Local
Mission Branch Library Reopens Saturday After Six Years and $40.7 Million Renovation
The landmark 111-year-old Carnegie library at 3359 24th St. reopens with a new teen room, community space, restored grand staircase and a stained-glass nopal by Juana Alicia, after costs more than doubled from the original estimate.
The Mission Branch Library will reopen its doors Saturday at 3359 24th St. after a renovation and seismic retrofit that stretched six years and cost $40.7 million â more than double the $19.8 million estimate when the project was announced in 2018.
A ribbon-cutting is scheduled for 12:30 p.m., followed by an afternoon celebration featuring music, crafts, Aztec dancers, luchadores, a building tour and refreshments.
City Librarian Michael Lambert, who led a preview tour this week as workers hurried to arrange furniture and clean the building, said the branch has long been one of the system's busiest.
"Historically, Mission has been one of the busiest branch libraries in the city," Lambert said. "This place is going to be full of youth and families and seniors being enriched through all of the library's myriad programs."
The 111-year-old building â San Francisco's first neighborhood branch and one of seven Carnegie libraries built across the city â has been restored inside and out. The large wooden window frames have been repaired, the original bookcases remain, and the main entrance on 24th Street has been rebuilt. The grand staircase facing the entrance, removed in 1997, has been returned to its original design.
New features include a dedicated teen room on the second level for reading and homework, a response to the difficulty many neighborhood students face finding quiet study space. A large community room is available for local groups; District 9 Supervisor Jackie Fielder has already booked it for a community meeting next month.
"I am thrilled ⦠we finally have a renewed state-of-the-art building that our residents deserve," Fielder said in a statement.
At the entrance, three paintings by Emmanuel Catarino Montoya are on display. The stained-glass window "Nopal de la Mision" by local artist Juana Alicia shines once more. Alicia described the nopal as "a symbol of resistance under difficult conditions, a tree that blooms in the desert and serves as sustenance, and regenerates easily."
Construction began in August 2023 with an estimated two-year timeline, but unforeseen circumstances and the loss of a subcontractor added a year. The project's cost climbed from the 2018 estimate to $40.7 million to date.
The reopening returns a vital public resource to a neighborhood where families, students and seniors rely on the branch for books, programs and gathering space.