to go golfing with some restrictions. go to sf.gov to get the most up-to-date who told you we were going to be here? it was supposed to a secret. i got a call thursday from mayor breed saying "i want to come down." and it literally brought a tear to my eye. before i introduce his honor, willy brown, who i want to tell you a quick story. there was a rumor he was going to run for mayor and i ran into him in north beach and i just put my hand out and i said would you make your first campaign promise and he said "yeah, whatever it is. what do you want?" i said, "i'd like to see water

running through lotus fountain." he said, "you got it." and it wasn't an easy project. if they put water in it it was going to actually blow up. so i'd like to bring a long-time lotus flower supporter. earthquake celebration. and celebrated those brave souls who rebuilt the city from the ashes. so it's my honor to introduce his honor. and wish him an 87th birthday. >> i am, of course, delighted to again be here with all of you for the occasion of

memorializing and remembering how difficult it must have been in 1906 for lots of people in san francisco who at the time the clock struck, the city began to fall apart and before it was over within a few hours, the city had fallen apart. but, as usual, if you read yesterday, you know in the chronicle that, in fact, the city came rolling back. and it always coming rolling back and when lee housekeeper approached me in the middle '90s asking about this fountain there was a time period where absolutely i said, "i don't understand why that fountain isn't already working." i had no idea that fountain hadn't worked in hundreds of years and no one bothered to do anything about it.

fortunately, there was a fellow named ed lee. he stepped up. i gave him directions on what i needed to have done and ultimately, it did get done. it got done because many of you were participating in one way or another providing the inspiration. and, since the time that this fountain began to emit water again, every mayor thereafter has made it his or her responsibility to see that that fountain continues to spray water, that you continue to come here on april 18th, early morning for the express if you were of making sure that san francisco continues to remember what we are all about. and, believe me, it was a very special breed of people who in

1906 actually started the process of the resurrection of san francisco. so it shouldn't surprise you that some many, many years later, more than 100 years later, the word "breed" is still the foundation of our city. the new mayor is "breed." i don't know if that's her real name. i have no idea, but i do know that it represents everything this city is all about for so many years and i am just delighted, believe me and i was told by lee housekeeper that again we would be celebrating. i actually thought i might be here alone. i remember one time i came here and they said "you've got to speak." and it was like one minute before the phone would

ring and low and behold i said not enough time. on this occasion. ladies and gentlemen, the mayor of san francisco and the lady who keeps the fountain going, mayor london breed. >> thank you, mayor willy brown. we appreciate you being here early this morning. and let me just start by saying i appreciate the city so much and everything you all have done to keep us safe when we had to shut this city down a year ago. today, we commemorate the 1906 earthquake and we also recognize our first responders. we have our fire chief janine nick olson today as well as our police chief bill scott and the person who has been leading during this pandemic, the emergency operation center thank you all so much.

dr. colfax didn't get up this early in the morning. when i think about san francisco in the 1906 earthquake and how far we've come, just think about it. 250,000 people were homeless because of the earthquake and the fire. when i think about san francisco and our resilience, that's what we've been talking about this entire pandemic. we've come so far and we have made magic happen out of tragedy. the 1989 earthquake. many of us were around during that earthquake. maybe not the 1986, the embarcadero was shadowed by a freeway and now it's open and bright and available for all to enjoy and to see. the same with this pandemic

with san franciscans. we go through earthquakes. we go through pandemics. we go through things. when the time comes and we need to rise up like the phoenix we are, we stand strong, proud, and together and that's what the people of san francisco did in 1906 when we rebuilt this city and that's why we come here today to show appreciation to the guardians of the city, to show respect for the people who risk their lives to remember the 250,000 people who were homeless and the thousands of people who lost their lives. at this time, we commemorate the 1906 earthquake and we recognize how amazing and strong we are as a city and so i'm given the signal from martha cohen that we are almost

at a minute. are we there, martha? all right. and our sheriff paul miamoto is here. thank you so much, sheriff, for joining us. and, at this time, in recognition for those first responders, for the people we lost during the 1906 earthquake, for the people we lost during this pandemic. let's take a moment of silence.

thank you all so much for joining us in prayer. we're glad you've seen us survive 150 years. thank you again to the fire department and our chief and the police department and the department of public health, our sheriff's department, our first responders, the people who will continue to be the guardians of san francisco, we are coming out of this pandemic and we are coming out stronger than ever. thank you so much.

♪ san francisco open your gate here is your wondering one saying no more ♪♪ ♪ san francisco welcome

hi everyone. i'm san francisco mayor london breed and it has been a very, very challenging year for all of us in san francisco, but

i've got to tell you, we're coming alive again. we're starting to open the city again. i see you urban alkamine. thank you for all the work you do to keep us safe out here. we are here today because we are taking an additional step further to get the city re-opened. i'm joined by a number of our city department heads including our city administrator car men chiu and our librarian michael lambert. and, let me tell you, michael has not only been running this library, he and so many of our librarians and the people who work for the library here in san francisco, they more than almost any other department have been working as disaster service workers to help address this pandemic. they've been down at covid command at mascone center

showing up every day doing whatever it takes. organization. going out to our hotels where we are helping to support our homeless residents. going out to the community hubs to help support our kids. preparing virtual lesson plans and reading time. i did a reading time for kids during this pandemic as well virtually, of course. doing so many incredible things to help get our city going during a very challenging time. i know many of us, we wish we didn't have to go through this this past year, but what we should look at is the sacrifices we made and where we are now today. san francisco has vaccinated about 60% of the residents here in the city, more than the state and national average. and, over 85% of of those who

are over the age of 65 have been vaccinated. we are on the road to recovery. yes, covid is still here whether we want it to be or not. yes, we still have to do our parts and distance and wear a mask and not get too comfortable because the last thing we need is another surge and the need to shut this city down again, but the fact is san franciscans, we are on the road to recovery. we are on the road to building a stronger san francisco. and, that gives me hope for the future and, today is not just talking about our recovery. it's also looking at re-opening our city. re-opening our libraries.

of course, we're going to start with the main library and then we're going to head over to chinatown, mission, and a number of the community libraries and i don't know if you know this, but i grew up in san francisco, and, at that time, there wasn't all this computer internet stuff that we had today. we had to actually go to the library because we would get a look report assignment and the western edition library was my library of choice. i went to ben franklin middle school. and we had to go through a card catalog to find the book, it was in alphabetical order and that's how we did things. now it's all computerized, it's easy. and, in fact, i still have a library card and now i download my audio books and other things for free. so all those books i forgot to bring back, they just disappear after they expire on my phone.

a lot different than it used to be. no excuse for those of us who want to take advantage of reading, of using the computers and other things in the library, we're finally opening and i just, i can't be more grateful to this department and what they have done. all of its employees. all of the people of san francisco, we did this together. we made this happen together. yes, we have our challenges like any other major city. we still have so much work to do to unaddress the inequities that continue to exist in our society. but we're in a good place right now and we should be proud. we can take a moment. we can take a moment to enjoy this time and to recognize the fact that we are here, that we have an incredible opportunity, and we have a future to look forward to. that's what today is about.

it starts with our libraries. the giants and the warriors are now able to play with fans. i saw folks out there soccer leagues, a bunch of kids playing in soccer leagues. i went to the tennis center in golden gate park, packed with people. of course, being responsible, i saw folks walking their dogs and doing all kinds of fun stuff in our amazing parks system. so we are on the road to recovery and i am looking forward to the day when we can finally throw these masks in the area and wave them like we just don't care because i don't even know what any of you look like anymore. so, with that, thank you so much. today is about opening our libraries as a first step in our road to recovery along with other many of our incredible

city assets for the public to enjoy and, with that, to talk more specifically about our library and the work that we're going to be doing to move our city forward is our city librarian michael lambert. >> thank you so much. it feels so good to be here. thank you, madam mayor. thank you, so much for your leadership for guiding us all through this past year and welcome everyone. today is a special day. i'm so honored to be here with mayor breed and announce the books are back and your san francisco public library is re-opening. as our mayor mentioned, she is a power user of the library's collections and we appreciate all her support for our institution and our library

staff. i also want to acknowledge the president of the san francisco public library commission, dr. mary wardell garduzi and library commissioners connie wolf, dr. aronia lopez and commissioner john lee and the executive director marie zapella. thank you all so much for your advocacy and leadership on behalf of our library system. also here, is carol eisen. i have to say carol has been a tremendous partner this past year working with our staff who have been activated as disaster service workers and more recently helping us to recall staff so we can re-open the library. thank you, carol, for your partnership. it's so excitingtor here at this moment and i am beyond

thankful that we're finally able to re-open our libraries for in-person services. it's been a long, hard 13 months, but now we're in a position to safely re-open our libraries for brows and bounce. patrons will be able to experience browsing our stacks again something i know they have dearly missed. we'll also have our public access computers available for printers and high-speed internet access. and, it's really fitting

we'll still be offering spl to go and next week we're going to open the patrero branch and the west portal branch tuesday. we should have all of our branches re-opened by the fall

before the start of school. and i really want to thank the community for all your patience and support. you've hung in there and i just really appreciate all your patience as we phase this re-opening and the coming weeks and months ahead. at this time, i'd like to introduce our city administrator carmen chiu. in 2019, city administrator chiu partnered with the challenge initiative to compile a woman's book list to inspire the next generation of women leaders. we're so fortunate to have her support in getting our libraries re-open. city administrator chiu. >> when i was a little girl, i can remember going to the library. i maxed out every single book i could possibly get with my library card. it was always some kind of a

cartoon, garfield or whatever it might have been at the time. and, i have to say how important it was for me to be able to access the library. my parents didn't have a whole lot of money. it wasn't as if we could go to a store and pick out a book or the latest edition we've been hearing about or reading about in school. for me, and many people like me in my community, being able to go to the public library was the one place you got to go where you had the opportunity to get the books you saw in school. you were able to borrow and bring it home. take to your bed or read it on the couch. it was a place that created opportunities. the opportunity to dream and the opportunity to learn. and i think for so many san franciscans, being able to see the libraries re-open, our public libraries re-open is a blessing. i think san francisco has among the best library system in the entire country and i want to thank michael lambert, our city

librarian and all of our commissioners, our friends of the library, our mayor for your support of our library system. today, when we think about this announcement, why i'm so excited, you know, covid-19 has not been kind to people. it's a disease that has required that we went against every single nature of our being staying away from our friends, our families, being disconnected from one another, being isolated and, in particular, for people who are seniors, for our kids. and, so, when we think about bringing back our libraries, it's more than just being able to access books free and wonderful library services and education, it's about coming back together as a community. and, when i think about how exciting it is that not only the main is opening but that chinatown branch is opening and mission branch is opening, it makes me proud because we're also thinking about the communities that are underserved and not only that, but the community that is live in the most community

residential neighborhoods. so i want to thank the library for not only being a place where we can learn but being a safe place for our community to come back together. i want to thank the mayor for all of 0er leadership. i can't imagine a single meeting with the mayor that she hasn't thought about what are we going to do about bringing people back together. what are we going to do about mental health and i want to thank her because she has been constantly pushing not only for us to re-open, but to do it in a safe way, to remember that at the end of the day, we have to make sure we keep our community safe and to do this together. so i want to thank her for her leadership. and, finally, my last thanks really goes to the workers, the staff of the public library. at its peak, there were 600 san francisco public library workers who were deployed as disaster service workers. the folks helping to pass out food at the pantries. the folks coming to the command

center coming to help with all the things we needed. now, we still have 150 who are still deployed. they have been a critical part of our whole response and i just want to thank them for not only the work they continue to do in our emergency response, but for all the work that they are going to be going as we re-open our branches. today is a great day. the sun is shining on us and we are so thrilled. congratulations to the library system. >> thank you. speaking of the san francisco public library staff, we want to thank shauna sherman for joining us today. she runs the african american center here at the main, but she worked as a contact tracer and we really appreciate people like you and others for the work that you continue to do to uplift the community. and so, i know that and, again, carol, thank you for getting all of the staff back to the library because, let me tell you, i know it was hard work

but because many of the library staff felt so dedicated to the work of helping to support the city, yes, they wanted to come back to work, but they also wanted to finish the work they were doing to address this pandemic. so, again, we want to say thank you so much for your hard work and all that you did to help this city throughout this pandemic. and, unlike carmen chiu who probably returned her books to the library when she was a kid, thank goodness i waived all those fines and fees of the past because i'd be in real trouble right now. forgive me, library. forgive me. [ laughter ] but, with that, thank you all again to the commissioners, the friends of the public library. so many incredible people who care deeply about making sure that people in this city have access to books, that they have access to educational materials

to computers and all the things that can help nurture and grow your mind, but also a really good for your soul. so, with that, i want to open it up to questions. do we have any questions? no questions. easy. easy day today. all right. thank you all so much. take care.

>> during the coronavirus disease covid-19 emergency, this committee will convene remotely until it is allowed to meet in person. comments or opportunity to speak during the public comment period are available by calling 415-655-0001, access code 146-187-9247. again,