Fast and the Furious - Teen Movie - July 6th

L.A. gang members race souped-up cars to gain power on the streets. An undercover rookie cop (Paul Walker) risks his life investigating hijackings linked to the gang. This action thriller includes some of the most exciting racing footage captured on film. With Vin Diesel. Rated PG-13 (2001, 73 mins)

Movies for teens are shown every first Tuesday. Ages 12-18. Snacks provided. For more information, call Marla at (415) 355-2868.

Tuesday, July 6th - 4 - 6 p.m.

"What We Like"

Patriot Hearts: A Novel of the Founding Mothers, by Barbara Hambly

Patriot Hearts is a perfect read for the Fourth of July holiday. Three of the women portrayed in the book were the wives of U.S. Presidents George Washington, John Adams, and James Madison while the fourth was the slave and reported concubine of the widowed President Thomas Jefferson. The book not only explores the lives of Martha Washington, Abigail Adams, Sally Hemings, and Dolley Madison, it weaves through the narrative their sometimes surprising interactions. This historical novel brings to life notable women of the Revolutionary War era and the Early Republic.
-Liz

"What We Like" features weekly recommendations from Excelsior staff and patrons for Library books, music, movies and audiobooks that we think you might like. If you have something you want to recommend, drop by and let us know!

TUESDAY TIPS

TODAY'S TIP: Finding Car Repair Manuals

The Library carries an extensive selection of vehicle repair books. Most of the manuals are for reference in-library use only. This tip will help you find the repair manual you need.

You can locate car repair manuals by searching the online catalog by subject or keyword. Do a subject search using the make and model as your search terms, e.g. “Honda Civic.” This will retrieve books that have that subject heading. If nothing shows up in a subject search, try a keyword search using the same search terms. This broad search will find all books with those two words anywhere in the record, and will include annual shop manuals such as Motor, Chilton and Mitchell's that cover a variety of makes and models.

Or you can use the SFPL-created Automobile & Truck Repair Manual Database to find repair manuals for a specific year, make and model of automobile. Once you fill in make, model and year, this handy database will return a chart that includes the call number, title (which includes all vehicles covered in the manual), and whether or not wiring diagrams are available. To narrow your search to Mitchell Manuals only (for professional auto and truck shops), type "ALL" in the Model box.

The Motorcycle Repair Manual Database works the same way for finding repair manuals for a specific year, make and model of motorcycle.

How do you find the Automobile & Truck Repair Manual Database and the Motorcycle Repair Manual Database? From the SFPL homepage, click on the eLibrary tab, then "Research Tools." Down at the bottom of this list, under "Repair and Consumer," you will see links for the Automobile & Truck, and Motorcycle Repair databases, as well as a good overview of what's available in “Motor Vehicle Resources.”

Excelsior Librarians and Staff share tips & tricks to help you make the most of the San Francisco Public Library catalog, databases and website. New tips posted Tuesdays on the Excelsior Blog. Watch this space!

Library Closed - July 4th & July 5th - Fourth of July

The Excelsior Branch and all SFPL branches will be closed on Sunday, July 4th and Monday, July 5th in observance of Independence Day.

Have a great holiday!

"What We Like"

The Exception by Christian Jungersen

This Danish novel is a thriller of ideas. The story of the disintegration of a workplace devoted to the understanding of genocide is interwoven with tracts on the psychology of evil as well as reports on studies of human behavior, such as the infamous Milgram experiments, and Zimbardo's Stanford experiments. Even as the women at the Danish Center for Information on Genocide go about the business of documenting and disseminating research on genocide, their shifting alliances and victimization of each other escalates.

AP

"What We Like" features weekly recommendations from Excelsior staff and patrons for Library books, music, movies and audiobooks that we think you might like. If you have something you want to recommend, drop by and let us know!

From the Badlands to Alcatraz - Film Showing - June 30th

In the spirit of this year's Adult Summer Reading Program theme, "Dive into a Good Book!," Excelsior Branch presents a film showing of From the Badlands to Alcatraz. This documentary follows five Oglala Lakota from the Pine Ridge Indian Reservation of the Badlands in South Dakota who took part in a weeklong San Francisco-based wellness program, PATHSTAR. The program culminated with a swim from Alcatraz to the San Francisco shore. The film weaves the past and present of both Alcatraz and the Pine Ridge Reservation with a vivid depiction of the inspiring journey the five youth navigate. Their personal and collective challenges, disappointments and triumphs are shown as they strive to conquer both the Alcatraz swim and conditions on Pine Ridge.

Wednesday, June 30th @ 7 p.m.

Face to Face - Excelsior Arts & Culture Salon - June 23rd

Join us for an evening of images and stories about children living in the shadow of AIDS in Africa. Award-winning writer Ruthann Richter and San Francisco documentary photographer Karen Ande trekked through the slums of Nairobi and villages of East Africa to meet children orphaned by the disease or grappling with HIV infection themselves. Their new book, Face to Face: Children of the AIDS Crisis in Africa, is a beautiful and moving blend of photography and narrative that takes you straight into the world of these children. It is also a story of hope. All profits from the sale of Face to Face will be donated to organizations dedicated to helping African children.

Wednesday, June 23rd @ 7 p.m.

"What We Like"

Hamlet, directed by Kenneth Branagh

1) It’s Shakespeare. 2) It’s Kenneth Branagh directing and starring in Shakespeare. 3) Derek Jacobi. Still need more reasons to watch this? It’s the first full-text feature film of this play. 5) Julie Christie. 6) This palace. 7) Derek Jacobi, again.

A visually stunning, top-ten-list cast, full-text film portrayal of the Dark Prince that brings an energy and modern-feeling subtext to the play without diminishing the language or tradition of other portrayals. If you’ve liked Branagh’s Shakespeare productions before (Henry V, Much Ado), you will love this one even more.
KW

"What We Like" features weekly recommendations from Excelsior staff and patrons for Library books, music, movies and audiobooks that we think you might like. If you have something you want to recommend, drop by and let us know!

TUESDAY TIPS

TODAY'S TIP - Calling All Readers

This being a blog, we mostly call attention to online resources and technology issues. Today, we return to our roots with this week’s tip about books, and especially book clubs.

The City of San Francisco turns into one big book club each year with the title selected for the One City One Book program. This year’s title is Zeitoun, by local literary angel Dave Eggers. Every other month, there is a new title from On the Same Page, San Francisco’s bi-monthly book club.

Book Clubs are as varied as the books they read, and there are many sources for information about starting your own club. San Francisco Public Library offers advice on hosting a club, suggestions, the Book Club in a Box and many resources to help you find possible titles for your club to read. You can check out a guide at the Library and there are even fictional books about book clubs.

More resources are available online at BookList, Reading Group Choices, Reading Group Guides, and Reader’s Circle.

If you have a book club, be sure to stop by the Excelsior Branch to tell us about it, join the Adult Summer Reading Program and submit your selection for the Excelsior Blog’s “What we Like” feature.

Excelsior Librarians and Staff share tips & tricks to help you make the most of the San Francisco Public Library catalog, databases and website. New tips posted Tuesdays on the Excelsior Blog. Watch this space!

In the Neighborhood - UPDATE - Excelsior Senior Center

In an earlier post, we talked about the great services offered by the Excelsior Teen Center. As we mentioned at that time, the Center recently began to include seniors in the communities it serves.

We revisited the Center and learned about the programs and services they have for seniors. A nutritious lunch is served at 11:30 a.m. Monday through Friday. Activities include fitness classes, bingo, memory games, and arts & crafts. The Center also shows movies every Thursday at 10 a.m. Upcoming movies in June are Sleepless in Seattle on June 17th and Titanic on June 24th. Stop by the Center to pick up a schedule of activities as well as the monthly lunch menu in English, Chinese or Spanish.

There are many volunteer opportunities available at the Excelsior Senior Center, such as setting up and helping with the lunch program. In addition, there are opportunities to help with the many workshops offered, including teaching courses. Adult and teen volunteers assist with the food pantry, which occurs every Wednesday from 2-6 p.m. and serves over 350 individuals per week. If you are interested in volunteering, please call Jorge Rosales at (415) 206-2140 x 130.

Why do I keep calling it the Center? The name is currently the Excelsior Teen Center/Excelsior Senior Center, however they are in the process of changing the name to something a little shorter that will encompass all the communities they serve.

For more information about these great new services in the neighborhood for seniors, contact:

Hamaseh Kianfar
Director of Senior Services
Excelsior Senior Center
4468 Mission Street
San Francisco, CA 94112
(415) 334-9919

In the Neighborhood features information about people and places in the Excelsior neighborhood that you may already know and love, or that might be new to you. Watch this space!

"What We Like"

Whip It - Directed by Drew Barrymore

Fun, laugh out loud film with great music. Ellen Page is fantastic as a roller derby star in this movie based on the teen book with the same title. Featuring Marcia Gay Harden and Drew Barrymore.

Marla

"What We Like" is a weekly feature on the Excelsior Blog, with recommendations from Excelsior staff and patrons for Library books, music, movies and audiobooks that we think you might like. If you have something you want to recommend, drop by and let us know!

TUESDAY TIPS

TODAY'S TIP - WHAT'S UP at the Library?

Looking for something to expand your mind, or would you like to meet your neighbors or be entertained? On any given day, San Francisco Public Library offers the opportunity to listen to authors, see movies, play chess, sing a song with your toddler, learn a craft, discuss a book or participate in any number of other programs.

How do you find out what’s going on?

You can pick up a copy of At the Public Library at any branch or view it online. This monthly newsletter lists upcoming events and contains articles of interest about Library books, events, people and exhibitions.

If you’re reading this, then you already know that we have a blog at Excelsior, where you can find out about all our regular programming and special events. Blogs for other branches and Main Library Departments can be found here.

And last, but not least, you can search and sort through all Library events by clicking the calendar tab on the Library’s website. This will bring you to the Calendar page where you can see the programs by day, week or month. Just click your choice below the calendar box.

On the Calendar page you can make selections in the dropdown boxes on the right side to narrow your search. Location will limit your selection to a single branch. Type will allow you to limit to a specific kind of program - Event, Exhibit, or Class. Series will let you limit to a special series of programs, like those associated with our Adult, Teen or Children’s Summer Reading Programs. You can limit to a certain age audience by selection from the Audience drop-down box.

For example, to find out what’s going on the rest of the week at Excelsior Branch, just click on Excelsior under location, then click on “week” under the calendar and then click today’s date on the calendar itself.

Excelsior Librarians and Staff share tips & tricks to help you make the most of the San Francisco Public Library catalog, databases and website. New tips posted Tuesdays on the Excelsior Blog. Watch this space!

GreenFinanceSF - Financing for Home Improvement Projects - June 9th

GreenFinanceSF provides immediate benefits to property owners and solves many of the financial hurdles to investing in green home improvements such as energy efficiency, water efficiency, and renewable energy projects.

• Minimal up-front cost to the property owner
  
• Incremental property tax payments are low and fixed for up to 20 years
  
• Tax on the energy and/or water projects transfers to the new owner when the property is sold
  
• Utility bills decrease due to energy and/or water savings
  
• Improved comfort, indoor air quality, and durability
  
• “One-stop-shop” for identifying the best projects and contractors

Join City staff and green funding experts to learn how you can take advantage of this great financing opportunity.

Wednesday, June 9th -7:00 to 8:30 p.m.

In the Neighborhood - The Jewish Home

If you’ve spent any time at all in the Excelsior neighborhood, you’re probably curious about the Jewish Home of San Francisco, whose 9 acre campus occupies the corner of Silver and Mission Streets. Recently, I had the opportunity to visit with William Foster, Community Liaison Director for the Jewish Home, to find out a little more about the organization.

From its modest beginning in 1871 as a residential center for 12 seniors, the Jewish Home has grown to a comprehensive senior care center, serving more than 375 residents. Although many are long term care residents, the Jewish Home is a resource for the entire geriatric community, with its short term and rehabilitation services unit (STARS) and an acute geriatric psychiatry hospital - the only one in the Bay Area that caters specifically to seniors. Admission to the Jewish Home is not limited by religious or cultural affiliation.

The Jewish Home offers a variety of programs and services that are usually not found in skilled nursing facilities. These include creative arts programming, fitness and wellness, and healing touch/acupuncture. An on-site medical clinic allows residents to receive medical care including dentistry, ophthalmology, cardiology, podiatry and dermatology without leaving the facility. LCSW and MFT social workers serve the psychosocial needs of residents and their families.

As William Foster pointed out, the Jewish Home still has the culture of caring that used to be more common before the corporatization of elder care. Many staff members have worked there for more than 30 years, and the board and resident council are committed to making the Jewish Home a place that Bay Area elderly can call home.

If you'd like more information about this Excelsior neighborhood institution (almost 140 years!), contact William Foster at:

Jewish Home of San Francisco
302 Silver Avenue
San Francisco, CA 94112
(415) 406-1584
wfoster@jhsf.org

There are volunteer opportunities for students and adults at the Jewish Home, ranging from visiting with the residents to fundraising. If you would like to volunteer, the Director of Volunteer Services would love to talk with you. Her name is Jennifer Vellutini and she can be reached at (415) 469-2229, or jvellutini@jhsf.org.

In the Neighborhood features information about people and places in the Excelsior neighborhood that you may already know and love, or that might be new to you. Watch this space!

Excelsior Art Walk - June 5th

Join your Excelsior neighbors for the Excelsior Art Walk on Saturday June 5th from 5:00 to 7:00 p.m. on Mission St. between Cotter and Harrington. The Excelsior Art Walk is a fun, free, family event featuring live music, art, performances and activities for all ages. Pissed Off Pete's will have live music at 8:00 p.m.

Pick up a free book at the Excelsior Library, or participate in the Excelsior Quilt Project in the front of the building. The Library will be displaying the art of several Excelsior artists throughout the month of June. Come by and admire the work of your talented neighbors!

The Excelsior Art Walk is a true testament to neighborhood institutions getting together to bring fun, evening events to Mission Street and engage and connect merchants, vacant retail spaces and the larger community.

"What We Like"

State of Play, the BBC miniseries

Fast paced, beautifully written 6-part BBC thriller. MP Stephen Collins' research assistant is killed in an accident, but his journalist friend thinks the death is suspicious and may be linked to the murder of a teenage purse snatcher. The MP’s affair with the researcher is only one of the many troubling facts that emerges in the case involving politicians, the press, the police, and big business. Stellar cast includes Bill Nighy, Kelly Macdonald, James McAvoy, and Polly Walker.
MH

"What We Like" is a weekly feature on the Excelsior Blog, with recommendations from Excelsior staff and patrons for Library books, music, movies and audiobooks that we think you might like. If you have something you want to recommend, drop by and let us know!