The New St Paul's Cathedral

North Beach library a test of preservation movement By John King San Francisco’s North Beach branch library is a case study in where the preservation movement is going — and how, in some cases, it’s in danger of going too far. The 1959 structure resembles an oversize ranch house, albeit one with thick brick walls and too few windows. It can’t expand without disrupting the playground that hems it in on three sides. And far from being unique, it is one of eight branches designed by the firm Appleton & Wolfard between 1951 and 1965.