San Francisco’s Mission Branch library to reopen Nov. 14 following $40 million renovation  

The San Francisco Public Library’s Mission Branch is reopening with a free party next week following a $40 million, multi-year renovation project boasting cutting edge design, upgraded technology and restored architectural elements.  

It will be a big day for Laura Tarango, manager of children’s services at the branch in the historic building located at 3359 24^th St. near the corner of Bartlett Street.  

“It’s going to be a full day of programming. I’m really excited. I’m probably one of the staff members who has worked here the longest, so it’s really an honor to be here. It’s just exciting,” says Tarango, describing the Nov. 14 community celebration. 

Slated for 12:30 to 5 p.m., the afternoon will include guest speakers, a ribbon‑cutting, a performance by Afro-Latinx percussion and dance group Loco Bloco, a blessing by ceremonial dance group Danza Azteca Xitlalli‑Xolotl, Lucha Libro literacy-meets-wrestling entertainment, crafts for children, souvenir screen-printing with artist Calixto Robles, zine making for teens, music by the family band René y Familia as well as refreshments and giveaways.  

Andrew Sohn, the renovation’s project manager and a San Francisco Department of Public Works architect, will share details about the process and lead a tour of the building.  

Major components of the project, which got underway in August 2023, include moving the main entrance back to its original 24th Street location, bringing back a grand central staircase, improved facilities for children and teens, increased restroom capacity, restoring the upper-level reading room, updated heating and ventilation, and the addition of a 2,100 square-foot community meeting space.  

Artist Juana Alicia Araiza’s colorful stained-glass window “Nopal de la Misión,” of a huge prickly pear cactus, graces the refurbished main reading room.  

Tarango is particularly thrilled about the community room, which will hold about 100 people, and allow the library to host public events without disturbing individual patrons working independently. With the new space, library staff will no longer have to move furniture around to accommodate community gatherings.    

The library, the first neighborhood branch of the San Francisco library system, is housed in a 1915 Italian Renaissance style building designed by G. Albert Lansburg and one of numerous libraries funded by philanthropist Andrew Carnegie.  

It has been closed since the COVID shutdown in March 2020. In 2022, operations were moved into temporary site at 1234 Valencia St., which Tarango says wasn’t nearly large enough to contain the branch’s significant collection of books. The move prompted increased offsite programming.  

Tarango, noting that the Mission Branch boasts significant resources for Latino readers and one of the biggest Spanish language collections, is pleased to welcome back library patrons.  

“We’re really looking forward to having our Spanish speakers return,” she says.   

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San Francisco Public Library’s Mission Branch grand reopening is at 12:30 p.m. Nov. 14 at 3359 24th St., San Francisco; visit sfpl.org.