If you miss thumbing through the pages of a hardcover and taking in that old library book smell, there’s good news: the San Francisco Public Library is now open for front-door service at its main and Excelsior branches, where it offers contactless, curbside pickup for materials requested ahead of time.
The news comes just as the library announces its pick for the 2021 One City One Book program: Chanel Miller’s memoir Know My Name. Miller’s harrowing account of her sexual assault at the hands of Stanford swimmer Brock Turner first made headlines from her court statement as “Emily Doe” in 2016, and in 2019 she reclaimed her story and publicly revealed her identity. Know My Name took off with rave reviews, praised for its emotional vulnerability and sobering indictment of the criminal justice system.
In March and April 2021, the San Francisco Public Library plans to roll out a variety of programming around Know My Name, including book clubs, author talks, panels and more. Miller, a visual artist, is also designing a new library card for SFPL, and—pending a full reopening—the library will host an exhibition of her drawings. That exhibition will be an extension of Miller’s installation about healing at the Asian Art Museum, I was, I am, I will be, which is currently on view and visible from outside of the museum on Hyde Street.
