Sutro Library

Sutro Library Adolph Sutro's collection (& more) via CA State Library. Materials date from 3 BCE to 21st century.

08/26/2026

Since 1973, August 26 has been designated Women’s Equality Day and this registration book from the woman suffrage headquarters in New York is the perfect item to celebrate this day. While being an important historical item, it’s also a treasure trove for genealogists. It spans from 1909 to 1917.

08/12/2026

Get ready for today’s eclipse with this 1873 book on the moon from our collection.

08/08/2026

The Book of Cats: a chit-chat chronicle of feline facts and fancies, legendary, lyrical, medical, mirthful and miscellaneous by Charles Ross is a purrfect find from Sutro Library to honor 😸

07/24/2026

Are you in your feels — World Cup over, autumn still so far away? Add this 1954 doo-wop single ‘I Cried’ by the Velvets to your playlist. This red record from Red Robin Records is part of our collection.

07/14/2026

Summer views, make us feel fine! Here’s a little nostalgia this summer with a View Master, complete with 3 cardboard reels featuring Donald Duck, Chip and Dale and Uncle Scrooge

Some more of our favorite things here at Sutro. Kappa of Chi Phi Dance Card, Saturday September the Thirtieth, 1916 – D...
07/09/2026

Some more of our favorite things here at Sutro. Kappa of Chi Phi Dance Card, Saturday September the Thirtieth, 1916 – Dance cards collection, 1896-1929. Steenalisa shares that "although each of these cards is special, this one is my favorite because of the inscription written in pencil on the first page, presumably by the owner of the card. It reads “went with Mr. Menther, a pledge to this frat. Wore my green crepe de chene & green slippers, etc. Fine dancer.” Dances like this were an important part of the American social and romantic scene in the late 19th and early 20th centuries, and this little window into this mystery woman’s life begets so many questions. Who was she? What did her green dress and slippers look like? And what ever came of Mr. Menther??"

07/07/2026

Sometimes the treasures in our collection aren’t the ones that are the rarest or the most beautiful, but rather we connect with them in some personal way. This is our new series Some of Our Favorite Things, enjoy!

07/03/2026

Our Sutro Library collection houses some real gems of American history, like this 1776 newspaper with engravings by Paul Revere that describes the Boston Massacre. Note that each coffin included the initials of one of the fatalities of the massacre.

Video description: overhead shots and then close up shops of a newspaper article with 4 black coffins with initials on the front. Text appears in the video reading: “newspaper reporting the Boston Massacre 1770. On march 5, 1770 American colonists gathered in front of the Boston Customs House following an incident earlier in the day with a colonist and a soldier. Colonists taunted and threw objects at the British soldiers, who fired into the crowd killing Samuel Gray, James Caldwell, Crispus Attucks immediately. Samuel Maverick died the next morning.

06/22/2026

Happy National Pollinator Week! Check out some of our ‘bee-utiful’ books on bees and bee-keeping - which has been around for thousands of years! Video description: A book cart and table with books about bees and bee-keeping. Shows title pages and illustrations of bee hives, etc. Books range from 1600s-1800s.

06/22/2026

Splashing into summer with the water sign, Cancer. The crab may have been crushed by Hercules during one of his trials, but it won out in the end, being placed in the stars by Hera. In earlier times, it was also represented by a lobster, which is what it looks like from the 17th century astronomy book by Polish scholar Stanisław Lubieniecki titled "Theatri cometici pars prior communicationes de comotis" held by our Sutro Library.

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1630 Holloway Avenue
San Francisco, CA
94132

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Wednesday 10am - 4pm
Thursday 10am - 4pm
Friday 10am - 4pm

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