This week: PBS Kids’ Mychal Threets at South SF library, the Counter-Culture Museum, free books for kids, San Mateo desserts, and Alysa Liu at Paris Fashion Week. Plus, honoring the female Muni drivers through history and cutting hair and giving space.
A chair and a listening ear
A new community barbershop called “The Shop” has opened inside GLIDE’s Tenderloin building, offering free haircuts alongside a place to sit, talk, and connect with help. The space draws on the long tradition of Black barbershops as neighborhood gathering spots, pairing domino games and conversation with counseling, overdose prevention, and links to treatment and housing support through the San Francisco Department of Public Health.
At the ribbon cutting, actor and longtime Glide supporter Danny Glover took the ceremonial first haircut as the pilot program got underway. The pilot, funded through the city’s opioid settlement funds, comes as San Francisco continues to lose dozens of residents each month to accidental overdoses, many in the Tenderloin. — Bay City News
Library joy, spoken aloud
Bay Area librarian and literacy advocate Mychal Threets will lead a mindfulness talk and community gathering on March 28 centered on reading, wellbeing, and the quiet magic of libraries. The PBS Kids resident librarian plans to share parts of his own mental health journey before hosting a story time and book signing for his new title, I’m So Happy You’re Here: A Celebration of Library Joy.
Threets, who was recently named one of Time’s Next Generation Leaders, has built a following by championing libraries as welcoming spaces for curiosity and calm. The all-ages program invites families and neighbors to gather for conversation, stories, and a chance to meet him in person at the event. — Eventbrite
A warehouse of books
At a Bayview warehouse run by The Children’s Book Project, visiting students browse rows of donated books and choose five to take home free of charge. The nonprofit hosts field trips for schools serving low-income communities, giving kids time to explore the shelves after a story time with a visiting author.
On a recent visit, fourth graders from Moscone Elementary School listened to Bay Area writer Gennifer Choldenko read from her new book Dogtown. Founded in 1992, the project has distributed more than 3.4 million free books to children in San Francisco and 37 counties across California. — Mission Local
Streetcars and wartime grit
During World War II, with many men overseas and transit demand surging, San Francisco Municipal Railway turned to women to keep the streetcars running. New operators like Dolores Piluso and Ellen Peterson stepped into the roles of motormen and conductors, guiding packed cars through the city at a moment when the system was under intense strain.
Their work helped maintain daily life in San Francisco while quietly pushing against the limits of who was expected to run public transit. The agency is highlighting their contributions this month during Women’s History Month and ahead of Transit Employee Appreciation Day. — SFMTA
From ice to runway
Fresh off her historic Olympic season, figure skater Alysa Liu turned up at Paris Fashion Week, taking a seat at the Louis Vuitton Fall 2026 show.
The 20-year-old shared snapshots from the night on Instagram, praising designer Nicolas Ghesquière and calling the experience unforgettable. — Parade
Crunch and memory
Inside her longtime San Mateo home, former mayor Claire Mack still answers every phone call herself, taking orders for the layered desserts she bakes under Claire’s Crunch Cake. Customers choose from flavors like mocha, lemon, chocolate, strawberry, whiskey, or banana, each topped with the brittle-like “crunch” she coats by hand.
Mack started the business decades ago after trying to recreate a favorite treat from the now-closed Blum’s bakery. Orders are picked up from the same house she bought with her husband 70 years ago — a spot now marked nearby by a street sign reading “Mack Family Way.” — KRON4
Echoes of Haight-Ashbury
At the corner of Haight-Ashbury, the Counterculture Museum traces the movements that reshaped San Francisco in the 1960s. Visitors move past looping footage of the Human Be-In and into rooms filled with music, protest ephemera, and artifacts tied to civil rights, women’s liberation, and early gay rights activism.
The museum was founded by Estelle Cimino and Jerry Cimino, who also launched the Beat Museum in North Beach. The space opened in June 2025, adding a new stop for visitors tracing the city’s counterculture past. — Time
City rhythms
DJ Buck was a fixture of San Francisco’s dance and electronic music scene, spinning at clubs and events throughout the ’90s and beyond. His mixes and records drew from the city itself, layering local sounds into house and rave tracks.
Friends and fellow DJs recall his influence on the music community and the energy he brought to the scene. — 48 Hills
Image: Glide Memorial/Facebook
Previously: Field Notes: Rare SF Tree Map, Dad Punk, and the Fight for Reproductive Rights in 1960s SF
