Learning doesn't end at high school, which is why Friends champions a wide range of quality adult programs at the branches and at the Main Library. Each year, over 30,000 visitors attend events that provoke thought, inform and educate. These include author readings, lectures, films, panel discussions and much, much more.

Friends also consistently sponsors museum-quality exhibits that focus on the literary arts and the community. Thanks to Friends support, the Library is the only free cultural institution in the City.

A Closer Look
Out at the Library

Friends is pleased to be one of the many sponsors of Out at the Library: Celebrating the James C. Hormel Gay and Lesbian Center.  The James C. Hormel Gay & Lesbian Center at the San Francisco Public Library, considered to be the first archives of its kind in a public library, will celebrate its 10-year anniversary this summer with an extraordinary exhibition from the Center’s collections of artifacts, documents and photographs spanning over 100 years. This exhibition will be on display from June 18 through October 16, 2005 at three sites: Main Library, Lower Level, Jewett Gallery; James C. Hormel Gay and Lesbian Center, 100 Larkin Street (at Grove) and Eureka Valley/Harvey Milk Memorial Branch Library, 3555 16th Street (near Market).

Out at the Library will include an accompanying 144-page fully illustrated catalogue that will celebrate the Hormel Center by telling the story of how it came into existence, illustrating the Center’s rich exhibition and program history and highlighting its collection.  The catalogue can be purchased at either of Friends’ two bookstores: Book Bay Main or Book Bay Fort Mason.