A Free Library in This City: The Illustrated History of the San Francisco Public Library - Hardcover

Wiley, Peter Booth

Hardcover

ISBN 10: 187513705X ISBN 13: 9781875137053

Publisher: Weldon Owen, 1996

Synopsis

"Whereas, We, the citizens of San Francisco ... do most heartily approve of the project about to be inaugurated for the establishment of A Free Library in this City, and do pledge to the same our hearty and united support."
With these words, an idea was born in San Francisco, an idea that eventually - well over a century later - achieved its apotheosis in the building of the New Main Public Library. This state-of-the-art cultural institution now stands as a tribute to all those who had the vision to conceive the idea and the energy to nourish this - through eras of triumph and tragedy.
With masterful insight, Peter Booth Wiley narrates the fascinating story of this idea, tracing the concept of the library back to the origins of writing and human history itself, through the ages of antiquity to the first American libraries and beyond ... to San Francisco.
Embroidered into the thread of the main narrative are 25 specially commissioned essays from the Bay Area's leading literary figures, accompanied by original artwork by noted local illustrators.

About this title

From Library Journal:

This lavishly illustrated book, handsome enough for the coffee table, was published for the dedication of San Francisco's New Main Library in April 1996. In it Wiley, a prominent local bookman, offers a gracefully readable history of the Bay Area's long struggle to provide library services, set within the context of its contentious and sometimes corrupt city government. The first 87 pages offer a general history of libraries, from ancient cultures up through the origins of American public libraries. From then on the book's focus is the politicking, financing, fundraising, and building of San Francisco's libraries. Intended for the general reader rather than for library historians; however, the later chapters serve as an instructive history of a major building campaign. Recommended. [See also Wiley's "An Act of Political Will: SF's Quest for a New Central Library," LJ April 15, p. 36-37.?Ed.]?Elizabeth Brice, Miami Univ. Lib., Oxford, Ohi.
-?Elizabeth Brice, Miami Univ. Lib., Oxford, Ohio
Copyright 1996 Reed Business Information, Inc.

About this edition

• Publisher: Weldon Owen
• Publication date: 1996
• ISBN 10: 187513705X
• ISBN 13: 9781875137053
• Binding: Hardcover
• Edition number: 1
• Number of pages: 239