Richmond Branch Library

The Richmond branch was the first San Francisco library built with Carnegie funds: a two-storey concrete building of 9,300 square feet, put up in 1914 at 351 Ninth Avenue to serve the inner Richmond. Its rebuilding is documented from the money outwards. The Budget Committee appropriated $4,494,000 of 1990 Earthquake Safety Bond funds across the library's capital projects — $1,544,000 of it for the Richmond renovation, alongside $2,500,000 to complete Chinatown's — and then placed $980,400 on reserve pending the selection of a contractor, the contract cost details, and the contractor's minority- and women-owned business status. The renovation ran as an active project through the Library Commission's reports in 2002, with a public meeting held at the branch itself. Its art was chosen the same way: an artist selection panel including three Richmond residents, elected at a neighborhood meeting, picked three finalists whose proposals were exhibited in the branch for written public comment, and in December 2002 the Arts Commission approved an illuminated book-wall sculpture by Vince Koloski for the renovated library and authorised his contract to fabricate and install it. The construction permit, filed in 2007 and since completed, declares $8,043,933 for the renovation and its addition, a seismic upgrade, new electrical and mechanical systems, landscaping and accessibility work.