 Good morning everyone. This is a terrific turnout. We're delighted to start today, today to celebrate the official, if you will, unveiling of our bridge at Maine, a new resource center. We're thrilled because it represents sort of a new era in how we offer library services to our community. And what do I mean by that? Well, we always have to look at reinventing ourselves in terms of how we address very specific needs in our community. We know that people need to either learn how to read, believe it or not, basic reading and writing skills. Several years ago there was a study that was commissioned by the library that revealed that we're really a tale of two cities while we're in the tech community and we have a very literate population. We also have a huge segment of our community that needs support in basic reading, writing skills, what we call the new literacies, which is about early childhood development, early literacy. We also know that technology literacy, I myself sometimes consider myself somewhat functionally literate because I'm a baby boomer. I wasn't a digital native, so some of those skills and technology are also part of what we need to do in libraries. And this represents sort of our reinvention of the library. We're delighted to have our mayor here today because he's been tremendously supportive and this really fits in with his vision of shared prosperity, but also education, which is so important in our community. So I want to start off by sort of giving you a visual. It's really important that you actually see what's going on, the interactivity that's taking place in our bridge at Maine. So on the far right, to my right, your left, you will see what we call the Learning Studio when you walk through the space. It's a beautiful area that has a smart board. It's designed to help us with digital literacy for our community, very flexible space for book clubs for our traditional library needs, but also the exciting new era of that kind of digital learning that needs to take place. Right behind us is the heart of our center. It's Project Read, the basic adult literacy center. They've been around for over 30 years, over 30 years, and they've done wonderful work, one-on-one instruction for folks that really need that basic literacy. We're also delighted today and you'll hear later from our Veterans Administrator that we're going to be opening a Veterans Resource Center as part of the bridge at Maine. We're thrilled about that opportunity because our veterans really do need access to benefits and information about how to really be empowered to do great and be very productive. And then to my far left, you'll also see a technology lab, an 18-seat space. I have in my hand a copy of the various programs that take place in a given month and it ranges from nutrition and healthy choices. That's the health literacy that I was talking about. StartSavingNow, a program on financial literacy. Talks about right now, you'll see some folks there. It's part of a job center lab where people can actually access resources for careers or for your basic employment opportunity. So that's what this center is all about. It's really symbolic that we're calling it the bridge at Maine because we really represent the new literacies and new start. So with that, I want to take a moment. I know we've got quite a few people that I want to acknowledge because it's been a real team effort. But without further ado, I'm very honored and proud of the fact that we've got amazing support from our mayor. So it's my pleasure to introduce Mayor Ed Lee. Let me begin by just signaling my appreciation for Louise Herrera, the best librarian in the country. In my opinion, you know, Louise, Supervisor Kim, I think Eric was with us, Mar and I and Public Works. We all sat in this space months ago when it was a shell and we were discussing a lot and a lot of issues. And lo and behold, I think some of the dreams that the library and its commission and its management have helped are just physically here now. I'm truly, truly excited. Let me tell you this. I think libraries in general, when you say library, people envision you walk into a building. There's a bunch of books and you find your book. And if you're lucky, you sit down and you read it. That's what a library in the kind of traditional era has been. This is not your mother and father's library. This main is truly, I think, indicating the library of the present and future needs for our city. I said less than a week ago, in fact, last week in the State of the City address, that we were not going to cut our city department's budgets. But we were going to demand that our departments do more with the money that they have. I think this is one of the best demonstrations of that very theme, giving the public more with what we have. And reimagining the spaces that we have and trying to activate them in things that the public has told us for years that they need. And I know Supervisor Kim and Supervisor Ma are joining me because they've been huge supporters of education in the city. And they know what literacy means to people who are not traditionally equipped or baby boomers or people that were not technologically inclined from the beginning of their lives. They know how much literacy means in all aspects. To be able to have good literacy when it comes to financial demands, good literacy when it comes to technology, have a literacy ability when it comes to health, are incredibly essential in people's daily lives today. And to have a main library that matches up with your level of literacy and where you want to go to an individual tutor, somebody that's going to volunteer their time to be with you to help you read and master a level, and from that level to be able to gain levels in addition to that is incredibly, incredibly important. It's something that I know at the heart of it is what our city says. When we want to share prosperity, that's the best demonstration of it that I can possibly think of is education literacy. And to have topics like health, financial, and technology encased in these rooms with the kind of equipment and support, I say is yet another demonstration that we're doing a lot more with the financial infusion that we have at the library. This is an incredible part of our main. I'm so thankful for it. I'm also, you know, there's going to be a lot of stories, and of course you get to tell a lot of stories in libraries. That's what they're for. And there's a lot of storylines on this, but I also want to say thank you to the leadership supervisor, Kim. She believed in this as well. She was investing her time in it and coming here for many weeks on end. And I know that supervisor Eric was going to take any ideas of this and see if every branch of the library can repeat it as well. Because I know that that's where we want to go with this is you've all heard about the wonderful branch library program and all the branches are now modernized. They're open. They're accessible. They engage families and kids from those neighborhoods, make those libraries so active. Well, the main is not only that, it's doing even more than that. It's demonstrating what we can do with technology. It's being right here as a great neighbor of mid-market. They're going to take advantage of our relationships that we're building with the community benefits agreements and others. We're going to signal the libraries a good long-term investment for a lot of our technology companies that are invested here. I want to give a shout out to Public Works. They took on the responsibility to say on time and on budget. Mohammad, congratulations for the space because you got to have all partners. You got to have everybody engaged in this and Public Works was there. Their BBR was there to make sure that the space and the way they configured it and the way they built it out was exactly reflective of what people's needs were here. And they got a lot of community input on this as well. You'll also find at one of the learning centers at the bridge a couple of youngsters. We call them IPO kids. They're kids that we recruited that we're going to interrupt their lives for the better. They're going to engage with us. They're going to give themselves a path out of the touching of our criminal justice system and into a successful idea of what life is all about. I just met them. They're exciting. You got to introduce yourselves to them because they'll be helping tutor people in these areas of the main. And then the Veterans Service Center as Louise described is yet another storyline, another reflection of our city's commitment that we will help veterans in every way we can. To have a resource center like this hooked up with the most modern machinery, hooked up with tutors, hooked up with people that can help folks not only get the resumes together, get some skill sets together, get some learning so that they can be prepared for the jobs that we want them to have and they deserve. This is going to be one of the most welcoming centers that anyone can find and yet another reflection of some true good solid values that our city has. I want to thank the library for having this learning center, for having the veterans center here, for having IPO kids here to be part of it, for amassing an ongoing level of volunteerism to have one-on-one tutoring for this literacy that we're going to see happen right here and to have the kinds of training and programs that they have. And finally, all of the agencies that are with us, including the supervisors, one of the topics that we engaged in last time we were in a shell of this building was how to make sure this library was safe and inviting for everyone. And I am so happy to report that we have a 73% reduction in a number of service complaints and resources that this library had been known for just literally a year ago and that we have 40% literal complaints in the actual complaints. And that this library is once again welcoming of everyone, but they have a code of contact at everyone, a conduct that everyone respects and that it is not dominated by an unsafe atmosphere but one that is welcoming and inviting and appreciative of everybody who wants to be here for all the good reasons. Let's take advantage of this time, as I said at my State of the City address. We have a huge amount of wealth in the city. Can we invest so that this prosperity is shared by everyone? Well, one of the great mediums is our public libraries. Every branch and including the main is even more accessible and sharing of that prosperity. We will continue asking our private sector to invest in not only the things that go on in this building, but just in a few months you'll have a teen media center that will be opened. And we're going to be excited because it will open around the time that the 400 mayors come from across the country and we can demonstrate to them when a new teen media center is all about at the main. I'm excited for all of these things happening. They are what I wanted this library to be so much to be, and they are in fact there. They've dedicated themselves to the modern city of San Francisco for the welcoming of everyone from every level. This is what libraries should be, and I am so proud of Louise's leadership here and the entire library commission and all of its management. And I thank them and I thank them for working with me and certainly working with the supervisor of this district, Jane Kim. Thank you so much. Thank you, Mayor. Thank you. Mr. Mayor mentioned about 400 mayors descending. We're going to have 25,000 librarians descending right after the U.S. Conference of Mayors in June. So we're very excited about the mix, the Teen Digital Media Center also opening. Thank you so much for your support. I do want to reiterate that thanks to that support that we had, Supervisor, your office as well. We engaged in dialogue with the Family Support Network, the Coalition on Homelessness, and we have in fact reduced the patron incidents 40% since last January. So that's really a round of applause to all our community for engaging with us and making this a safe and welcoming facility. And on that note, I know that we had one-on-one dialogue with Supervisor Jane Kim and it's really an honor and a pleasure to have her offer remarks this morning. So Supervisor. Good morning. One of the most amazing things that I think we all value about libraries is that they're public. And this is a public library. And what public libraries stand for is a place of equity. Anyone can walk into a public library, whether you are wealthy, if you are low income, if you are a child, an adult, a veteran, disabled. This is a space that is accepting of all communities. Yet as we talk about a place that accepts everyone, there are challenges that really come along with that. And I represent this district that we're in today. It is a very diverse district. I represent the poorest residents of San Francisco. And as of last year, I now also host the wealthiest zip code. And coming in that representation, thinking about what it means to serve all of our communities and how to build a community and public spaces that are accepting of everyone is a challenge. It is a challenge. It's a challenge for our office, this administration, our Tenderloin police captain who's here today, Captain Cherness, and of course for Lisa Rara, here at the main library, we are at the intersection of mid-market, the south of market, the Tenderloin, and of course all of the major transit corridors come through Civic Center. So the entire city can access the space. And so last year, actually over the last couple of years, as we think about the challenges of how to create a space for all people, I really appreciate the main library and particularly our library in Leastware for really taking on this challenge with initiative. Creating a space such as this and in particular tackling literacy in this space is so important and relevant for the library. In Sacramento, they look at our state budget and they actually project how many prisons they're going to have to build based on third grade literacy scores, based on how third graders do on their reading tests. And literacy is a prediction of how individuals and adults are going to do in our society in terms of employment. This library is trying to counter that. The Tenderloin has the highest concentration of families here in the city. We also have some of our most low income residents as adults. So how can we take on literacy throughout the ages, regardless of who you are, and actually have a library be a resource to empower our communities to counter that. I see a lot of our residents here today. So I want to acknowledge you for being a part of the process and helping us really rethink what this public space can be. But I'm incredibly excited about the change that this library is going to offer for our communities. And so it's so appropriate that we're here today to cut the ribbon on the bridge because this library really sits at the middle and should be the bridge between all of our neighborhoods, between mid-market, the Tenderloin, south of market, and of course, for the rest of the city. Congratulations to everyone that was involved in making this possible today. And I look forward to really the positiveness that's going to come out over the next couple of years. Thank you, Supervisor. And also, some sincere acknowledgements to Supervisor Eric Maher for his support throughout all of our city. He has several branches, the Richmond, the Anza, and has been a stalwart supporter of the library. So thank you so much for your appreciate you're being here as well. The mayor mentioned our partner in DPW, Mohammed Neuro has done fabulous work, not only in the branch library improvement program, but certainly in this project. It really is an honor to work side by side with them. But I do want to call out some of the other staff members that I know are here that do the day in, day out work. And as we mentioned, are on budget, on task and created a beautiful space. So I don't know if Julia Lau is here, but I know I saw Irene Aquino, who is our lead architect in the program back there. Steve Shee, our project manager. Steve, where are you? There you go back here. Thank you so much. And Dennis Oates, our resident engineer I know is here as well. Thank you gentlemen and ladies for a job well done. And now it's also my pleasure to introduce a key partner in this endeavor. I mentioned the Veterans Resource Center. So from Sacramento and also serving this entire area is David Rose, who is the Central Valley local interagency network coordinator. So let's give him a warm welcome, David. Good morning, veterans. Ladies and gentlemen, distinguished guests. I am a member of California Veterans Affairs and on their behalf, I would like to thank this great city for making the bridge possible. Without the bridge, we could not have the Veterans Resource Center. As an army, Iraq veteran, I know truly the difficulties that veterans go through when they try to transition. And this could be directly out of the service or many years later. There is no better venue than having the public library and the bridge as a place for them to get connected to their benefits. Let me give you a little bit of a background. About three years ago, this partnership between California Veterans Affairs and the State Library Association was born. And we had three pilot libraries that was Reading, Bakersfield, and San Diego. That proved to be such a creative and innovative venture that we're on the third iteration now, and about 30 libraries are now hosting a Veterans Resource Center. And so you have to give yourselves a hand for that. Before I close, I would definitely like to give some recognition to individuals that help the Veterans Resource Center come to fruition. And that would be Shan Yu from the County Veterans Service Office. Eduardo Eddie Ramirez, Master Sergeant United States Air Force Retired, CEO and Founder of OneVet One Voice. Helen Wong from AmVet's Post 34 Commander. Veterans Affairs Commission that meets over at the City Hall, the VA Medical Center staff, and Swords to Plowshares. In closing, I'd like to say on behalf of CalVet and all those attending that I dedicate the Veterans Resource Center to all the veterans of San Francisco City. Thank you very much. Thank you so much, David. Very, very much appreciate your support and your partnership. Okay, this also has wonderful support from our private community. So it's my pleasure also to announce that we've received an anonymous gift for the bridge to either sustain our programming that goes on for any furniture, equipment needs. We also want to call out the Lisa and Douglas Goldman Fund, who have been tremendous supporters of our literacy efforts. So let's give them all a round of applause for their terrific support. One other DPW staffer that should be recognized is Julia Shook, who's also working on our mix as an architect and designer and also provided support. Julia, I know you're here. So thank you for your wonderful support. And we're almost there. So without further ado, I want to acknowledge our staff that's done a wonderful job of engaging with community to make this happen. Our Chief of Maine, Karen Strauss, I know Karen, you're here. Great work. Michelle Jeffers, who's behind me. I know our Chief of Community Programs and Partnerships. In the stairway, I see Mel Gooch, our Literacy and Learning Coordinator. Yamila Alvarez, our Community Engagement Manager. And I know Randy Weaver is probably out there waiting for us. Where's Randy? He's somewhere here. There he is. Back there. Thank you, Randy, for all the great work. And then last but not least, we had an entire literacy and learning task force of staff members that are all here. Raise your hand. Anybody that participated in that? They were the ones that envisioned this idea, folks. Did a fantastic job. And I also see some wonderful community partners. Jane Gardner, Joe Rodriguez, who helped us envision this throughout the process. Thank you for your help. And also the vision of our Library Commission, who give hours and hours of amazing support. Teresa Ono, our Commission President, is here. Wonderful supporter of the Library. And I don't know whether Mary Wardell from USEP is here, our new Commissioner. If not, all the commissioners deserve our recognition and acknowledgment. Thank you for your great, great work. So without further ado, Mr. Mayor, are we ready? All right. We're going to do the honors here and basically do it very casually so everybody can then come and join us. Come on, join us.