The Mission District is getting its library back. The Mission Branch of the San Francisco Public Library, a 110-year-old city landmark at 300 Bartlett St., will reopen on Saturday, Nov. 14, after being closed since March 2020, Mission Local reported.
The reopening will be marked with a ribbon-cutting celebration that includes Aztec dancers, a children's story hour and live music.
What took so long
The branch shut its doors at the start of the pandemic for a renovation meant to make the building seismically safe and more energy efficient. A temporary branch opened at 1234 Valencia St. in June 2022, but construction on the main building didn't actually start until August 2023. Crews were expected to need about two years. It took three.
The timeline kept slipping along the way. Mission Local reported a months-long construction delay in October 2024, then a spring 2026 reopening target, which was pushed back again by six months in May.
The cost
The price climbed too. When the project was first presented to Mission residents in 2018, it was estimated at $19.8 million. The Planning Department says it has cost $36.5 million so far, against a total budget of $40.7 million, according to Mission Local.
The upgrades include a seismic retrofit, solar panels and the removal of all natural gas from the building, along with a new meeting room that holds about 100 people, according to a summary of the project by We Are San Francisco. The building is one of seven San Francisco library branches designated as city landmarks.
Mayor Daniel Lurie called libraries "a haven of low-cost services and resources" for families dealing with the city's high cost of living, and said he was glad the Mission would "finally have its permanent library back."
What patrons need to know
The temporary branch on Valencia Street closes for good on Oct. 31. That leaves a two-week gap with no Mission branch open, so regular users may want to stock up on holds or plan to visit a nearby branch until the Bartlett Street building opens on Nov. 14.