[5] In August 1877 a residents' meeting was called by state senator George H. Rogers and Andrew Smith Hallidie who advocated the creation of a free public library for San Francisco.

In 1905, architect Daniel Burnham presented his plans for a new Civic Center for San Francisco, including a new library building.

[11] Ten major murals by California Tonalist Gottardo Piazzoni were installed in 1931–1932; four more were completed in 1945, but left uninstalled until the 1970s.

The old main library, which was damaged in the 1989 Loma Prieta earthquake, was rebuilt as the new Asian Art Museum.

[17] Under the "Browse and Bounce” program, the public library began reopening its doors to visitors on May 3, 2021, for the first time since its shutdown in March 2020 due to the stay-at-home order issued during the COVID-19 pandemic in the United States.

The first floor of the Main Branch was the first to open with adjusted guidelines, such as an hour time limit and plexiglass between computers.

In 1930, San Francisco voters approved a charter amendment to increase taxes to fund the construction of the Anza Branch Library.

In 1969, a red brick building was built on the corner of the 3rd Street and Revere Avenue in the Bayview/Hunters Point district with a bequest from Anna E. Waden, a clerical employee of the City of San Francisco.

During the library’s remodel in 2012, she fought for the opportunity of constructing the site be given to a locally led crew/company from the Bayview Community.

Many patrons who had essentially grown up in the library spoke at the many community meetings, fighting for the change and attributed their continued education or love of reading and learning to the involvement, presence, care and compassion of Mrs. Burton and felt the honor befitting.

The one floor branch library at 500 Cortland, was the 21st in the system and built on the site of the original Bernal School at a cost of $94,600.

It was designed by Frederick H. Meyer, one of the most prolific and versatile architects in San Francisco at the turn of the 20th century, funded by the Work Projects Administration and dedicated on October 21, 1940.

Located in Chinatown on Powell Street between Washington and Jackson, the name was changed in 1958 to more accurately reflect the community served.

In 1991, public and private funds were obtained for a major renovation and expansion of the Chinatown Branch Library.

The branch was seismically retrofitted and expanded to twice its original size with a community meeting room and story-room available to use for programs and special events.

Harvey Milk served as a member of the San Francisco Board of Supervisors until he was assassinated along with Mayor George Moscone on November 27, 1978.

Glen Park Branch was then housed in several different locations over the course of 42 years until a multiuse building was constructed in the neighborhood at 2825 Diamond Street.

In June 1917, to serve residents of the growing Golden Gate Valley, Cow Hollow, and Marina neighborhoods, construction of the Golden Gate Valley Branch Library was begun at a site on the southwest corner of Green and Octavia Streets that had been purchased by the city for $7,500.

The resulting brick and terra cotta Beaux-Arts structure was designed in the shape of a basilica by local architect Ernest Coxhead.

In 1914 a new Richmond Branch opened at the current location, the first library building in San Francisco constructed with Andrew Carnegie grant funds.