🏢 San Francisco Public Library — San Francisco, California

Eureka Valley/Harvey Milk Memorial Branch

The Castro's neighborhood library, renamed in 1981 to honor Harvey Milk and home to a dedicated LGBTQIA+ collection.

📖 About Eureka Valley/Harvey Milk Memorial Branch

This branch traces its roots to the McCreery Branch, the second branch in the San Francisco Public Library system, which opened on January 2, 1902 and was named for Andrew McCreery, who donated the land and paid for its construction. The current building, designed by Appleton and Wolford at a cost of $192,335, opened on December 20, 1961 as the Eureka Valley Branch. In 1981 the Library Commission officially renamed it the Eureka Valley/Harvey Milk Memorial Branch Library to honor Harvey Milk, the first openly gay man elected to public office in California, who served on the Board of Supervisors until his assassination alongside Mayor George Moscone on November 27, 1978. The library's address itself is a tribute: in 2006 the City renamed the adjacent section of 16th Street as Jose Sarria Court, honoring the first openly gay man to run for Supervisor. A 2009 renovation modernized the branch, which today maintains an LGBTQIA+ Interest special collection spanning fiction, poetry, and nonfiction on the culture, history, and life experience of LGBTQIA+ communities.

⭐ What makes this branch special

• Renamed in 1981 to honor slain Supervisor Harvey Milk
• Address honors LGBTQ pioneer Jose Sarria (Jose Sarria Court, 2006)
• Dedicated LGBTQIA+ Interest special collection
• Renovation completed October 24, 2009

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