Library director outlines expansion: all 28 branches to open seven days a week

City Librarian Luis Herrera presented the San Francisco Public Library's budget update, reporting steady visitation and a ramp-up in services and capital work.

Herrera said the system welcomed over 6,000,000 visitors and circulated more than 10,700,000 items last year. Program attendance has grown to more than half a million visitors systemwide, and the new teen digital media center recorded about 83,000 youth visits. Herrera credited partnership programs (including work with the National Park Service and local nonprofits) for growth in summer learning and digital-inclusion efforts.

On service hours, Herrera announced that, beginning June 17, all 28 neighborhood libraries will offer seven-day service, adding roughly 1,400 weekly system hours and increasing hours at 15 branches. He said about 97% of the operating budget comes from the Library Preservation Fund and projected a modest increase in FTEs (annualized FTE about 685 rising to 698 this year) and planned increases to materials budgets including e-collections.

Herrera discussed capital priorities and three renovation projects (Mission, Chinatown and Ocean View branches) entering feasibility and community engagement phases, with earlier spring 2016 estimates near $30,000,000 to be refined. He also noted a planned increase to branch grants and said the library plans an equitable per-branch allocation of roughly $1,000 for programming supported by Friends of the Library contributions.

Supervisors praised the library's inclusive programming and cited a reported 50% drop in incidents over three years at the main library as evidence of proactive solutions; the committee moved to file the hearing.

Next steps: the committee filed the hearing and the library will proceed with feasibility studies and capital planning for the named branch projects.