Public Library: An American Commons is a photography exhibition on at the San Francisco Public Library’s Jewett Gallery, running from April 9 to June 12. The photographer, Robert Dawson, has captured the American relationship with public libraries across the country in a series of intimate portraits. From the Design Observer review:

What’s at stake here is more than access to a room full of books. The modern American public library is reading room, book lender, video rental outlet, internet café, town hall, concert venue, youth activity center, research archive, history museum, art gallery, homeless day shelter, office suite, coffeeshop, seniors’ clubhouse and romantic hideaway rolled into one.