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09/09/2024 - 4:39pm

We are deeply saddened to announce the passing of long-time Mechanics’ Institute librarian, Alfred Craig Jackson. Serving as an employee of the Institute for more than 30 years before his retirement in June, Craig was an integral part of our team and was well loved by staff and members throughout his tenure.

Born in Toronto, Canada, Craig moved to San Francisco in 1989 and proudly became a US citizen in 1999. He held master’s degrees from York University and the University of Toronto,...

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08/31/2024 - 4:20pm

Based on a story by Akira Kurosawa. You might be surprised but the movie grabs you right away. Jon Voight plays an escaped convict trying, with his best friend (a very young Eric Roberts), to make a getaway by jumping on a set of 4 train engines in a railway yard somewhere in Alaska. Rebecca De Mornay is a railroad worker sleeping in one of these locomotives. When the engineer has a heart attack he accidentally causes a se...

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08/23/2024 - 3:26pm

The Mechanics Institute Library has a deep and extensive collection of short stories that stretches back to the early 20th century. Many of these you can find in anthologies such as The O. Henry Prize stories,...

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08/16/2024 - 2:55pm

The Bezzle by Cory Doctorow ( Fic Doctorow)

Cory Doctorow's new novel contains lots of historical trivia that I had not known before. For example, the economist John Kenneth Galbraith coined the term "bezzle" (from the word "embezzle") in the 1950s to describe the time bet...

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08/10/2024 - 8:32am

In the last year or so it seems everyone has yearned for lands near and far. The lockdown of 2020 and isolation of years past has invigorated the travel bug in many and researching unfamiliar locations is a must. Mechanics’ Institute has always maintained a robust travel guide section and regularly updated these books as new editions came out. These last few years have seen the travel industry change and many of the guideb...

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07/31/2024 - 2:33pm

A Perfect Vacuum/ Stanislaw Lem.  (Fic Lem)

Stanislaw Lem’s satire/parody of literary criticism -- in the form of critiques of books no one ever wrote -- will have you either laughing or groaning with recognition of the academic prose many of us have grown to know and loathe. Writers, literary people, or anyone who took an Engl...

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07/24/2024 - 1:26pm

The 2024 Summer Olympic Games begin this week in Paris! Officially running from Friday, July 26 through Sunday, August 11. 32 sports are being played with 329 gold medals to be awarded. The only new sport to debut at this Olympiad is breaking, otherwise known as breakdancing. This style of dance originated in the ‘70s and has gone on to become a competitive sport with international competitions and world championships. Dan...

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07/18/2024 - 7:24pm

PRINT BOOKS

FICTION

Lau Yee-Wa Tongueless Fic Yee-Wa
Miguel Bonnefoy Heritage Fic Bonnefoy
Jasper Fforde Red side story Fic Fforde
Emily Hauser For the most beautiful : a novel of the women of Troy...

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07/18/2024 - 7:18pm

PRINT BOOKS
NON-FICTION

Arts, Architecture & Crafts

Scott Doorley Assembling tomorrow : a guide to designing a thriving future from the Stanford d.school 744 D691

Biography & Genealogy

Kathleen Hanna Rebel girl : my life as a feminist punk 780.92 H243
Francine Pr...

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