When it’s playtime for tots at the Glen Park Rec Center, dozens of 3-, 4-, and 5-year-olds on trikes are on the move. Where are they going? The destination is obviously not the point.
Into this organized chaos, Darren Heiber, Glen Park Library Branch Manager, leads Story Time, a half-hour in which Heiber, a high energy man if ever there was one, has the toddlers transfixed as he acts out the stories and encourages their participation, while some of them wander around exploring.
While Heiber makes it seem spontaneous, all youth-serving librarians in the San Francisco Public Library system must go through an internal training, loosely based on “Mother Goose on the Loose” which incorporates reading, phonics through music, and body part awareness through movement. It helps bring families in and educates caretakers who can often feel isolated. (See videos below. The guardians of the children agreed to the filming.)
Heiber, 48, was raised in Lancaster, Ohio and South Orange, New Jersey. He taught high school English for five years, during which time he relieved the school librarian while she took her lunch. Another English teacher suggested a career in school libraries, which he hadn’t heretofore considered; the idea appealed to him.
“She knew me. She knew what I cared about more than anything was teaching critical thinking to our youth.” Heiber went back for a degree in library science, worked in San Mateo County as a teen services librarian for eight years and ultimately found a home at the Glen Park Library.
One thing that’s unique about the library is the shared space, says Heiber. The ribbon was cut in 2007 by then-mayor Gavin Newsom. It was part of the largest building development in Glen Park, encompassing Canyon Market and the condos on Wilder Street. Together they marked a major positive shift in the Glen Park, making it more amenable for residents and enlivening the neighborhood. Prior to that the library had to move five times, always to a leased space.
As someone who lives in the Mission, Heiber loves that Glen Park has a lot of the dynamism of San Francisco but has such a small village feel to it. “Downtown Glen Park is full of delicious restaurants, wonderful shops, and the people get so much of what they need in such a small space. It is such a connected community. I just feel that it’s a very, very welcoming community that has a broad economic demographic represented here and a breadth of history and experience.”
Heiber was recently recognized as Community Member of the Month, a feature in the SFPD Ingleside Station Newsletter (pp. 8-9), photographed with his partner of 25 years, Kri Mitsuda.
As the branch manager with three other staff librarians, Heiber notes that their working relationship is ideal. “Three of us started around the same time in 2023, which is very lucky. It’s wonderful because we’re in a place where we get to try new things. We don’t have established traditions, or at least not many.
And the community was coming out of shutdown and saying, ‘I’m ready to reconnect, I have an idea for how to do it and I need a place to do it.’”
Among many programs at the library are two for writers, “Shut Up and Write” and “Draft Zero,” that are two examples of community-building experiences initiated by members of the public. Many programs are led by the librarians or presenters who are brought in for special events.
The Glen Park community also contributes their artistic talents such as with the Tiny Art Show and the I Lift My Heart in Glen Park short form poetry project.
From the “I lift my heart in Glen Park” poetry project.
Scenes from Open House, May 2024. Upper left or Top: CNL volunteer Nora Dowley.
Heiber and library staff have freedom to program activities, within the rules of the City of San Francisco and the civil service. Going forward they’re taking a harder look at the offerings at the library, refining where needed and making sure that the programming continues to serve the broader Glen Park community.
One important immediate goal Heiber identified is to enhance their outreach to non-library users—people who’ve never been in the building, who don’t have a library card, who aren’t taking advantage of all the digital resources on offer.
Heiber and his staff’s top priority is balancing safety and access by fostering a safe space that’s welcoming for everybody without excluding anyone.
Many of the activities at the library depend on the ideas and participation of volunteers. The Council of Neighborhood Libraries (CNL) is a citywide organization that has neighborhood volunteers at each library to identify branch needs, channel neighborhood input, and promote public awareness about the library system and its services.
Our representatives on the CNL are Nora Dowley and Lindy Chris.
One thing Heiber thinks not many people are aware of: “You can live anywhere in California and get a San Francisco Public Library card for free. It comes with all the same rights and responsibilities. And it works both ways. Most California public libraries sign a reciprocity agreement with the others because we want people to have access to all the resources wherever they are.”
When asked what his favorite book is, Heiber didn’t hesitate: “The Little Prince. It’s quick, it’s easy, it’s full of life lessons in little gems.”
Maybe check it out at the Glen Park Library?
