This week: Too Short’s ‘Blow the Whistle’ at 20, local Black figures through history, cheap eats in the Sunset, the library’s small business resources, and Sports Basement comedy club; plus: walking the Bay Bridge, descending the Hawk Hill stairs, and exploring Black history through music.

Behind the racks

San Francisco’s Comedy “Run” Club has turned a tucked-away corner of Sports Basement Presidio into a monthly hotspot for laughs. Every second Saturday, the space transforms into an intimate speakeasy with touring comedians, free pizza, drinks, and a crowd with the penchant for the unique.

Every attendee earns perks like a Sports Basement discount and honorary membership in the non-running “run” club. The secret door can be found behind the running shoes. — Justina Vanessa/Instagram

Blow the whistle

Twenty years on, Too Short’s “Blow the Whistle” still turns Oakland streets, block parties, and clubs into instant dance floors. Recorded in Atlanta and Miami with Lil Jon, the track never cracked the Hot 100 but cemented itself as a Bay Area anthem, its hyphy energy spreading through local culture and sports arenas alike.

The original video shoot at Mingles Martini & Champagne Lounge near Jack London Square captured the city’s intensity, from street-side chaos to crowded dance floors, and introduced viewers to figures like the Turf Feinz, who later appeared in Kendrick Lamar’s 2025 Super Bowl performance. Two decades later, the song’s claps, whistles, and warnings remain woven into the city’s soundtrack, from local nights out to national stages. — KQED

Currents of the Black Pacific

At the Museum of Sonoma County, the exhibition, Take Me to the Water: Histories of the Black Pacific, curated by Caroline Collins, widens the lens on Black history, tracing lives shaped by ocean crossings, wartime shipyards, and coastal labor. The exhibit moves from the story of Diego, an African guide who landed on California’s coast with Sir Francis Drake in 1579, to Black whalers, fishermen, and World War II workers who helped build communities from Richmond to Santa Rosa.

Photographs, maritime tools, and a video interview with Pearl Harbor survivor Jesse Love anchor the show in lived experience, while recent programming has brought Sonoma County writers into conversation with that legacy. The exhibition runs March 22, Wednesdays through Sundays, in Santa Rosa. — The Press Democrat

Fourth floor futures

Up on the fourth floor of the San Francisco Public Library’s Main branch, there’s a corner devoted to people planning out their livelihoods. The library’s Small Business Center offers one-on-one guidance, databases, and workshops that walk would-be founders through permits, city codes, marketing plans, and the maze of local regulations that can stall a good idea before it leaves the notebook.

Some familiar neighborhood names — from Green Apple Books to Gravel & Gold — have tapped into the center’s support along the way. For anyone quietly plotting a career pivot, the help is free, public, and waiting upstairs at the Main Library. — Taylesofthecity/Instagram

Basslines of memory

Inside the Victorian rooms of San Francisco’s Community Music Center, composer and bassist Marcus Shelby creates suites that move through Black history as deliberately as a walking bass line. His projects have traced the 1944 Port Chicago explosion, Harriet Tubman’s journeys, the Negro Baseball Leagues, and meditations on Dr. Martin Luther King Jr., blending blues and swing with archival research and lived testimony.

Shelby, who once studied engineering before committing fully to music, now leads big bands, serves as artistic director of the Healdsburg Jazz Festival, and mentors young musicians in the Mission. For him, composition is both scholarship and inheritance — a way to pass history forward, one low note at a time. — NBC Bay Area

Sunset bites

A tiny counter on Taraval Street is quietly feeding the Sunset. Little Aloha serves a handful of Hawaii-inspired dishes, from spam musubi to loco moco, priced so students and families can grab a hot lunch without emptying their wallets.

The co-owners, all San Franciscans, bring flavors discovered on trips to Maui and Oahu, balancing authenticity with simplicity in a compact menu. The $6 weekday special has made the spot a steady stop for high school crowds, with pineapple sausage leading the charge. — SFGate

Tower walk

The Bay Bridge pedestrian path runs for two miles, fully separated from traffic and lined with benches. The towers are massive, and cars move quickly below, making it very loud — great for stress-screaming or singing loudly off-key.

From the path, walkers can see expansive views of the Bay and the remnants of the old bridge. The walkway is high above the water but considered safe, offering a clear, elevated perspective of the city and surrounding waterways. — Baywiddit/Instagram

Stairway to the bay

Once you’ve finished the Bay Bridge walk, head to the Hawk Hill stairs that descend toward the Pacific Ocean, offering panoramic views of the Golden Gate, San Francisco, and the Marin Headlands along the way. The path is spacious, with plenty of benches, and separate from any traffic, though the roar of cars above is constant.

The towers rise high around you, and you can spot remnants of the old bridge as you descend. Visitors can walk the stairs, linger on the landings, or hike the surrounding trails, making it a clear spot for sunset views. — Wandering Creator, Meghana/Instagram

Image: Sonoma County Museum

Previously: Field Notes: BART Poetry, Revolutionary Black Panther Art, and from Rural Alaska to the Super Bowl

Bay Area librarian Mychal Threets to host ‘Reading Rainbow;’ lost jazz treasures; creative mutual aid; painted cars; bling from “bips;” ghosts in the city; tarantulas at Mt. Diablo; films on the bay; hidden views; and Jins and DSW open at Stonestown Mall.

Cinema on the bay

The Roxie Theater is teaming up with Red and White Fleet this month to host a unique sailing movie theater — a hybrid-electric vessel turned open-air cinema with the San Francisco skyline as its backdrop.

Cocktails, snacks, and complimentary popcorn keep the decks lively while films flicker across multiple screens. This year’s lineup spans cult favorites like Top Gun, Beetlejuice Beetlejuice, and Carpenter’s The Fog. Screenings run Friday nights through October on the bay. — The Whimsy Soul, Red and White Fleet

Unexpected view

Amidst nearly 360-degree views atop Broadway and Taylor in San Francisco, sits the most unique view of the Golden Gate Bridge in town, which is easy to miss. While standing near the northern crosswalk of the intersection, facing north toward Alcatraz, if you take a look at the apartment building on your right, there’s a set of mirrored windows that perfectly frame the iconic bridge.

When SFist was taking photos at the intersection (see Saturday Links), we nearly missed the hidden gem. We circled the area snapping photos for several minutes when we noticed the large windows at eye level and observed how annoying it must be to live right there where bystanders can look in — hence, the mirrored windows. Intentional design choice or not, the result was pretty spectacular. — SFist

Shadows in the city

Local paranormal investigator Ying Liu leads guests through San Francisco’s streets and architectural sites, weaving ghost stories into the city’s nightly pulse. In Chinatown’s Grand Star, her crew claims they saw a crying woman in the bathroom mirror and a floating figure sliding past empty seats.

At the Warfield, a thermal camera caught what looked like a human face etched in cold. Even a narrow alley by the Transamerica Pyramid carries its own restless presence. Tours available through Haunted Bay. — KRON4

Red earth wanderers

As the days shorten and Halloween creeps closer, Mount Diablo’s trails become overrun with male tarantulas who emerge from their burrows in search of mates this time of year.

The females wait quietly underground, some of them decades old. Just a short 2.5-mile loop from Mitchell Canyon Visitor Center brings the possibility of finding some fuzzy, eight-legged creatures, if you dare. — Bay Area Hikers, Weekend Sherpa

Art and cruisers

Rose B. Simpson’s LEXICON at the de Young pairs two art cars, Maria and Bosque, with monumental clay figures, blending ancestral Tewa techniques with contemporary flair. The cars’ painted surfaces echo pottery designs, while the towering sculptures are rough-textured, adorned with beads, branches, and symbolic markings.

Together, they create a dialogue of craft, lineage, and imagination, a space where metal, clay, and color converge. The exhibition moves between tradition and invention, embodying stories that span generations. — Alta

Echoes in a suitcase

At SCRAP, the Bayview arts and crafts reuse center founded by Ruth Asawa, a small suitcase turned up among the usual donations — inside, hundreds of photos, magazines, and autographs tracing the vanished history of the Fillmore’s “Harlem of the West.” The collection once belonged to Warren “Duke” Bynum, a doorman and jazz lover whose circle spanned icons like Duke Ellington and Lionel Hampton.

Volunteers traced the suitcase’s path through time, linking it to Bynum’s widow, Jimmye, and to neighbors and students still carrying the Fillmore’s creative spirit. Now, those images and memories are being revived in writing workshops at the Dr. George W. Davis Senior Center, where community elders are turning rediscovered history into living story. — Mission Local

Blight to Gem

In Oakland, designer Sydney Jones transforms shattered car windows into wearable art. Her line, Bips, turns the aftermath of break-ins — those glittering piles of broken glass along the curb — into tiny gems.

Through her Odd Commodity Shop, Jones also upcycles bottles and lab glass into candles and vases, merging sustainability with urban storytelling. She sells her creations at local markets and online, offering beauty from what the city leaves behind. — The Oaklandside

West side buzz

Stonestown Galleria continues to fill up — with very few vacancies remaining, as DSW and Tokyo-based Jins Eyewear opened their doors Friday. H&M will be added to the mix at the end of November. In addition to strong anchor stores like Whole Foods, Trader Joe’s, Target, and Sports Basement, the mall offers a variety of food and boutique options, as well as activity-based destinations to attract young patrons, including Regal Cinema, Activate gaming facility, and Round1 Bowling & Arcade.

SFist paid a lunchtime visit this week and found the shops to be quite bustling. When we heard that Tokyo-based Jins had returned after closing its Union Square location in 2022, we headed on over to obtain our third pair of Jins glasses, which are very stylish and were ready in 30 minutes. (Nose pads are a must for our miniscule nose bridge, we’ve learned.)

We will definitely be back to the mall soon to hit up DSW and try out some Japanese cheesecake from Uncle Tetsu. — SFGate

Mystery line, giving hands

At a pop-up table in Golden Gate Park, a wheel of chance and a tin of jelly beans double as an invitation to care. Creative Mutual Aid, founded by artists Sara Rubenstein and Joe Mitchell, turns everyday encounters into small acts of support — a watercolor for a stranger, a bar of soap for comfort, a few test strips to keep someone safe.

The group’s hotline, dialed through the number “MYSTERY,” connects callers to volunteers ready to fulfill requests both whimsical and vital. At the pop-up, they trade stories, trinkets, and small essentials across picnic blankets — the kind of spontaneous exchange that keeps San Francisco feeling alive. — KQED

Rainbows online

Reading Rainbow is back, this time on YouTube, with Mychal Threets at the helm. The former Fairfield librarian, who went viral on TikTok for his playful, heartfelt book videos, brings a fresh energy to the beloved series.

The reboot promises storytelling, celebrity guests, and the same push to make reading irresistible for kids, and adults alike. — KTVU

Top image: Rose B. Simpson (Santa Clara Pueblo), Maria, 2014. Photograph by Kate Russell. Image courtesy of the artist

The Antioch Public Library was temporarily closed this weekend after reports of on-site drug use and sex, plus the discovery of pools of blood and bullet casings, though the library is expected to reopen Tuesday with beefed-up security.

Today is the federal holiday Presidents’ Day, and so the Antioch Public Library, like most public libraries nationwide, is closed today. But the Antioch Public Library was unusually closed on Saturday and Sunday this past weekend, and a Bay Area News Group reports the closure was over some fairly shocking recent occurrences there.  

“On Dec. 16, staff found a burning mattress in the parking lot,” the News Group reports, describing one of many incidents. In another incident, they say "On Jan. 13, staff found large amounts of blood pooled on the bathroom floor." There are also reports of patrons using drugs on-site, a bullet casing found on the property, and staff having their cars broken into.  

The News Group describes the latest incident as such: “On. Feb. 16, a couple was discovered having sex in the bathroom and asked to leave. Staff later found them in the library walkway having sex with their clothing removed.”

All of that said, the Chronicle is reporting that the Antioch Library will reopen tomorrow, Tuesday, February 20. The facility has apparently obtained an“emergency contract” for an armed private security guard in addition to their regular security guard, and a patrol car will be assigned to the library's parking lot.

“The library will also be working with Contra Costa Public Works to repair and reinforce the security fence and to upgrade the security camera system,” county librarian Alison McKee in a statement to the Chronicle.

You see, the Antioch Public Library is not operated by the City of Antioch. It’s operated by the Contra Costa County Library system. And the sudden, abruptly announced closure Friday night drew the ire of some Antioch officials.

According to KGO, Antioch Mayor Lamar Hernandez-Thorpe fired off a blistering letter to the Contra Costa County Administrator. “According to our city administration, no one in the City of Antioch, including the police chief, was informed of any safety concerns by Contra Costa County regarding the library," the letter said. “We would have been more than willing to work with the county regarding any safety concerns at the library, considering it serves so many Antioch residents.”

Even before the pandemic, libraries have served the risky need of acting as an unintended social safety net, as they provide public bathrooms and internet access to those who cannot otherwise have these things. These struggles obviously continue, in SF, Antioch, and many other cities. But we’ll see, starting Tuesday, if the new security guard and a police cruiser do anything to help the situation at the Antioch Library.

Related: North Bay Librarian Gains Social Media Fame, National Recognition for Spreading 'Library Joy' [SFist]

Image: Contra Costa County Library via Facebook

It is none too unusual for the conservative blogosphere to gin up conniptions over any LGBTQ artistic endeavor or any institution with rolls of public employees. But the latest coordinated takedown attempt hilariously targets the completely innocuous children’s face-painting-and-cookies program known as Draq Queen Story Hour. The Michelle Tea-founded kids' storytime program is held regularly at libraries, schools, and bookstores here in SF, in Los Angeles, and Brooklyn. But Drag Queen Story Hour just got dragged into the culture wars by the widely read and influential National Review, in their piece titled "Tax Dollars Are Paying for Drag Queens to Read Stories to Children," which goes orange-alert over the claim that “people around the country are interested in having their tax dollars spent paying for drag queens to read to their children.”

While that is the future that liberals want, the claim is inaccurate. “The Library's Drag Queen Story Hours are not taxpayer funded,” the San Francisco Public Library's public relations team says in a statement to SFist. “Drag Queen Story Hour is paid for through the programming grants for innovative and engaging community programs at each neighborhood library, supported by Friends of the San Francisco Public Library and not with city tax dollars.”

The National Review’s attack on Drag Queen Story Hour is not isolated. In recent weeks, the program has also been criticized on Breitbart, in the Glenn Beck-founded The Blaze and on smaller wingnut blogs like the Illinois Family Institute and Christian News. Intrigued by the fuss, SFist visited Drag Queen Story Hour this weekend at the SF Public Library’s Eureka Valley Branch, where local queen Panda Dulce (known in the default world as multimedia journalist Kyle Casey Chu) read two children's books to a crowd of more than 200 parents and children.

"Youth are fascinated and enchanted by the makeup, the larger-than-life features, the fantasy," Panda told SFist. "Why not indulge their imaginations, and teach them acceptance in the process?"

"When I taught second grade, I heard kids yell ‘faggot’ all the time in the playground,” she continued. “Even as an adult, it struck me with the same visceral sharpness. Before leaving that position, I told my class that I was gay. Concerned, one student responded, 'Don’t say that about yourself, Mr. Kyle’. This student wasn't aware that gay was an identity, that it was anything more than a name to make you hurt.”

Juliana Delgado Lopera, executive director for Radar Productions who produce the event, sees the program’s popularity as proof that it addresses a genuine need. “The Library feels that this is a necessity that the community is responding to,” Lopera told SFist. “Right now, we’re divesting [money] from education and the safety net for low-income people to go and invest in the military and in a wall.”

Image: Radar Productions

"Having a drag queen in a position of leadership shows [kids] that they can be whoever we want to be,” she continues. “Usually drag queens have been relegated to the bar. We’re taking the drag queens out of the bar and putting them in a position of power where she is leading the youth. Maybe that’s where some of the anxiety comes from."

But despite the grief from right-wing media, “The response has been overwhelmingly positive,“ according to Eureka Branch children’s librarian Bix Warden. "Most publications who've covered it think it’s a wonderful thing. It’s been in the New Yorker, it’s been in the New York Times. It’s a very sweet and innocent program. The drag queens come in and they read a couple of stories, they sing some songs, the kids get their pictures taken with them. There’s face-painting and cookies. It’s a great family day at the library.”

Additional Drag Queen Story Hours will feature Honey Mahogany this Saturday, June 10 at the Main Library, Yves St. Croissant on Saturday, June 17 at the Bernal branch, and Black Benatar on Saturday, June 24 at Oakland’s Dimond Recreation Center. “Draq Queen Story Hour isn't a gay recruitment program,” said Panda Dulce, who then joked, “we are still workshopping on that proposal for 2018.”

Related: What It's Like To Be Gay, Out, Or In Drag At Mission High School

In his 1941 will, local businessman Albert Fuhrman left the city of San Francisco 800 acres of oil land in Kern County. Since then, San Francisco has leased the land to oil companies — previously Shell, now Chevron — providing the Public Library and Recreation and Park Department with royalty payments of 15.5 percent on oil and gas extracted from the site.

In 2016, needless to say, San Francisco presents a highly different environment for the consumption of fossil fuels than it once did, and having recently probed the lease arrangement, Supervisor Avalos tells the Examiner that he's had enough. The paper reports that the politician is introducing “Keep it in the Ground” legislation to the Board of Supervisors that would ban lessees from extracting fossil fuels on public land. The move would eventually cut ties with Chevron in 2020 when that lease expires and might otherwise be renewed.

Per Fuhrman's will, revenue from the land goes in equal parts to "acquisition of additional books on economic and political subjects" and to “the further adornment of our famed and beloved Golden Gate Park, as may be determined by the Park Commissioners." Director of Real Estate John Updike puts the revenue as $749,972 back in 2009 but just $320,605 last year.

“The City getting revenue from fossil fuel extraction when we’re trying to reduce our dependency on fossil fuel doesn’t make a lot of sense,” Avalos reportedly said. “It’s not a significant amount of revenue... We have to keep fossil fuel in the ground. We cannot burn it. If we were to burn it all we will destroy the planet.”

When the lease expires, what will San Francisco do with its land? Why not a solar farm, Updike suggests? That had been unfeasible in one study, but will be reexamined closer to 2020.

Related: City Hall Gets Lazy With Board Of Supes Class Photo, Photoshops Peskin In

An altercation over a bag ended in grisly fashion Monday, after a man was stabbed in the face in the restroom of the San Francisco Public Library's Main branch.

According to San Francisco Police Department spokesperson Officer Albie Esparza, the victim, described only as a 27-year-old man with no known address, was inside one of the library's restroom stalls at 4:40 p.m.. That's when he says that 38-year-old Louis Kessler burst into the stall, accused the victim of stealing his bag, and allegedly stabbed him in the face and head with a kitchen knife.

The Ex reports that the men had been arguing about the contested bag outside the library, which is located in the Civic Center area at 100 Larkin Street, earlier that day.

When the restroom attack began, Christian Klotz, one of the library's health and safety associates, "immediately jumped into it," library spokesperson Michelle Jeffers told the Ex.

"They heard a ruckus and he came running in."

Kessler was arrested by the SFPD officer stationed at the library, and was booked into jail on suspicion of attempted murder and false imprisonment, Esparza says.

The victim was transported to the hospital to be treated for his injuries, none of which are life-threatening, Esparza says.

Though the SFPL's main branch is known for occasional bizarre incidents from some of its more troubled clients, Jeffers tells the Ex that attacks like this one are rare.

“We don’t usually have assaults in the bathroom,” Jeffers says.

“We have sometimes behavior that violates our code of conduct but we don’t usually have any sorts of violent incidents."

Previously: Here's What You (Still) Can't Do In The Library: The SFPL Revises Their 'Code Of Conduct'

When the Chronicle reported that, following a "frosty note" sent to San Francisco Public Library officials by Mayor Ed Lee, the library had come up with "a laundry list of offenses and penalties" for errant library patrons, we were intrigued! How was it possible that, as the Chron reported, the Mayor had to ask the library to create "rules that would moderate the worst problems such as fights with guards, shouting matches, and an unending plumbing clean-ups and repairs in restrooms"? How is it that the library was without these rules before now?

As it turns out, they weren't, according to SFPL spokesperson Michelle Jeffers. She tells SFist that "almost all the rules [Chron staffer Marshall Kilduff] cites in his article are not new. We’ve had these policies on the books for almost a decade now."

In a memo sent to the San Francisco Public Library Commission on September 15 by City Librarian Luis Herrera, the Commission was asked to consider revisions to the Library Patron's Code Of Conduct, which, Hererra says, was originally adopted in 1983 and had been revised multiple times since then. You can read the entire memo here.

According to Jeffers, the revisions to the code of conduct are "some of the nuances — for example, now a patron can request a second level appeals hearing to a third party arbitrator if they feel they have lost their library privileges unfairly." Jeffers also says that they "reorganized penalties for the most serious offenses, while encouraging more warnings prior to suspension for the minor behavioral violations like sleeping in the library."

In fact, the only new rule, Jeffers says, is this one prohibiting the "unauthorized presence in staff-designated areas and/or entering or remaining inside library facilities before or after posted hours of operation."

Other rules that were already part of the Code of Conduct were made more specific, Jeffers says. For example, a rule that only required shoes has been expanded to note that patrons must also wear "clothing covering the upper and lower body."

A rule prohibiting “photographing or staring at” SFPL staff and patrons was also removed from the Code of Conduct, as harassing behavior was instead included in other rules.

In any case, here's the library's revised Code of Conduct, listing what's prohibited and the penalty for those infractions. So, don't do this stuff.

Level One: Severe Infractions (First offense = 1 year suspension, Second = 2 year suspension, Third = 3 year suspension)

• Engaging in physical altercations including assaults and fighting
• Displaying firearms or other deadly weapons on SFPL property in a rude, angry, or threatening manner. Exemptions from this prohibition are recognized for Law Enforcement Officers and individuals licensed to carry handguns in accordance with state law.
• Engaging in acts of sexual misconduct, including indecent exposure, sexual contact and sexual intercourse and/or exhibiting lewd and lascivious acts.

Level Two: Moderate Violations (First offense = 3 month suspension, Second = 6 month suspension, Third = 1 year)

• Possession and/or use of illegal drugs.
• Theft of or vandalism to SFPL property, or the personal property of library patrons or staff.
• Using obscene or threatening language or words otherwise likely to provoke an immediate violent reaction.
• Unreasonable use of restrooms, including smoking, soliciting, clogging plumbing or looking into an area designed to provide privacy to a person using the area.
• Depositing bodily fluids on SFPL property, including library collections, equipment, and furnishings.
• Unauthorized presence in staff-designated areas and/or entering or remaining inside library facilities before or after posted hours of operation.

Level Three Minor Violations (penalties vary)

• Exhibiting signs of being under the influence of alcohol or illegal drugs. (1 day suspension for first two offenses, 1 week for third.)
• Leaving a child under 8 years of age unattended by a responsible person. Minor children visiting the San Francisco Public Library are the responsibility of their parents or guardians. The Library does not serve in loco parentis. The Library cannot accept responsibility for the safety and supervision of minor children. (No penalty listed, SFPL instead says to "Notify Security; follow procedures for contacting SFPD")
• Verbal communication or non-verbal attention that is willful, malicious, or repeated harassment. (First offense gets you a "Warning: Patron may correct or leave," second is a one day suspension, third is one week)
• Smoking tobacco products or using e-cigarettes inside library facilities or within 20’ of any entryway. (First offense gets you a "Warning: Patron may correct or leave," second is a one day suspension, third is one week)
• Fraudulent use of another patron’s library card and/or account number for any purpose, including to reserve computers. (First offense gets you a "Warning: Patron may correct or leave," second is a one day suspension, third is one week)
• Making any loud or unreasonable noise or other disturbance, including disruptive use of personal communications or entertainment devices. (First offense gets you a "Warning: Patron may correct or leave," second is a one day suspension, third is one week)
• People, animals or property must not block aisles, doorways, stairways, elevators or ramps. Large objects such as carts, bicycles and luggage may not be brought into library facilities. Library patrons must keep personal belongings with them at all times. (First offense gets you a "Warning: Patron may correct or leave," second is a one day suspension, third is one week)
• Roller skates, scooters, skateboards, bicycles, or other similar devices must not be used on Library property. (First offense gets you a "Warning: Patron may correct or leave," second is a one day suspension, third is one week)
• Library entrance areas shall be used exclusively for entering and exiting the library and as temporary waiting areas for library patrons. (First offense gets you a "Warning: Patron may correct or leave," second is a one day suspension, third is one week)
• Blocking library entrance areas or interfering with the free flow of pedestrian traffic in such areas. (First offense gets you a "Warning: Patron may correct or leave," second is a one day suspension, third is one week)
• Eating food and consuming beverages from an open container is prohibited, except in designated areas. Alcoholic beverages are prohibited. (First offense gets you a "Warning: Patron may correct or leave," second is a one day suspension, third is one week)
• Soliciting money, donations or signatures. (First offense gets you a "Warning: Patron may correct or leave," second is a one day suspension, third is one week)
• Media or commercial photography or filming, without prior permission from Library Administration. (First offense gets you a "Warning: Patron may correct or leave," second is a one day suspension, third is one week)
• Emitting strong, pervasive odors, including odors caused by perfume or cologne that unreasonably interfere with library user or staff comfort, safety, use, or peaceful enjoyment of the library. (First offense gets you a "Warning: Patron may correct or leave," second is a one day suspension, third is one week)
• Clothing covering the upper and lower body is required in addition to shoes or other footwear. (First offense gets you a "Warning: Patron may correct or leave," second is a one day suspension, third is one week)
• Refusing to leave building and/or library computer during emergency evacuation. (First offense gets you a "Warning: Patron may correct or leave," second is a one day suspension, third is one week)
• Using SFPL facilities for other than their intended purpose, including: loitering, sleeping, bathing (except washing hands), shampooing, shaving, personal grooming, changing clothes, washing clothes or utensils. (First offense gets you a "Warning: Patron may correct or leave," second is a one day suspension, third is one week)
• Manipulation of/interfering with SFPL computers, Internet reservation and/or print management systems. (First offense gets you a "Warning: Patron may correct or leave," second is a one day suspension, third is one week)
• Adults using children’s area without a child or need for children’s collections. (First offense gets you a warning, second is a one day suspension, third is one week)
• Selling merchandise without prior permission from the library. (First offense gets you a "Warning: Patron may correct or leave," second is a one day suspension, third is one week)
• Sleeping or lying on the floor or furniture. (First offense gets you a "Warning: Patron may correct or leave," regardless of number of offenses)
• Failure to check out library materials before exiting the library. (First offense gets you a "Warning: Patron may correct or leave," regardless of number of offenses)
• Animals, other than disability service animals, are not permitted inside library facilities. ("Leave building; may return without pet.")

Sporting a Ravens' jersey and siting in a rocking chair at the San Francisco Public Library, city librarian Luis Herrera makes good on a bet he made with Pratt Library CEO Carla Hayden to read Edgar Allen Poe's The Raven if the Niners lost the Super Bowl. And they did. And how. And so Herrera made the above video as part of the bet.

Excellent job, all around!

In the same manner that the summer fashion seasons mocks our fog-beleaguered city with its inappropriate trappings (short-shorts, really?), so it follows that the beach read is the bane of the literate San Franciscan. We're the first to admit that it's not everyone that reads Solzhenitsyn during a pedicure, but sometimes you want for something a little more substantive, especially if you don't have an e-reader to hide your spicy preferences.

We've asked a number of Bay Area smartypants about their picks, yielding a rich and varied assortment of erudition.

Thomas Christensen, author of 1616: The World in Motion: "Currently I'm interested in the reissue by City Lights of Ring of Bones by Lew Welch. Welch, charismatic, enigmatic, and troubled, appeared as a character in Jack Kerouac's novel Big Sur (Gary and Allen appeared in his Dharma Bums). In his day job he worked as an advertising copywriter — Aram Saroyan claimed he coined the phrase "Raid kills bugs dead." In 1971 he walked out of Gary's house, Kitkitdizze, and disappeared into the foothills of the Sierras, a presumed suicide. His body has never been found, and a sort of D.B. Cooper mythology has grown up around his disappearance.'

Alissa de Vogel, SFist cycling correspondent, advises we pick up the sometime-San Franciscan John Waters' Crackpot: The Obsessions of John Waters. Given that we've taken to riding the bus more often, we keep expecting to run into the artist and bon vivant, but his absence is easily explained.

Brock Keeling , SFist's editor-in-chief, gives us the heaven and hell choice of Gilead or Life With My Sister Madonna. Why choose when you can read both?

Andrew M. Dalton, Associate Editor, SFist: "I read Model Home, which is actually the One City One Book thing this year, but no one will talk about it with me :((((" Dear City, won't you start a book club with our Mr. Dalton?

Greg Hernandez, producer & maker of great mixtapes, suggests Shades of Grey by Jasper Fforde. Confuse and confound your friends when you tell them what you're reading, meanwhile breaking the hegemony of that other book with Grey in the title. This one's about a world where color perception dictates your place in the social order, as opposed to being a book where your place in the social order is boringly determined by sex.

Oaklander Idit Agam's choice is the newly published collection, Love, Inshallah. Romance, dating, sex, Muslim women? Let's break some stereotypes, shall we?

And it wouldn't do at all if we didn't go straight to the source and ask the professionals. Librarians Anna and Jennifer convinced this writer to pick up Vanessa Diffenbaugh's The Language of Flowers. Topping the reading list for Bay Area teen librarians, the novel tells the story of a young woman caught in the San Francisco foster system and her struggle to make a life out of nothing. The teen librarians' Bay-centric reading list is a gift to those of us who never got over our love for Judy Blume and her kind.

Got a recommendation? Comment away. Maybe this is the year we beat Pittsburgh in the ranking for most literate city.

The San Francisco Public Library's Presidio branch received a pleasant surprise in the mail today when a patron returned a book that was due back in November of 1974, along with its original due date slip. The book in question is a first edition copy of American Cooking: Creole and Acadian by Peter Feibleman, which boasts a delightful cover. Looks like we'll have to take up Creole cooking now by the looks of it.

Where's Mr. Bookman when you need him?

Update: Bay City News (via SF Appeal) has more information on the returned book, including some great quotes from Presidio branch manager Megan Anderson, who SFist can attest is the most awesome librarian around. Anderson said that the library has another copy of the cookbook in its collection, so they're not going to pursue any sort of fine:

"No fine, no harm, no foul," she said. "At this point there wouldn't be any fine for a book that was probably borrowed by a parent or grandparent."

Anderson did find some pleasure, however, in speculating on which recipes the borrower might have cooked.

"It looks really cool. 'Voodoo Soup' is one of the recipes here," she noted, flipping through the pages. "Here's a stain on gumbo--I bet they made gumbo."

[SFPL on Facebook]