By Beth Hillman

SAN FRANCISCO'S 28 public libraries carry books, videos, CDs, and DVDs and offer free special events, such as children's programming and guest lectures – even a chess club and Scrabble night (at the Bernal Heights branch). Also, patrons can now reserve audiovisual material (for more info call 415-557-4406). So in addition to your book of choice, you can have a movie or CD delivered to your local library and borrow it for a week. And chances are, no matter how wacky your passion is, someone has written the book on it. On-call librarians with Internet access and shelves of reference books will help you find anything you need. For more information call 415-557-4400 or go to www.sfpl.org.

The mother lode

The main branch of the San Francisco Public Library (100 Larkin, S.F. 415-557-4400) is the closest thing you'll get to a free amusement park. With six floors and more than a million books, CDs, videos, and other items for loan, the library has a dizzying, Disneyland-esque variety of entertainment. There's the International Center, with newspapers, magazines, and books in more than 40 languages, and the Career Center, where you can browse binders with current job openings. The top floor has a spacious outdoor patio and a glass ceiling à la Charlie and the Chocolate Factory. The current art display, "Unique Handmade Books," feels like an SFMOMA exhibit, but without the long lines or pretentious blather. There are also ethnically themed centers (African American, Chinese, and Filipino), as well as deaf services and environmental, gay and lesbian, and teen centers.

The nicest thing about the library is the staff, whose members offer smiles as eagerly as information. "It's a return to what the '60s was all about, the desire to make the world a better place and to help people," public affairs director Marcia Schneider says of the library.

Tools to the people

At first glance the Berkeley Tool Lending Library looks like a neighborhood hamburger stand. But the man at the front of the line isn't asking for large fries: he wants a drain snake.

Founded in January 1979, the tool library now lends about 5,000 tools, saving Berkeley residents from purchasing tools they may only need once. Pete McElligott, who spearheaded the project, says popular items include weed eaters, drills, and electric jackhammers.

An apartment-building owner who has been using the library since 1965 calls the library a godsend. "If someone needs a sewer snake, they can come down here and save themselves the $150 it costs to get Roto Rooter to come out." He also says he thinks the idea of sharing resources is local to Berkeley. "I'd imagine that other communities wouldn't want it. They'd want everyone to go down to Home Depot and buy the tools. Berkeley is special in that sense."

Luckily, that's not exactly the case. On Jan. 8, 2000, the Temescal Tool Lending Library opened with 325 tools available to Oakland residents. Tool-lending specialist Ty Yurgelevic says the library has grown exponentially, with a current budget of $100,000, 1,800 registered users, and 1,000 tools.

"Berkeley was the true pioneer," Yurgelevic says. "But I look at us as the first of a second wave. I've probably gotten 20 calls from across the country – Missouri, Texas, New York – all needing advice."

San Francisco also established its own Tool Lending Center in January 2001, which now has 1,700 members. Diane Ballecillo, the site manager, fixes its 2,600 tools and advises the borrowers on their use. On Thursdays and Saturdays the center offers free workshops on every aspect of home improvement, from installing hardwood floors to drywalling.