Blog

Are you a pet parent? Do you have a grumpy cat or playful pup in your life? Or, like me, do you somehow find yourself watch cat and dog videos on Youtube for hours on end? It's no secret that animals can provide stress relief and companionship in your life and coinciding with the dog days of summer, although here by the bay we don't get much of the lethargy inducing heat, this month's audiobook selections features an animal theme, from dogs and cats, to a famous whale and even a tiger.

Hello writers! A member recently gushed to me that Mechanics' Institute is the place where people actually write, that MI is the place of literary action in real time and that it’s a place where we don't just "talk" about writing, but where it really happens. Quite honestly that conversation made my day and it inspired me to write more about what goes on at the Library that may be of interest to our community of writers.

If you're a contest lover, our partne...

BOOKS

FICTION
Mary Kay Andrews The High Tide Club
Nick Arvin Mad boy: an account of Henry Phipps in the War of 1812
Nicolas Barreau Paris is always a good idea
Evgenia Citkowitz The shades
Jim...

Pride on Display: DVD/ Blu-ray Display

Summer is Pride season in the Bay Area. With our big celebration in San Francisco happening  June 23^rd and 24^th, Mechanics’ would like to highlight selections from our collection that feature stories about lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender communities. In the last few years, we’ve seen greater representation of queer cinema in the mainstream. Below are recent films to hit the big screen, as well as staff favorites....