Open hours were cut, book budgets were decimated, and branches were on an annual deathwatch. And branch libraries were forever protected against threats of closure. Take two lessons from this history. First, San Francisco is a library town. San Franciscans have supported the Library with their votes, their taxes, and their checkbooks every time we ve turned to them for help.
Recent surveys indicate that their support remains strong.
Despite bad press, despite the rise of the Internet and prognostications that it will diminish the need for bricks and mortar branches, the public still cherishes the Library. Our reservoir of support is wide and deep. We fail as an organization, if and only if, we fail to think grandly and act boldly. Our goal is nothing less than to give San Francisco the finest public library system in the country. The highest aim and hope of art is a high, strong peace.