Friends of the SFPL
  • About Us
    • 60+ Years of Friends
    • Board
    • Staff
    • Our Supporters
    • Financials
    • Blog >
      • History Series
    • Contact Us >
      • Employment
    • Sign-Up for Newsletter
  • Support Us
    • Donate
    • Leadership Circle
    • Innovation Circle
    • Leave a Legacy Gift
    • The Pacifics
    • Gift of appreciated stock
    • Qualified Charitable Distribution (QCD)
    • Other ways to give
    • Library Preservation Fund
  • What We Fund
  • Buy & Donate Books
    • Bookstore
    • Donate Books
    • This Is Ear Hustle
  • Laureates 2023
  • Events
    • Book Sales
  • Residencies
    • Brown Handler Writer's Residency ​
    • James C. Hormel LGBTQIA Fellowship
  • Volunteer
  • About Us
    • 60+ Years of Friends
    • Board
    • Staff
    • Our Supporters
    • Financials
    • Blog >
      • History Series
    • Contact Us >
      • Employment
    • Sign-Up for Newsletter
  • Support Us
    • Donate
    • Leadership Circle
    • Innovation Circle
    • Leave a Legacy Gift
    • The Pacifics
    • Gift of appreciated stock
    • Qualified Charitable Distribution (QCD)
    • Other ways to give
    • Library Preservation Fund
  • What We Fund
  • Buy & Donate Books
    • Bookstore
    • Donate Books
    • This Is Ear Hustle
  • Laureates 2023
  • Events
    • Book Sales
  • Residencies
    • Brown Handler Writer's Residency ​
    • James C. Hormel LGBTQIA Fellowship
  • Volunteer

Friends Blog

A Letter From Our Executive Director

3/24/2020

0 Comments

 

Dear Friends,

​As we shelter in place, we are keenly aware of how precious our loved ones and community are to us. First, thank you so much for the work you are doing to stay sheltered and follow the directives of city officials to bring our community through this unprecedented global crisis. 

I also know that you care greatly about our beloved San Francisco Public Library and that its closure is difficult. I am writing to update you about how the Library and Friends are responding to the crisis. 

What is happening at the Library? All 28 libraries are currently closed to regular business. When they can reopen, we can expect there will be no programming offered outside of basic library services through the end of May. However, the Library is still actively providing critical services to the San Francisco community. 

You may have heard that the Library was engaged in a massive effort to convert library buildings into emergency childcare centers to augment childcare capacity for healthcare workers (with distancing protocols). Put on hold after the Mayor’s shelter in place order, it appears that the Library may again be able to activate this program for our heroic healthcare workers and their families. We will keep you posted if the program reopens. Additionally, where possible, Library staff members have been deployed to assist other city departments and community organizations on food distribution and services for our most vulnerable residents. 

The Library is also operating as usual in its virtual form. This is an opportune moment to explore its vast offerings of electronic collections and applications. The Library’s IT department has been hard at work ensuring that students, parents, and teachers have access to online resources through the Scholar Card Program and tutoring services through applications like Brain Fuse. Additionally, you and your family can access streaming and eServices, including eBooks, movies, classes, historical documents, etc., for both education and entertainment.
LINK TO LIBRARY e-SERVICES
We are grateful for the continued provision of free resources and the public service of our dedicated Library leaders and staff. We are also immensely proud and grateful to all of you who have taken active roles for many years as advocates and donors in supporting the strong public library infrastructure that is making the difference in San Francisco right now. 

What is happening at Friends? With our staff working from home, Friends continues to operate in all areas except the Book Program. In line with the Mayor’s and Governor’s shelter in place orders, we have closed the Donation Centers and both the bookstores indefinitely. In the coming weeks, I will be able to provide updates on the Book Program and other book-related events. 

Along with promoting the eServices of the Library and providing you with regular updates, Friends is also in the planning process of producing other media, such as a Friends’ podcast series and possibly streaming storytimes by branch Librarians. Please visit our website and our social media channels for updates. 

Our work to support and protect the Library continues unabated. In that vein, I want to take this opportunity to tell you about the campaign we have launched for the Library’s future. Below is a podcast that lays out our new Campaign for the Future of the Library detailing how Friends will meet the needs of the Library over the next five years. The podcast is a recording of the presentation made by the City Librarian, Michael Lambert, and myself at the annual Mary Louise Stong Breakfast on Friday, February 7th.  This is a great overview of our plans, and you will hear more about it later.  
​
Picture


​
​Click the links below to listen to the podcast on your favorite platform:

Apple Podcasts
Spotify Podcasts
Website

​
My thoughts and wishes for good health and safety go out to all of you in this unprecedented time of fear and uncertainty. We will make certain that we continue to bring the comforts, joys, and power of the Library to you as best we can.  


​In warm friendship, 


Marie Ciepiela 
Executive Director
Picture

​P.S. Friends will assuredly do all that we can now and be ready for the Library when the crisis is over. Please feel free to support us now if you are moved and if you can. We are truly grateful.

Donate
0 Comments



Leave a Reply.

    Author

    Write something about yourself. No need to be fancy, just an overview.

    Archives

    July 2021
    May 2021
    March 2021
    January 2021
    October 2020
    September 2020
    July 2020
    June 2020
    May 2020
    April 2020
    March 2020
    February 2020
    November 2019
    May 2019
    March 2019
    April 2018

    Categories

    All

    RSS Feed

​ADMINISTRATIVE OFFICES &
Donation center Location
1630 17TH STREET
SAN FRANCISCO, CA 94107

​Administrative Phone: (415) 626-7500
BOOK DONATION CENTER: (415) 522-8606 

Get INvolved 

DONATE/JOIN/RENEW

Contact Us


​Tax ID Number:
 94-6085452 
©2021 Friends of the San Francisco Public Library
SUBSCRIBE TODAY FOR UPDATES!


Please leave this field empty