A Woman of Historic Firsts: Tye Leung Schulze

Wednesday, January 23, 2013 at 7:00 p.m.

Lily Tung Crystal portrays Tye Leung Schulze, a San Francisco woman who made history.  She was the first Chinese-American woman to vote in the U.S. and the first Chinese-American to work a federal civil service job when she became a translator at the Angel Island immigration station.  Tye also worked courageously with activist Donaldina Cameron to rescue enslaved Chinese girls in Chinatown.  This program, which will cover Tye’s dramatic life from childhood into her adult years, observes National Slavery and Human Trafficking Prevention Month.  The piece is written by Christina Ying, directed by Desdemona Chiang, and produced in conjunction with Ferocious Lotus Theatre Company. Following the performance, Tye's grandson, Ted Schulze, will lead a discussion about her remarkable story. 

Blue Suede Jews: Jews in the Golden Age of Rock'n'Roll

Wednesday, December 12, 2012 at 6:30 p.m. (please note that this Salon begins half an hour earlier than usual)

San Francisco historian Richie Unterberger, the author of numerous rock history books, presents this program that includes clips of major Jewish rock performers from the 1960s and 1970s.  Featured are Lou Reed, Bob Dylan, Simon & Garfunkel, Carole King, Marc Bolan, Leonard Cohen, Neil Diamond, Janis Ian, Lesley Gore, Peter Green of the original Fleetwood Mac, Manfred Mann, Carly Simon, and quite a few other surprises.

Van Gogh, Pissarro and the 99%

Wednesday, November 14, 2012 at 7:00 p.m.

In this lecture, San Francisco artist Marlene Aron will examine the work of Vincent Van Gogh and Camille Pissarro. Over one hundred slides will be shown, from their earliest drawings and lithographs, to their most beautiful and powerful paintings. She will demonstrate how these two artists, whose shared compassion for the laborer, the peasant, and those who struggled to get by in their daily lives, would be the perfect spokespersons for today’s 99% political movement.

How to Write Successful College Admission Essays

Merced Branch Library, Wednesday, November 7, 2012 at 6:00 p.m.

THE SATURDAY, NOVEMBER 10TH SESSION AT THE ORTEGA BRANCH HAS BEEN CANCELLED

As a teacher of writing, Thomas Drain has helped numerous students compose and submit successful personal statements as part of their college entrance applications.   A writer, editor, and translator with special interests in art and architecture, Drain taught Latin and Greek, Drama and English at Lowell High School in San Francisco for nearly twenty years. 

Merced October Arts & Culture Salon

Public Hearing on Merced Branch Library Open Hours

Holiday Cards and Books - Practical Skills for Adults Workshop

Saturday, October 20, 2012 at 1:00 p.m.

Holidays are a great time to learn new techniques for making simple cards and decorative books to give to friends and family. Get ready to have fun as we make several things for you to take home and inspire you for other holiday gifts!

C.J. Grossman has taught thousands of adults and children how to make books and cards. She has an MFA from California College of the Arts and shows her work nationally.

Space is limited. Please register with a librarian.

Argentine Tango: Dance and Music

Wednesday, September 12 at 7:00 p.m. - Merced Branch Arts & Culture Salon

Learn about this sultry Argentinean dance! Jurek Mazur, of the Academia de Tango Argentino, will talk about the history and development of Argentine tango dance and music. He has taught tango for eleven years, using a unique method that he developed. Dancers from the Academia will perform, demonstrating the beauty of a dance form that is rooted in the urban folklore of Buenos Aires and Montevideo. This program will take place in the library's courtyard (weather permitting).

Painting by Mary Hopf

Painting by Mary Hopf

 

Tai Chi for Health

Saturday, August 11, 2012 at 11:00 a.m.

Liping Zhu L.Ac., a disciple of Daoist Master Yu Anren, Qigong instructor at the American College of Traditional Chinese Medicine and founder of Qi Dragon Healing Center, will teach basic elements of the Swimming Dragon Tai Chi. It is a beautiful and gentle form for circulating and cultivating Qi and for enhancing balance, flexibility, and coordination. Please wear loose and comfortable clothing and exercise shoes. All levels are welcome. Space is limited. Please call the branch or register with a librarian.



PLEASE REGISTER FOR THIS CLASS.

This is a Practical Skills for Adults Workshop.

Our Better Nature: Environment and the Making of San Francisco

Wednesday, August 8, 2012 at 7:00 p.m.

Few cities are so dramatically identified with their environment as San Francisco--the landscape of hills, the expansive bay, the engulfing fog, and even the deadly fault line shifting below. Yet most residents think of the city itself as separate from the natural environment on which it depends. In Our Better Nature: Environment and the Making of San Francisco, Philip J. Dreyfus recounts the history of San Francisco from Indian village to world-class metropolis, focusing on the interactions between the city and the land and on the generations of people who have transformed them both. Dreyfus examines the ways that San Franciscans remade the landscape to fit their needs, and how their actions reflected and affected their ideas about nature, from the destruction of wetlands and forests to the creation of Golden Gate and Yosemite parks, the Sierra Club, and later, the birth of the modern environmental movement.

This is a Merced Branch Library Arts & Culture Salon.

Bullitt - San Francisco Public Library Film Festival

Ingleside Terraces: San Francisco Racetrack to Residence Park

Wednesday, July 18 at 7:00 p.m.

San Francisco historian Woody LaBounty will tell stories of the Ingleside Racetrack, show some of the neighborhood’s stunning architecture and decorative elements (including a Giant Sundial), and explain how Ingleside Terraces has vividly reflected the nation’s anxieties, quest for beauty, shifting ideals, and sense of home over the past one hundred years.

 
 
 
 

 
Mr. LaBounty will also present this program at the Ocean View Branch Library on Saturday, July 21st at 2:30 p.m.  The address and phone number of the Ocean View Branch are: 345 Randolph (at Ramsell), (415) 355-5615.

Cartooning Basics with Sirron Norris

Wednesday, July 18 at 2:00 p.m.

Learn to design characters and create expressions in a one-hour workshop.  Ages 7 to 15.

Comedy Magic with Robert Strong

Tuesday, July 10 at 4:00 p.m.

Amaze your friends and astound your enemies when you learn pro magic tricks from San Francisco's funniest magician.

On Location: The Golden Gate Bridge on the Silver Screen

Wednesday, June 13, 2012 at 7:00 p.m.

The Golden Gate Bridge has starred in more movies than any other American architectural icon. From Dark Passage (1947) to The Rise of the Planet of the Apes (2011) the iconic span appears in wide range of films including Superman, Star Trek, Time After Time, It Came from Beneath the Sea, Love Bug, A View to a Kill, Monsters vs. Aliens, Interview with a Vampire, X-Men. In honor of its 75th anniversary, Jim Van Buskirk, author of Celluloid San Francisco, (and former SFPL librarian) offers a clip-filled program of hilariously horrifying depictions of San Francisco’s beloved bridge.

Cinema Merced/Family Movie Night

Wednesday, May 30, 2012 at 6:00 p.m.

We’ll be showing Alfred Hitchcock’s classic “North by Northwest” staring Cary Grant, Eva Marie Saint, and James Mason.

A hapless New York advertising executive is mistaken for a government agent by a group of foreign spies, and is pursued across the country while he looks for a way to survive.

The movie will keep you hanging by your fingernails! (Warning: don’t get a manicure!)

Timelines of History

Wednesday, May 23, 2012 at 7:00 p.m.

The Timelines of History web site (www.timelines.ws), a map to the past, was first posted to the Internet in 1998. Site master Algis Ratnikas will present the story behind his endeavor to outline world events dating back to the beginning of time. The presentation will also include a visual walk and talk across the web site and its many special features. The Merced Branch Library’s new large screen media technology will be used to explore this site in real time and provide a taste of how online access can be used for public presentations. You are encouraged to peruse the site in advance and bring your questions and observations for the extended question-and-answer session following the presentation.

Merced Branch Library Open House

Wednesday, May 16, 2012 at 6:00 p.m.

Come celebrate the 1st anniversary of the Merced Branch renovation. Fun for families and children of all ages!

Entertainment and light refreshments will be provided.

Happy Anniversary Merced!

Enjoy performances by Roving Clown Luz Gaxiola and Juggler Extraordinaire Dana Smith. Try your luck on a scavenger hunt! Speak with representatives from the San Francisco Department of Elections. Register to vote and learn the details of the new open primary system that will be in place for the June 5th Primary Election.

The Branch was renovated as part of the Branch Library Improvement Program, a voter initiative passed in November 2000. We’re building better libraries for stronger communities.


Roving Clown Luz Gaxiola: 6:00 to 7:00 p.m.



Light Refreshments served from 6:15-7:00 p.m.

Juggler Extraordinaire Dana Smith: 7:00 p.m.

S.F. Dept. of Elections representatives: 6:00-8:30 p.m.

Kamishibai: Japanese Storytelling

Saturday, May 5, 2012, 2:00 p.m.

Hazuki Kataoka of Story Card Theater performs classic Japanese folktales, such as Momotaro (The Peach Boy), in the visual storytelling format called kamishibai. 

Best for children ages 4 and older, and their caregivers.

Everyone is welcome.

Yoga in a Chair

Saturday, April 28, 2012 from 11:00 a.m. to 12 noon

Instructor Mark Cormier kicks off the new Practical Skills for Adults series at the Merced Branch Library with "Yoga in a Chair."

Come join us for a morning class of yoga!  The class will consist of a combination of chair and standing poses, including breath exercises, and head, neck, shoulder, arm and hand work. 

Ramblin' Round: Songs of the Open Road

Wednesday, April 4, 2012, 7:00 p.m.

Tim Holt will perform and discuss the songs of Tom Paxton, Utah Phillips, Woody Guthrie, and a number of others in a program that will include railroad songs, hobo songs, songs of the Western migration, and Dust Bowl ballads. He'll encourage everyone to sing along on classics like "500 Miles," "The Wabash Cannonball," and Woody Guthrie's Dust Bowl ballad, "So Long It's Been Good To Know Ya."


Along the way, he'll weave in some of the poetry of that great bard of The Open Road, Walt Whitman.


Learn more about the history of this restless nation, as expressed in its music and poetry, in this new folksong program by Tim Holt.

Julia Morgan's San Francisco Cohorts: Early Women Architects in San Francisco

Wednesday, March 7, 2012 at 7:00 p.m.

In celebration of International Women’s Day, Inge Horton, author of the book Early Women Architects of the San Francisco Bay Area: The Lives and Work of Fifty Professionals, 1890 –1951, will talk about the careers and work of a few women who practiced architecture in San Francisco at the same time as Julia Morgan. While Morgan is widely known as an eminent woman architect, she was not alone, and many other women pursued architecture as their professional field and had to overcome many difficulties in the male-dominated profession. Their work and careers were mostly unknown until Inge Horton diligently researched them, documented their fascinating life stories, and eventually wrote a book about these amazing women and their buildings. Portraits and images of their work will illustrate the presentation.

Preschool storytime on Sundays at 3:30

PRESCHOOL STORYTIME

Stories, songs, and more for children ages 3-5.

Sundays at 3:30

All Indians Do Not Live in Teepees (or Casinos)

Merced Arts & Culture Salon.
Wednesday, February 22, 2012 at 7:00 p.m.

Join San Francisco author Cathy Robbins in a conversation about her new book on contemporary Native life, All Indians Do Not Live in Teepees (or Casinos).  Teepees/Casinos introduces vibrant artists, imaginative scientists, bold doctors, assertive lawyers, leaders and ordinary people living on a continuum that folds the past into the present and future. At this salon, Cathy would like to hear stories from American Indians; tell us about your experiences, especially if you live in the Bay Area. For everyone else, she'd like to hear what you know about American Indians, especially those who live in the Bay Area. A book sale follows.

This program is supported by the Friends of the San Francisco Public Library.

The African American Quilting Tradition - A quilt craft for kids!

Come celebrate Black History Month with members of the African American Quilt Guild of Oakland. You'll learn a little bit about the history of the African American quilting tradition, plus get a chance to make a 9 patch pieced potholder to take home! For ages 7-12.  Children younger than 9 will need an accompanying adult to assist them in this craft. 

Wednesday, Feburary 15th
4 P.M.
Contact Jenny Rockwell or Joseph Liebman with questions.
(415) 355-2825

The Story of Robin Hood and His Merrie Men

Wednesday, February 8, 2012 at 6:00 p.m.

Cinema Merced is delighted to present this 1952 Disney film starring Richard Todd, Joan Rice, and Peter Finch.  See the original 99 percent in action, as Robin and his Merrie Men occupy Sherwood Forest and bring justice to the poor.  For ages 8 and up.

Lion Dancers Roar in to Merced!

Saturday, January 21, 2012 at 3:00 p.m.

The San Francisco Jing Mo Athletic Association led by Rick Wing will perform a lion dance and give a martial arts demonstration.  This must be your lucky day!  Come to the library and read between the Lions.

Cinema Merced: Family Movie Night - White Mane

Wednesday, January 18, 2012, 6:00 p.m.

White Mane

This eloquently photographed film tells the story of a proud white stallion that eludes the attempts of a group of ranchers to catch it, only to be tamed by the love of a young boy.