San Francisco Public Library

10/21/2026

🎃 Spooky season has officially arrived at SFPL! 🎃

Our staff always goes all out with the pumpkin designs, and this year YOU get to help pick our winners. Vote for your favorites in four categories:

👻Scariest
😂Funniest
✨Most Whimsical
📚Library Life

Vote by October 29: https://forms.cloud.microsoft/g/DZ0MbCKSju

We’ll announce the winners on October 30!

10/19/2026

Join us on Wednesday!

Ever dreamed of watching Rocky Horror in a library?! On a Wednesday? For free?
If so, that's weirdly specific, but you're in luck.

Come out and support the San Francisco Public Library because reading is what? Fundamental.

📅Wednesday, Oct. 21
💸 FREE
🕒Doors at 5pm, show begins at 5:20
📍Koret Auditorium, SFPL Main Branch, 100 Larkin St, San Francisco

10/19/2026

Explore meaningful careers in hospice nursing, death work, and end-of-life doula care.

Join us on Thursday, October 22, from 2:00–3:00 PM for Careers in Hospice Nursing and Death Care, part of the Career Insights series.

Amelia Coplan, RN, BSN, an experienced hospice nurse and death worker, will share insights from her work supporting patients and families through serious illness, end-of-life transitions, and compassionate care.

Register at: https://on.sfpl.org/DeathCare

10/16/2026

Looking for a rewarding career with paid training and competitive wages? Discover the opportunities available through union construction apprenticeships!

Join us on Monday, October 19, from 11:00 AM–12:00 PM for Explore Union Construction Apprenticeships with CTWI.

Juan P. Calderon of the Construction Trades Workforce Initiative (CTWI) will discuss apprenticeship opportunities, application requirements, and local training and test preparation programs to help you get started.

Register at: on.sfpl.org/CTWI

10/15/2026

San Francisco: get ready to go intergalactic. 👽 On October 24, Bay Beats, San Francisco Public Library’s free local music streaming platform, is launching its 2026 collection, featuring 150 new albums that will take you across genres, space and time—including rap, punk, folk, lo-fi, electronic, R&B, classical and more.

To celebrate, Bay Beats is throwing a free, day-of interstellar bash at the Bandshell featuring artists from the new collection. Swing by for a full afternoon of live music, prize giveaways and more. Learn more about Bay Beats, discover new artists and enjoy curated playlists at baybeats.sfpl.org.

📅Saturday, Oct. 24
🕒2–6 p.m.
📍Music Concourse Dr., Golden Gate Park, San Francisco

10/15/2026

It’s Ask an Archivist Day! Ever wondered what it means to visit the archives at SFPL? Hear from Adrienne, our City Archivist, about what to expect on your first visit. Come see us on the 6th Floor of the Main Library.

10/11/2026

Our ¡VIVA! Latinx Heritage celebrations are well underway, and in honor of the festivities, we’re sharing historic images from our archival collections. These incredible photos capture the communities that shaped and continue to shape our City.

SFPL’s archives hold over 2.5 million photographs documenting the City’s unique history. Over 82,000 photos have been digitized and are free to explore on digitalsf.org, with more being added every month. Your City. Your History. Your Public Library.

Visit our ¡VIVA! webpage for events and book recommendations throughout the fall and beyond: sfpl.org/viva

Photo 1 Ballet Folklórico dancers performing at Mission Tenants Union Fiesta at Shotwell near 15th Street, Claudio Beagarie Photographs

Photo 2 Mariachi band performing at Mission Tenants Union Fiesta at Shotwell near 15th Street, Claudio Beagarie Photographs

Photo 3 24th Street Fair

10/10/2026

Though Banned Books Week is coming to an end, the fight against censorship continues. Keep reading and exchanging stories with other patrons on banned books, including which of the books took you by surprise. The display is up in the Atrium of the Main Library until Oct. 30!

View the list of the 11 most challenged books at on.sfpl.org/banned-books-2026.

See a list on the history of censorship at on.sfpl.org/banned250booklist.

10/09/2026

Join us for the FilBookFest 2026 at the Main Library on October 17 & 18! Come and celebrate Filipino storytelling and culture with us https://filbookfestival.org/

10/08/2026

🖊️ Do you write poetry or want to learn how? San Francisco Poet Laureate emerita Kim Shuck offers a free one-hour poetry writing intensive workshop, in the hopes of encouraging new poets and providing strategies to established poets. Please bring a notebook 📓, a pen 🖊️and your best creative impulses! ✨

Poetry Writing Workshop: Writing Hard Enough to Shift Gravity
THURS 10/8 6 - 7 pm
Main Library, Latino Room

https://on.sfpl.org/10-08-26