Eve Bunting is the 2013 Effie Lee Morris Lecturer!

Come spend an evening with Eve Bunting, the perceptive author of the 1995 Caldecott Medal-winning picture book Smoky Night.  Her dramatic story describes a child's and his mother's experience of an urban riot.  Should the book ever have been written for children?  Time Magazine essayist Charles Krauthammer didn't think so.  In a 1995 column, he called Smoky Night, along with other children's books on social issues, "a misguided attempt at social awareness." 

Eve Bunting examines "Picture Books That Can't Be Written:  Social Issues in Children's Literature" at the Main Library Koret Auditorium on Tuesday, April 30, 2013 at 6 p.m.  Her lecture, the 17th of the series named after renowned children's librarian Effie Lee Morris, is free.  Ms. Bunting will be signing books for patrons at an opening reception from 5 p.m.-5:45 p.m., and then again following her lecture at approximately 7:00 p.m..

The program is supported by the Friends of the San Francisco Public Library and the San Francisco Chapter of the Women's National Book Association.

On display now: Children's Books and Russian Cubism!

Mikhail Petrenko, an accomplished Russian artist currently residing in San Francisco, introduces us to Vladimir Lebedev (1891-1967), a Leningrad painter, graphic artist, illustrator, and art editor of state publishing house Gosizdat (later Detgiz) who created a cutting-edge style of children's book illustration combining influences of Cubism, Constructivist principles, and popular folk prints into an unconventional but powerful approach to children's books. 

Come acquaint yourselves with the work of Vladimir Lebedev -- The King of Children's Books in the Soviet Union of the 1920s and 1930s!  Also on display are samples of works by Lebedev's colleagues and students,  along with the fascinating  engraved illustrations of Mikhail Petrenko.  Free for all ages!

Where:  The Fisher Children's Center of San Francisco Main Library, 2nd floor.
When:  Now exhibiting:  January 4th - March 31st, 2013.

Illustrations by Vladimir Lebedev of Rudyard Kipling's "The Elephant's Child," 
Slonyonok, 1922.

An Evening with Kadir Nelson -- Tuesday, January 15, 2013!

Join two-time Caldecott Honor and Coretta Scott King Award winner Kadir Nelson at the Main Library for a discussion of his new book I Have a Dream.

When:  Tuesday, January 15, 2013, 6:00 p.m.

Where:  Latino/Hispanic Community Meeting Room, Main Library, Lower Level.

It's the perfect way to celebrate the 50th Anniversary of the 1963 March on Washington!  Don't miss it!

Award-winning author Kadir Nelson.

Tricycle Music Fest West Costume Finale this Sunday!

Don't miss the chance to rock out to the best of Toddler pop this Sunday at 2:00pm at San Francisco Public Library's Main Library Koret Auditorium.  Kicking off will be Elizabeth Mitchell & You Are My Flower, followed by Lucky Diaz and the Family Jam Band.  Come in Halloween costume finery and shake it icognito!  Free for all ages, but toddlers especially!

Who:  Elizabeth Mitchell & You Are My Flower
            Lucky Diaz and the Family Jam Band.

Where:  San Francisco Main Library.  Koret Auditorium. 
Lower Level.

When:  Sunday, October 28, 2:00pm.


   

An Evening with Lois Lowry at the Main Library!

Two-time Newbery Award-winning author Lois Lowry talks about her latest novel Son, returning us to the chilling alternate world introduced to young readers in The Giver.  Come meet a prolific and well-known writer whose works span a broad range of genres, including humor, science fiction, and thought-provoking realism. 

Who:  Readers of all ages.

Where:  San Francisco Main Library, 100 Larkin Street, Koret Auditorium, Lower Level.

When:  Tuesday, October 9th, 2012, 6:00pm.

All San Francisco Public Library Programs are free!

Three rockin' months of music with Tricycle Music Fest West 2012!

San Francisco Rock Project rocks hard at the Main Library in 2011!

At Mission Branch on August 5th, 11:30am-4:00pm, Tricycle Music Fest West kicks off its performance series in partnership with Sunday Streets!  Look for great bands like Alison Faith Levy's Big Time Tot Rock, The Corner Laughers, The Monkeybutts (pictured below), and San Francisco Rock Project, all at the library, live and onstage.  THEN -- keep watching the library events calendar through September and October for Tricycle concert dates at Ortega, Mission Bay, Parkside, Visitacion Valley, and Bernal Heights branches, with a costume party grand finale show at the Main Library.  You'll see such marvelous acts as The Hipwaders, Frances England, Charity Kahn, Lucky Diaz and the Family Jam Band (pictured left), and Elizabeth  Mitchell & You Are My Flower!  

 A musical mash-up that's free for all ages!



Starting June 1st -- San Francisco History Comes to Life!

On exhibit at the Main Library Children's Center -- original artwork from Milly Lee's Landed and Nim and the War Effort.

For the first time, artist Yangsook Choi's beautiful color paintings will be on display to the public, along with artifacts of Chinese immigrants provided by the Angel Island Immigration Station.  Together, the artwork and artifacts will add context to the story of Chinese immigrants who came to the United States as "paper sons" or false immigrants in order to circumvent the 1882 Chinese Exclusion Act.

When:  June 1st - August 31st, 2012

Where:  Main Children's Center -- Main Library -- Second Floor

Join us for a morning reception for Milly Lee and this marvelous exhibit of the work of Yangsook Choi at the Main Children's Center on Saturday, June 9th, from 10am - Noon.

All ages welcome!