“The San Francisco Public Library system is dedicated to free and equal access to information, knowledge, independent learning and the joys of reading for our diverse community.”

The Mission Branch is located on 300 Bartlett St. The building looks like this:

The entrance text is available in english, spanish, and chinese.

When I entered the library I was confused, because I didn’t know to go up the stairs. But then I went up the stairs and there were some old photos of san francisco. This is nice.

Like most public libraries in the U.S., there are plenty of computers. Some people come to the library just to use the internet. As usual, it’s a relatively quiet space, and just occasionally someone’s new smart telephone rings at full volume and they don’t know how to make it stop. A few people look around to see who is ringing, but they aren’t upset.

The have library cards and copy machines.

And compact discs.

And DVDs. Even VHS too. This library has a big collection of stuff in spanish.

And of course there are books.

And some space for more books.

The nice thing about this library is the tall ceilings, the space is open and comfortable enough to sit and research for a long time.

Books, Films, and CDs are located with a computer search. Everything can be checked out except the reference books.

This particular branch seems to have almost as many books in spanish as english, and there’s also a small chinese language section.

This is what the Search looks like:

Using the automatic checkout machines, books can leave the library, if you have a library card. I don’t have a library card.

There’s also free wireless internet and you don’t need a password. One branch can order books from any other branch if they don’t have them on the shelves.