[Congressional Record Volume 142, Number 51 (Friday, April 19, 1996)]
[Extensions of Remarks]
[Page E579]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




          GRAND OPENING OF MAIN BRANCH, SAN FRANCISCO LIBRARY

                                 ______


                            HON. TOM LANTOS

                             of california

                    in the house of representatives

                        Thursday, April 18, 1996

  Mr. LANTOS. Mr. Speaker, I rise today, on the 90th anniversary of the 
devastating 1906 San Francisco earthquake, to celebrate with the city 
of San Francisco a monumental achievement of community cooperation and 
commitment. I invite my colleagues to join me in conveying our 
congratulations and admiration to the people of San Francisco who have 
committed their precious resources to the construction of the new main 
branch of the San Francisco Library, a beautiful and highly functional 
testament to the love that San Franciscans have for their city and for 
books and education. It is a love that has found its voice through the 
coordinated efforts of corporations, foundations, and individuals.
  A library should reflect the pride, the culture, and the values of 
the diverse communities that it serves. The San Francisco main library 
will undoubtedly be successful in reaching this goal. The library will 
be home to special centers dedicated to the history and interests of 
African-Americans, Chinese-Americans, Filipino-Americans, Latino-
Americans, and gays and lesbians. The library will be designed to serve 
the specialized needs of the businessman as well as the immigrant 
newcomer. It will become home to the diverse communities that make San 
Francisco unique among metropolitan areas of the world. It will also 
become a home, most importantly, that serves to unite.
  The new San Francisco main library represents an opportunity to 
preserve and disperse the knowledge of times long since passed. The 
book serves as man's most lasting testament and the library serves as 
our version of a time machine into the past, the present and the 
future. This library, built upon the remains of the old City Hall 
destroyed 90 years ago today, is a befitting tribute to the immortality 
of thought. Buildings will come as they will most definitely pass, but 
the books of this new library and the information that they hold are 
eternal and serve as an indelible foundation that cannot be erased by 
the passage of time.

  The expanded areas of the new main library will provide space for 
numerous hidden treasures that no longer will be hidden. The people of 
San Francisco will have the opportunity to reacquaint themselves with 
numerous literary treasures previously locked behind the dusty racks of 
unsightly storage rooms.
  Although the new San Francisco main library serves as a portal into 
our past, it also serves to propel us into the future. It is an edifice 
designed to stoke the imagination by providing access to the numerous 
streams of information that characterize our society today. The 
technologically designed library will provide hundreds of public 
computer terminals to locate materials on-line, 14 multimedia stations, 
as well as access to data bases and the Information Superhighway. It 
will provide education and access for those previously unable to enter 
the ``computer revolution.'' The library will provide vital access and 
communication links so that it can truly serve as a resource for the 
city and for other libraries and educational institutions throughout 
the region. The new library will serve as an outstanding model for 
libraries around the world to emulate.
  Like an educational institution,the San Francisco Library will be a 
repository of human knowledge, organized and made accessible for 
writers, students, lifelong learners and leisure readers. It will serve 
to compliment and expand San Francisco's existing civic buildings--City 
Hall, Davies Symphony Hall, Brooks Hall, and the War Memorial and 
Performing Arts Center. The library serves as a symbiotic commitment 
between the city of San Francisco and its people. In 1988, when 
electorates across the country refused to support new bond issues, the 
people of San Francisco committed themselves to a $109.5 million bond 
measure to build the new main library building and to strengthen 
existing branch libraries. Eight years later those voices are still 
clearly heard and they resonate with the dedication of this unique 
library, built by a community to advance themselves and their 
neighbors.
  Mr. Speaker, on this day, when we celebrate the opening of the new 
main branch of the San Francisco Library, I ask my colleagues to join 
me in congratulating the community of San Francisco for their admirable 
accomplishments and outstanding determination.

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