Berkeley has appointed Rebecca Alcalá-Veraflor — San Francisco Public Library's chief of branches, overseeing the city's 27-branch network and roughly 400 staff members since 2022 — as its next director of library services, starting August 16 at $250,000 a year.

The unanimous hire closes a turbulent stretch for Berkeley's libraries — an interim director just faced union calls for his firing over a toxic workplace — while opening a senior leadership vacancy at one of California's largest urban library systems, just across the bay.

Berkeley has appointed Rebecca Alcalá-Veraflor — San Francisco Public Library's chief of branches, overseeing the city's 27-branch network and roughly 400 staff members since 2022 — as its next director of library services, starting August 16 at $250,000 a year.

The Berkeley Board of Library Trustees voted unanimously Wednesday to confirm the hire, which also carries a one-time $5,000 signing bonus. It ends roughly a year of interim leadership marked by internal turmoil and pulls one of the San Francisco Public Library's senior executives across the bay.

Councilmember Shoshana O'Keefe, who also serves on the library board, was direct in her approval. "I'm extremely excited to have Rebecca on board," O'Keefe told Berkeleyside. "She has amazing local experience and local ties. She really impressed me." Board of Library Services President Beverly Greene described Alcalá-Veraflor as someone who "will build on the library's strong tradition of outstanding public service, while supporting our dedicated staff and inspiring new opportunities for innovation, partnership, and community engagement."

Alcalá-Veraflor brings 20 years in the public library sector. She started her career with stints in Alameda and San Mateo counties before joining SFPL, where she spent nearly 15 years and rose from librarian to chief of branches. She holds a bachelor's degree in ethnic studies from UC Berkeley — making the appointment something of a homecoming to her alma mater's city — and a master's in library and information science from San Jose State University.

The hire fills a gap left by extended leadership instability. Director Tess Mayer departed after five years in the role; interim director Henry Bankhead, who held the position for about a year, drew sharp criticism from the union representing library workers. In April 2026, the union called publicly for Bankhead's firing, alleging he had cultivated a toxic work environment, picked favorites, fostered unsafe conditions, and retaliated against workers, according to Berkeleyside's prior coverage. Wednesday's 10-minute board meeting — at which the vote took place without Alcalá-Veraflor present — included no public comments from Bankhead, the union, or the community, though Greene briefly thanked Bankhead for his service.

For San Francisco's library system, the departure creates a vacancy in day-to-day oversight of its 27 branches serving more than 800,000 city residents. The SFPL Library Commission is next scheduled to meet Thursday, July 16 at 4:30 p.m. at Koret Auditorium in the Main Library — a session at which the succession question could surface publicly.

Primary reporting by Hope Muñoz / Berkeleyside.