SFist Reads
Our good friend Christine has something to say to y'all -- so we turn the floor over to her. SFist staff picks can be found after the jump.
Our SFPL branches undergoing or slated to undergo renovations need help---here is what all us libarary reservists (and users) should do:1. Friends in the Neighborhoods: The Neighborhood Library Campaign, from the Friends of the Library website: "A library renaissance is slowly taking place across San Francisco. By the end of this decade, 19 branch libraries will be renovated and modernized, fourbranches will move from small, leased spaces to larger, city-owned buildings, and the first new branch library in over forty years will be established in Mission Bay.
While the Proposition A bond measure that passed overwhelmingly in 2000 will fund the building and renovation of these branches through the Branch Library Improvement Program (BLIP), the bond does not provide funding for furnishings and fixtures. Friends of the San Francisco Public Library’s Neighborhood Library Campaign (NLC) will fill this void by raising $16 million to equip and furnish these twenty-four branches. "
We "reservists" should get involved and find out how to help these efforts. Those interested should contact the Friends of the San Francisco Library at 626-7512 ext 101 or 103 or email the Friends volunteer working on their branch
2. Join Friends of the Library [for as little as $35, equal to the price of one or two bestsellers you might reserve!!]
3. By Sept 2 (that's Friday!) nominate your favorite helpful librarian for the annual New York Times Librarian of the Year Award! Many San Franciscans proud of the Excelsior Branch renovation completion nominated branch librarian, Ms. Terry Gwiazdowski for the award. Good luck, Terry!
4. Say thanks to let the librarians at your branch know you appreciate their good work and assistance with the reserves--something they don't hear often enough!
Friend of SFist Kevin Smokler let SFist Jackson know about the "One City, One Book" program from the San Francisco Public Library. First book -- China Boy by Gus Lee. We hope this really catches on, since it would give us something literary to talk about when trying to pick up strangers at bars.
SFist Matt is reading You: The Owners Manual, an sort of dummies-guide to maintaining one's physical health despite the constant peril in which we all live. With its dire warnings about blood pressure and nutrition and proper hygeine, it's possibly the most mommish book he's ever read; and in fact, it was a gift from his mother. Because of this, he was a little unsettled when I first opened the book to a random page and discovered a large chapter heading advising the reader to have lots of sex. Salaciousness aside, the advice in the book is very useful, a mix of technical background and practical advice. But the writing is insufferably magazine-style, with cutesy quips and cloying asides that really aren't that funny at all. He's tempted to go through the book and physically remove all the jokes about mothers-in-law or celebrities from five years ago; he has a feeling the book would lose about half of its weight.
SFist Derrick finally picked up Paula Wolfert's The Slow Mediterranean Kitchen. A flurry of recommendations for it converged in a small amount of time, so he bought a copy and started flipping through it last night before bed. Lots of intriguing recipes (some of which may appear on SFist at some point!)