Ingleside Branch Library

The new library features an expanded collection of material, a teen room, a children's area with window seats and skylight, plus a program room accessible after hours for community meetings. The new 6,100-square-foot branch provides a prominent civic presence on Ocean Avenue, adding to the revitalization of this commercial strip at the nexus of a diverse community. The robust, light-filled, and sustainable architectural design highlights the virtues and aspirations of this community: valuing the accessibility of knowledge and education to everyone. The most striking element of the front façade of the new branch library, positioned prominently at the corner, is an egg-shaped children’s reading room with a large, bench-seat window that encourages use of the library by younger patrons. The children’s room is capped by a high canopy roof, extending over the entry and the lower community room along Ocean Avenue. The new branch offers more public computers, wireless access, self-checkout machines and also hasa flexible design to accommodate future technologies. The sloped ceiling of the space is capped with giant skylights coaxing sunlight deep into the room. Facing the courtyard, mahogany-clad carrels offer quite, intimate spaces to read and relax. Benches are built into the glass edges creating a simple and elegant relationship between courtyard and interior spaces. Artist Eric Powell was selected to create a 30-foot by 4-foot low relief metal structure that is mounted above book shelves in the reading room of the new branch. The sculpture is composed of metal tubing fashioned by hand into an organic, curving design representing a nearby underground creek. A number of sustainable features are incorporated in this new branch including an energy efficient heating system, operable glazing for ventilation and the use of low volatile organic compound (VOC) and sustainable finishes. The construction of the Ingleside Branch was funded by a bond measure passed by San Francisco voters in 2000 with additional funds coming from state Proposition 14 for library construction.