You may have noticed from our "Celebrating 50 Years Spotlight" series of blog posts that the San Francisco History Center and Book Arts & Special Collections are turning 50 this year. Just like early Gen-Xers, really.
Our blog is only 5. Put differently, our oldest social media presence is in kindergarten (albeit a precocious kindergarten), while our collections and services have been growing for half a century. We have type specimens. Hand-drawn calligraphy. Coroner's records. Funny books in 35 languages. Mug books. Maps. Card files. Photographs. Posters. Diaries and letters. Zines. One wonders how many books, articles, documentaries, exhibits, dissertations, high school term papers, novels, urban planning reports, posts, plaints, art projects, tweets, and just plain gossip and speculation have come from people all over the world perusing our "special collections." What's special about them is that anyone can come in and use them, regardless of their rarity or uniqueness.
To celebrate our youth and our age (in archives and special collections, it's all about historical perspective, after all), we'll be hosting two special guests on Tuesday October 21 at 6:00 p.m. Join us in the Koret Auditorium here at the Main Library, where scholar and former City and State Librarian Kevin Starr will speak about the role of special collections in public libraries, particularly here at the San Francisco Public Library. Where have we been, and what's in store for us? We'll also honor our former City Archivist Gladys Hansen with a screening of a new short documentary, Counting
the Dead: One former city librarian's 50 year-long quest to account for
the names of those who died in the 1906 San Francisco Earthquake and Fire by Catharine Axley.
After the talk, there will be an informal walk-through of Celebrating 50 Years: 1964-2014: An Exhibition of Works from the Marjorie G. and Carl W. Stern Book Arts & Special Collections Center and the Daniel E. Koshland San Francisco History Center in the Skylight Gallery-South, on the sixth floor. All are warmly invited to attend as we celebrate the 50th anniversary of this remarkable public resource.
We hope to see you there!
Our blog is only 5. Put differently, our oldest social media presence is in kindergarten (albeit a precocious kindergarten), while our collections and services have been growing for half a century. We have type specimens. Hand-drawn calligraphy. Coroner's records. Funny books in 35 languages. Mug books. Maps. Card files. Photographs. Posters. Diaries and letters. Zines. One wonders how many books, articles, documentaries, exhibits, dissertations, high school term papers, novels, urban planning reports, posts, plaints, art projects, tweets, and just plain gossip and speculation have come from people all over the world perusing our "special collections." What's special about them is that anyone can come in and use them, regardless of their rarity or uniqueness.
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| Kevin Starr, as City Librarian in the 1970s |
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| Gladys Hansen, as City Archivist, undated |
After the talk, there will be an informal walk-through of Celebrating 50 Years: 1964-2014: An Exhibition of Works from the Marjorie G. and Carl W. Stern Book Arts & Special Collections Center and the Daniel E. Koshland San Francisco History Center in the Skylight Gallery-South, on the sixth floor. All are warmly invited to attend as we celebrate the 50th anniversary of this remarkable public resource.
We hope to see you there!
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