I confess to an ongoing love affair with the San Francisco Public Library. The books! Oh the books.
Endless creative, design, and craft reference complete with enough punny knitting titles to distract me from my "serious" research. (I mean really—The Joy of Sox, Tag You're Knit, Domiknitrix...) Countless cookbooks to satisfy my appetite regardless of the day's dietary musings—Meatless Monday self: Moosewood Cookbook, Meat-full Tuesday self: Ad Hoc at Home, Carb-loading Wednesday: Tartine Breads... All the latest best sellers friends are touting as must reads, currently The Happiness Project. All this to say the 3 SFPL branches within walking distance of home are among my favorite local haunts.
The wildly talented Wendy MacNaughton illustrated The San Francisco Public Library In Its Own Words. Her drawings are beautifully matched with poignant words from "the people of the library". And while I'm sure I could have checked it out from my local branch, I recently purchased it for the Manwaring permanent collection.
Take a look: The San Francisco Public Library In Its Own Words