Mechanics' Institute Library

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57 Post (at Market) San Francisco, CA 94104

415-393-0100

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Best Movie Snacks
Award Winner 2003

Description

2003 | Best Movie Snacks

Every Friday night, the Mechanics' Institute Library hosts a classic movie in an intimate salon setting complete with cinéastes and chitchat, but what's especially noteworthy is the high quality of grub served up from the little back bar. No economy-size Mountain Dews or Formica-flavored popcorn here; snack instead upon rounds of sourdough topped with cream cheese and smoked salmon or a lusty pesto, a slice of nutty Gruyère with red grapes, a selection of candies, and, yes,... More »
2003 | Best Chess Club

The chess aficionados who frequent the Fifth and Market Street tables presumably don't know about the Chess Club at the Mechanics' Institute Library. Why else would they suffer the clamor, panhandlers, hecklers, and tourists to play a match in the chilly outdoors when this quiet, warm oasis is just blocks away The oldest chess club in America, the Mechanics' was organized in 1854 to accommodate the Gold Rush frontier community. The library and club are housed in a historic building; its... More »
2001 | Best Private Library

The Mechanics' Institute Library looks the way a library should look. It takes up two floors of the Mechanics' Institute building downtown, each floor tiered with a mezzanine or two of books on every conceivable subject. The setting is hushed, pristine, and ambient with brass rails, burnished wood, comfortable armchairs, and the pleasant smell of a used bookstore. In addition to the library's thousands of volumes (including several special-collection treasures), there are foreign and... More »
2000 | Best Private Library

Recently the $100 million new Main Library released a report admitting that, yes, a floor is missing -- and also that it's frustratingly hard to locate books in this white elephant monument to socialite Charlotte Swig Shultz. (Of course, the city paid $250,000 to learn what most library-users already knew.) But the good news is that, ever since the 19th century, the Mechanics' Institute Library has been far superior anyway. A simple computer database makes finding books a breeze. The... More »

Live Review, 5/11/2012: Roger Waters Takes a Stand for Bleeding Hearts and Artists Outside The Wall

By John Graham | Mon, May 14, 2012

Roger Waters Friday, May 11, 2012 AT&T Park Better than: Every previous Pink Floyd-related tour. No, really. Apparently those epic theatrical extravaganzas mounted by Pink Floyd in the 1970s and '8... More »
The Best of Times

By : Michael Leaverton | Wed, April 25, 2012

You might believe that people who attend yearly celebrations devoted to a single, dead European author — an event such as Bloomsday, Burns Night, or Dickens Day — are part of a ribald crew, raising glasses, shouting honorifics, and quoting the see... More »
Ponder the Unthinkable

By : Keith Bowers | Wed, April 11, 2012

At 5:12 a.m., 106 years ago today, our city was leveled. The 1906 earthquake ran along 296 miles of the San Andreas Fault. (By comparison, 1989’s Loma Prieta quake ran along 25 miles.) It was felt in Oregon, Nevada, and points south of Los Angeles... More »
Chickens on Prozac, Vegan Peeps, and Field Roast at Giants Games!

By Megan Rascal | Fri, April 6, 2012

Hi guys! Big news! I received word from their PR company yesterday that Field Roast vegan frankfurters will now be available at AT&T Park for this season's Giants games! I've had these dogs and they a... More »
Field Roast Vegan Frankfurters on the Menu at Giants Games This Season!

By Megan Rascal | Fri, April 6, 2012

As we reported in Week In Vegan this morning, Field Roast vegan frankfurters will now be available at Giants games in AT&T Park this season! Vegansaurus broke the news yesterday. Anyway, I ... More »
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