A couple weeks ago I took a well-deserved week off and went on my first real trip by myself — kind of a big deal for me, especially since I’d never been on a plane without at least a friend or coworker with me. Anyway, in addition to checking out the Museum of Modern Art, Yerba Buena, and the Squat and Gobble, my friend Lauren (who recently moved to the area) needed to apply for a library card — so it was naturally the perfect opportunity for yet another library road trip.

We ended up sort of visiting three different branches of the San Francisco Public Library while I was there: the Ortega branch (which was closed when we were there), the Richmond branch (which is currently under renovation), and the Sunset branch (which was actually open, since we checked the hours of operation before we left).

All in all, I was very impressed with the SFPL. I especially admire their efforts to be culturally and linguistically aware, incorporating multilingual signage (English, Mandarin, and Russian at the Sunset branch) and international collections with literature and resources in other languages. Even their self-checkouts allowed customers to view a how-to video in various languages. Also, from my personal interactions with one librarian and from observing Lauren as she applied for her library card, the staff seemed genuinely helpful and approachable.

One of the coolest things I saw was an awesome initiative in which SFPL partnered with the San Francisco Unified School District to host a library card art contest. Students were asked to redesign SFPL’s library card, and winners were selected from preschool, elementary school, middle school, and high school. What’s even cooler is that when SFPL patrons sign up for a library card, they can actually choose which design they want! It’s creative, it’s participatory, it’s collaborative, it’s innovative — needless to say, I approve.

And to whomever added The Complete Annotated Grateful Dead Lyrics to the “Staff Picks” display — kudos and huzzah.

If you’re interested, you can check out the rest of the pictures (here are some of my favorites) from my trip to the city by the bay. I never realized what a shutterbug I was until I ended up taking over 270 pictures while I was there.

Special thanks to local writer Lauren Peck for giving me a place to crash and for showing me around!