statement asserting that San Francisco population is on the rise. The format of Library Commission meetings does not allow members of the public to comment on statements made by the commissioners, so I am I’ trying to contact the commission by correspondence. 

I am writing to provide evidence showing that my remarks were factual and accurate. Unlike the rest of California, San Francisco continues to lose population. This information comes from the state’s Department of Finance. 

https://www.kqed.org/news/12038968/californias-population-rebounding-san-francisco-different-story 

San Francisco's population has dropped 3,300 since last year and over 30,000 since 2000. 

I might also add that the Main Library used to get a great deal more foot traffic before the year 2000 before government workers in the Civic Center were permitted to work all or or parts of the schedule from home. 

In light of this the library’s public service numbers are quite robust and worthy of celebration.

Public Comment - July 17, 2025; skeptical comment Commissioner Connie Wolf

General Public Comment 

Jason Gibbs, retired librarian

I wanted to circle back to the previous meeting.

There was an agenda item about programming performance metrics. And um, in that the city librarian expressed a vision that was a prioritization of the experiential over the transactional. I wanted to speak on behalf of the transactional for a moment, which I which we call a public service.

I wanted to tell you about a service called Libhat where people can through the computer chat with librarians anytime that the Main Library is open. I was a very active participant of of that as a librarian and my observation of it was that about 80 to 90% were people asking to renew their library cards, which if you think about it makes sense because the people doing that are people using our eResources who are not coming to the library.

And they are so grateful for those resources and exceptionally grateful for this service of being able to renew their library card without coming into the library.

One thing I noticed about many of these patrons when we open up a patron's record, we can see how many physical books they have checked out and in the vast majority of cases it was zero. They just love the electronic resources which we are glad to provide.

But what I also wanted to get across like you were very proud of the ratings that you were getting for the programming -- this program you can get up to four stars rating of the transaction. It's it's totally voluntary if you do it. And my tendency is to only rate when I'm pissed off and give a bad rating. But we have 93% four stars of people with that service. So, I just wanted to let you know how important public service is and how great San Francisco Public Library staff is at providing it and that it is more than just a transactional institution. Thank you.

AGENDA ITEM NO.3 STRATEGIC PLAN INITIATVE IMPLEMENTATION

Public Comment - Ruben Juarez, Circulation manager Oceanview Branch, SEIU representative

One of the things that I was -- I heard was going to be looking at workforce culture. Commissioners, can you, um, speak to this at some point or ask about this? Looking at the staff handbook, what exactly does that mean? And just playing that out, teasing that out so we understand what that entails.

Additionally, whenever I hear about data-driven decision-making, get a little anxious because I'm not sure what that exactly means as well. I know Randall has done a lot of good work, but I think drilling down to that as well is to see what that means for our members.

I know we just had a wonderful celebration. I know some of the commissioners went to it where we celebrated our workforce. So I think out of respect for our workforce just getting more feedback I think what would go a long way as well is a survey of the workers who do the work. I don't ever really see that part of it so what do we think about these things a survey that addresses to us -- about what are your thoughts. Anonymous is also helpful so that we don't feel anything but clarity and share our viewpoints Thank you. 

 

Peter Warfield, Library Users Association -

The old slogan of the library or mission statement was uh to provide free and equal access to and a list of things including the joys of reading, independent learning, and a number of other things. 

You've completely gotten rid of the old slogan for this project's mission, for the library's mission statement. And it says basically connecting communities with other communities and learning not independent learning and not individuals and nothing about reading or about books or other materials that the library has in many cases in very good abundance and variety and depth. 

I'm concerned that there is very little here specific about what you're doing with respect to what I use the library for. What about the collections? What about the tremendous value of periodicals and newspapers? What about guides for people to understand how to access those and what they are and what the value of those is? What about when there's a long waiting list? Providing access as in some colleges having reference copies so speople will always at least be able to have a good chance of seeing a recent book or a popular book or a newly popular book and at least have a look at it because the current system with long waits for the limited uh number of materials. You might not see a brand new book that you might be very interested in for a long time. 

And collections management, collection optimization, what does that mean? To me, that's hiding getting rid of books and printed materials. What does it mean? Specifics needed. [Applause] 

Jason Gibbs -

I'd like to applaud the projects as they were presented. I think they're all good. Um, but I wanted to focus on employee engagement. And when that was spoken of, it was talking about acknowledging accomplishments, it's actually an accomplishment to open and close a library every day. 

And I feel like the day-to-day work is not acknowledged. It it doesn't it's not flashy. It's not it doesn't seem you know that doesn't attract a lot of attention but being there to serve the public to provide a safe space a welcoming space a space where people have put thought into the organization of the collection.

That is not acknowledged and I have to say that um most of the staff feel like their work is not known. I think it would go a long way if that were to change. The morale, in fact, I mean you go in and everybody seems very happy because they're happy to serve the public but the morale is very low and I feel like that's maybe the most important thing to address is staff morale. and you the workplace culture. 

I agree with Ruben that yeah need to really focus on what does the change to the staff handbook mean? And I also agree with him that a staff survey would be very important. Because I feel like it's not that we've put the cart before the horse, it's that the cart and the horse are not connected and and a lot more work needs to be done along those lines. Thank you.

Commissioner Connie Wolf:

When I hear that we have projects you want to do and you're going to do -- twentys seven new ones this year -- and we're not adding an enormous number of staff. We we're almost setting ourselves up for failure. Because what is the baseline of what we do? I'm kind of touching on what everybody said here so I just I'm looking at you at different points but you know how do we identify what is core to who we are and you know there are going to be staff who are just so like this is my project and I'm going to keep doing it but there has to be a a shared sense of how we can do things better and that certain things may need to sunset or completely be completely rethought and those criteria have to be in place because as new projects come online, they need to be subjected to criteria for analysis. And also so many of us have started programs and you have a vision of what you think it's going to be and it never is that and you have to be nimble to move and adjust. So I just want to really emphasize the need to learn from mistakes but also the sunsetting focus. 

A couple other sort of um summary comments. I did get a sense from the different comments and questions today. I think there's a little concern about the number of programs we're trying to accomplish and I think sometimes less is more and even twenty seven feels just huge in one fiscal year. So um and especially if you're not sunsetting, you don't have plans to sunset. You're just going to create the criteria to sunset. So I think we need to be incredibly cautious and realistic and honest. I think you use the word honest. I mean having that sense of intellectual honesty about what we're really doing and not trying to just shove it in and saying we'veaccomplished this because we can move it from a yellow to a green to a red or whatever to beige. Beige. Who wants beige? Um, so I really encourage that. I do want to then just say that I I think we're just really really excited about the partnership with what you're doing, 

Jason Gibbs - illegal public comment time limits

Jason Gibbs, retired librarian. 

Coming to these meetings again, I sometimes feel a bit like Rip Van Winkle. I last participated in commission meetings in the early 1990s. It may seem quaint now, but back then when we opened the meetings by standing up, placing our hands over our hearts, and pledged allegiance to the flag in the Lurie Room - yes, that Lurie family. This gesture of solidarity of commissioners and the public took 15 seconds.

Out of curiosity, I recently had the notion to research the evolution of the bylaws of the Commission. One statement has remained in the bylaws. "The commission shall hold meetings open to the public and encourage the participation of interested persons." Attending these few meetings, I have seen that each of you is accomplished, intelligent, dedicated, attentive, and wants to support the library and its users. I hope you would assume that the interested persons who attend these meetings share your outlook. There was always a barrier of sorts between the public and the government and the exhortation to encourage participation is the way to lower that barrier.

In the searly 1990s, when I began attending meetings, the bylaws stated no time limit for public comment. By the mid-90s, the commission adopted a 4-minute time limit, which by the end of the decade dropped to three minutes. In March 2024, the commission acted to amend the bylaws. Four present members of the Commission cast votes to do so. The current amended bylaws continue to state that each member of the public can address the commission for up to three minutes. 

 
The bylaws are a legal document vetted by the city attorney's office. Every meeting I've attended, the commission has violated its own bylaws. Bylaws that current commissioners approved. If you cut me off before three minutes have transpired, you are violating your own rules. You must either follow your bylaws or amend them. The public should learn the rationale for limiting public participation. If you amend the bylaws to shorten the time limit, you could also amend the statement about encouraging participation. But I cannot believe that you really want to discourage participation.

The people who stand on this side of the microphone are not the enemies of the library or of the Commission.

Commission President Wolf illegally interrupting [2 minutes have transpired]: 

Thank you for your comments.

Jason Gibbs

 
Everyone here supports the San Francisco Public Library. Thank you. 

Commissioner Wolf:  

Any further public comment? Seeing there's no further public comment, public comments closed. I just want to thank everyone for participating so actively today and passionately.

SAN FRANCISCO PUBLIC LIBRARY COMMISSION

Minutes of theRegular Meeting of DECEMBER 18, 2025

The San Francisco Public Library Commission held a regular meeting DECEMBER 18, 2025, atthe Koret Auditorium, Main Library and virtually on Zoom.

The SFPLCommissionmeeting was called to order at 4:30 PM.

Commissioners Present: Wolf, Huang, Lomax Ghirarduzzi, Lopez, Bolander, Jones and Calhoun. President Wolf presented the ancestral homeland acknowledgement ofthe Ramaytush Ohlone.
AGENDA ITEM NO. 1 GENERAL PUBLIC COMMENT

Public Comment

Peter Warfield, Executive Director of Library Users Association: Libraryusers2004@protonmail.com, PO Box 170544, San Francisco California 94117-0544, said the author talk was the fullest he has ever seen it, there was a lot of interest and he got a clear impression from the author of the book; she was not neutral about AI.

Emily Garvie, Executive Director, Friends of the Library: congratulated the Library for the One City One Book program and said the Friends is wrapping up its Annual Fund appeal and Mission Branch renovation campaign is in the home stretch.

Nicky: said Public Comment is perfunctory and he is not supportive of AI or the Library promoting it.

Jason Gibbs, former SFPL Librarian: Coming to these meetings again, I sometimes feel a little bit like a Rip Van Winkle. I actively participated in Commission meetings in the early 1990s. It may seem quaint now, but back then we opened the meetings by standing up, placing our hands over our hearts, facing the flag in the Lurie Room in the old building (yes, that Lurie family), and reciting the Pledge of Allegiance. This gesture of solidarity between commissioners and the public took 15 seconds. 

Out of curiosity, I recently had the notion to research the evolution of the Bylaws of the Library Commission—particularly concerning public comment. One statement has remained constant in the bylaws: “The Commission shall hold meetings open to the public and encourage the participation of interested persons.” Attending these past few meetings, I have seen that each of you is accomplished, intelligent, dedicated, and attentive, and truly wants to support the library and its users. I hope you would assume that the “interested persons” who attend these meetings share your outlook. There is always a barrier of sorts between the public and government, and the exhortation to “encourage participation” is the way to lower that barrier. In the early 1990s, when I began attending meetings, the bylaws stated no time limit for public comment. By the mid-1990s, the Commission adopted a 4-minute time limit, which by the end of the decade dropped to 3 minutes. In March 2024, the Commission acted to amend the Bylaws. Four present members cast votes to do so. The current amended Bylaws continue to state that each member of the public can address the Commission “for up to three minutes.” 

The Bylaws are a legal document vetted by the City Attorney’s office. Every meeting I have attended, the Commission has violated its own bylaws— bylaws that current commissioners approved. If you cut me off before 3 minutes have transpired, you are violating your own rules. You must either follow your bylaws or amend them. The public should learn your rationale for limiting public participation. If you amend the bylaws to shorten the time limit, you could also amend the statement about encouraging participation. But I cannot believe that you really want to discourage participation. The people who stand on this side of the microphone are not enemies of the library or of the Commission. Everyone here supports the San Francisco Public Library.

AGENDA ITEMNO. 2 APPROVAL OF MINUTES – NOVEMBER 20, 2025

Peter Warfield said he is concerned about the Library’s continual shrinking of privacy of the patrons, and he commented on a variety of other issues.

Jason Gibbs said there have been complaints of the minutes of the meetings have been brief and he looked up in the city charter what are required of minutes. Public comment 67.16 says that a summary of each statement should be included, that varies from one line to 5 lines. I don't know that is being violated here.

Commission Discussion

Motion: Motion by Commissioner LOMAX GHIRARDUZZI to approve the minutes with three changes seconded by Commissioner LOPEZ to approve the NOVEMBER 20, 2025, Commission Minutes.

Action: AYES 7-0 (Wolf, Huang, Lomax Ghirarduzzi, Lopez, Bolander, Jones and Calhoun)

AGENDA ITEM NO.3 FYS 2027 & 2028 ANNUAL BUDGET

Mike Fernandez, CFO, presented an overview of FYs 2027 & 2028 Budget Priorities including the three phases of the Budget process, the Budget calendar, how the priorities align with Vision 2030, the Budget environment and revenue outlook.

Public Comment

Jason Gibbs said the presentation was great, page 14 is interesting, and is curious about services of other departments, how that works and asked for cost savings breakdown and where the zero number for equipment came from.

Peter Warfield said he was stunned by $8 million in the category of community programs and partnerships and remember when they broke 1 million and they were amazed by that and asked about improving access to print of all kinds including improvements in the catalog and the speed with which print arrives.
Commission Discussion

Commissioner Bolander said there is a2.5 million delta between the approved budget and the estimate, the funding seems worse than last year.

Fernandez said they are seeing at the end of the last year there was a lot of momentum over there and all indications that it will continue. A lot of larger events are happening in the city and the surrounding areas that are onetime events that would indicate a good reason for positive outlook.

Vice President Huang asked what numbers on slide 15 could potentially change next time.

Fernandez said 27 through 29 will get revised as they get new information.

Commissioner Calhoun asked about the delta between full employment and actual employment. Where would they see that in the presentation.

AGENDA ITEM NO. 4 CITY LIBRARIAN’S REPORT

Michelle Jeffers, Chief of Community Programs and Partnerships, presented on the SF Drag Laureate and the Drag Story's 10th Anniversary. The 2025 Drag Laureate, Per Sia, was the first reader to perform a Drag Queen Story Hour a decade ago. They hosted the 10th Anniversary celebration at the Main Library, which included multiple story hours happening throughout the day, a parade through the building, crafts, play, food, and fun. Ten years ago, the City Librarian and Deputy recognized the importance of delivering and celebrating this community with an innovative and inclusive idea that was brought to the Library by Radar Productions. The Library does this because Drag Queen Story Hour sparks imagination and serves audiences with joyful, glamorous, and proudly queer role models. Kids are particularly able to see people who defy rigid gender restrictions, and they can be their authentic selves. City Librarian Michael Lambert reported on his trip to Taiwan at the invitation of the National Taiwan University Dean of the School of Learning and the Graduate Institute of Library and Information Studies. He served as the keynote speaker for the Library Association of the Republic of China (Taiwan) conference and visited many of the newly constructed and most innovative libraries in Taiwan, which are far ahead of SFPL. The reason they invited SFPL is because of how our libraries operate as social infrastructure—anchoring our communities, fostering shared experiences to bring our community together, encouraging civic engagement, amplifying culture, and celebrating diversity.

Public Comment

Peter Warfield said he wondered how books are pushed out from a vending machine device and asked where people browse the books, noting that's one of the ways people find materials of interest.

Jason Gibbs said he had the opportunity to go to National Taiwan University to present a paper, though he never made it into the library. He noted that Taiwan is a very impressive society and that they do not have some of the societal problems that we experience here in terms of its public. It is a very different society.

Commission Discussion

Commissioner Lopez congratulated Jeffers, noting that this work is challenging. She stated that Jeffers does a great job, does not give up, and keeps pushing; her initiative in dealing with everything the process entails is not easy, as there are people in this world who do not have an open mind. She also thanked the City Librarian for representing the San Francisco Public Library across continents, noting it is inspiring to learn what other libraries are doing. Commissioner Calhoun said the ten years of history is remarkable and asked where that history lives. Jeffers stated that the Hormel Center is the keeper of that history.

Commissioner Lomax Ghirarduzzi said Jeffers was the best in the nation, noting that no one does community work like her.

Commissioner Jones said it was incredible what Jeffers does during these moments where the Library is making history. As the budget gets leaner, he asked how one doubles down and leans into history-making moments—focusing on being the best at a few things versus doing many things. He also wondered about the role of merchandise when celebrating these milestones. Commissioner Jones thanked Lambert for showing them incredible libraries across the world, noting it pushes the Commission forward.

AGENDAITEM NO. 5 2026 COMMISSION MEETING CALENDAR Public Comment

Peter Warfield stated that cutting the second meeting in February is a pity and noted that there is no break in the summertime.

Commission Discussion

Motion: Motion by Vice President HUANG to approve the 2026 Commission Meeting Calendar seconded by Commissioner CALHOUN.

Action: AYES 7-0 (Wolf, Huang, Lomax Ghirarduzzi, Lopez, Bolander, Jones and Calhoun) 

AGENDAITEM NO. 6 ELECTION OF 2026 OFFICERS

Public Comment

Peter Warfield stated that it is a pity the Commission does not have nominations prior to public comment, as this requires members of the public to address everyone generally rather than speaking to specific nominees. Commission Discussion

Commissioner Lopez nominated President Wolf to be the 2026 Commission President, which Wolf accepted. Action: AYES 7-0 (Wolf, Huang, Lomax Ghirarduzzi, Lopez, Bolander, Jones and Calhoun)

Vice President Huang thanked the Commission for the opportunity to serve and nominated Commissioner Calhoun as the 2026 Vice President; the nomination was accepted by Calhoun.

Action: AYES 7-0 (Wolf, Huang, Lomax Ghirarduzzi, Lopez, Bolander, Jones and Calhoun)

THE MEETING ADJOURNED at 6:23 PM

Margot Shaub, Commission Affairs Analyst

Commission Affairs Analyst, Main Library, San Francisco, CA 94102-4733

Latin X Affinity Center - Sunshined documents

NEW - Latinx Affinity Center Programming 25-26.pdf

NEW - LatinxAffinityShelving.pdf

Project Charter Latinx Affinity Center

Katrin Reimuller to Dolly Goyal 092724 Latinx Affinity Center draft Project Charter.pdf-redacted.pdf

Katrin Reimuller to Dolly Goyal 091724 Follow up from Latinx Center meeting.pdf

Katrin Reimuller to Dolly Goyal 091724 FW_ Follow up from Latinx Center meeting.pdf-redacted.pdf

Francisco Cardona to Lisa Valerio 100424 Re_ Latinx Affinity Shelving possibilities.pdf-redacted.pdf

Lisa Valerio to Irene Aquino 111424 Re_ LatinX & Deaf Services Scoping Meeting.pdf-redacted.pdf

Latinx Center update.docx-redacted 0326

Brian Weaver to Naomi Jelks 032126 FW_ Latinx Center SPI update and weeding directive.pdf-redacted.pdf

Michael Lambert to Dolly Goyal 032426 FW Latinx Center SPI update and weeding directive.pdf-redacted.pdf

Brian Weaver to Michael Weaver 033026 RE_ Latinx Affinity Center project meeting33036.pdf-redacted.pdf

Brian Weaver to Michael Lambert 033026 RE Latinx Affinity Center project meeting.msg-redacted.pdf

Brian Weaver to Michael Lambert 033026 RE_ Latinx Affinity Center project meeting.pdf-redacted.pdf

Lisa Valerio to Naomi Jelks 043026 Re_ LatinX Center - Linear Feet shelving.pdf-redacted.pdf

Lisa Valerio to Naomi Jelks 043026 LatinX Center - Linear Feet shelving.msg-redacted.pdfFrancisco Cardona to Naomi Jelks 050126 Latinx center info.msg-redacted.pdf

Graham Galloway to Naomi Jelks 051026 Executive Sponsors SPI Update Form Submitted.msg-redacted.pdf

HC Weed and Shift Progress Report.docx-redacted.pdf 110425

Library Projects - Main and Branches Attachment (LIB - DWP projects- .xlsx)

San Francisco Public Library - Main Library - 3rd floor, General Collections and Humanities

Right sizing underway

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]