Mechanics' Institute remains closed during the extended Shelter in Place order. In the meantime, we have numerous resources available online including financial databases, eAudiobooks, chess tournaments, group meetings, and more. We have links to these and answers to some of the more common questions regarding the Institute's closure here.
Same building since 1910, same location since 1866, same ethos since 1855. If you are a new, long-time, or prospective member the Virtual Tour of the Mechanics' Institute will orient you to our building, include an overview of our history and mission, and outline our current services and the benefits of membership.
Join librarian Taryn Edwards in conversation with author and coach Debra Eckerling who will provide the advice you need to help you reboot your writing goals and make a new plan. In parternship with the San Francisco Writers Conference and the Women's National Book Association, San Francisco Chapter.
Tech and the City Series co-presented by Gray Area and Goethe-Institut
Now, in the time of COVID 19 when respiratory health is on everyone’s mind, James Nestor’s latest book examines the often misunderstood and overlooked science of breathing.
Our annual celebration of James Joyce’s Ulysses goes online as our first international Bloomsday, with a montage of readings, performance, song and celebration.
San Francisco since its birth has been a literary town. The thousands of people who came to California during the Gold Rush were voracious readers – eager to catch up on the news of the day and to while away the time between shifts in the gold fields with a good book. While many were as simple as a bookshelf of titles in a boarding house; there was a great need for true libraries to serve the needs of the city’s growing population.
Join Jim Azevedo, marketing director at Smashwords, the largest distributor of self-published ebooks, for a conversation about ebook publishing a post COVID-19 world. In parternship with the San Francisco Writers Conference and the Women's National Book Association, San Francisco Chapter.
Join longtime San Francisco Chronicle baseball writer John Shea for a conversation about his collaboration with Willie Mays on Mays’ new memoir, 24: Life Stories and Lessons from the Say Hey Kid. In parternship with the San Francisco Writers Conference and the Women's National Book Association, San Francisco Chapter.
This program focuses on the issues of diversity and division that complicated the Suffrage Movement throughout its history and the implications now.
