Saturday scenes: Oceanview Public Library

Might we perhaps be entering a season during which I can simply pass along wonderful sights I've encountered, mostly while Walking San Francisco? That is, can we all breathe again?

As is so often the case when I'm out and about walking, I had no idea this was here.

 

This charming public art decorates the Oceanview Public Library on Randolph Street. It's closed because of the pandemic at present.

 

You can't actually see the ocean from Randolph, though it might be visible on a fog-free day on a ridge to the north. The neighborhood was once mostly Black and run down. It's now multi-racial -- Black, Filipino, Chinese, so many ethnicities -- and still down at the heels, where a hard-pressed working class lives.

It's the newest library branch in the city, a present from former mayor Willie Brown, opened during his re-election campaign in 1999. His opponent Frank Jordan claimed Willie stole the credit from him ... How San Francisco!