The Hackmann Library
A public home in Palo Alto for books
the Valley cannot otherwise read
Palo Alto, California · Opening 2027
Books are disappearing
from Silicon Valley
Public libraries across the Peninsula have narrowed their collections over the past two decades. Titles that once lined the shelves of every branch have been weeded, withdrawn, or digitized into inaccessible formats. The result is a growing gap between what exists in print and what the region's residents can actually borrow and read.
The Hackmann Library is a response to that gap. A small, independent, public library in downtown Palo Alto, dedicated to acquiring and preserving the books that no other institution in the Valley currently holds.
What we hold
The Hackmann Library will focus on books unavailable elsewhere in Silicon Valley's public library systems. This includes titles that have been systematically deaccessioned, works from small and independent presses with limited print runs, significant volumes that have fallen out of institutional circulation, and reference works that no longer fit the throughput model of a modern lending library.
The collection will be curated, not comprehensive. Every acquisition will be measured against a simple test: can a resident of this region read this book anywhere else? If the answer is no, it belongs here.
A reading room
for the public
The library will occupy a modest ground-floor space in downtown Palo Alto, within walking distance of the Caltrain station. It will be designed as a quiet, comfortable reading room — a place to sit with a book for an afternoon, not a hub for programming or events.
Open stacks. Good light. A librarian at the desk. The simplest version of what a library can be, executed with care.
John Morrow Hackmann
John Hackmann has lived in Palo Alto for nearly five decades, arriving in 1977 to attend Stanford Law School. Before that, he studied doctoral mathematics at the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign, worked as a statistician at the university's Center for Advanced Computation, and participated in Buckminster Fuller's World Design School. He also holds a Master of Divinity from San Francisco Theological Seminary.
A self-described problem solver, Hackmann's career has spanned institutions and disciplines. At Stanford, he helped Dr. J. Garrett Allen develop safer blood transfusion protocols and co-founded the Blood Donor Research Group. He created one of the country's first car-sharing programs, founded a consulting firm placing law students in environmental work, and served as a consulting assistant professor in Stanford's Human Biology program.
For more than forty years he has practiced law in Palo Alto, specializing in real estate, trusts and estates, and civil rights. His civic life has been equally sustained: he served as president of the Palo Alto Historical Association and led the effort to preserve the historic AME Zion Church on Ramona Street, among many other preservation campaigns.
The Hackmann Library grows from a lifetime spent at the intersection of scholarship, civic stewardship, and a deep conviction that certain things are worth preserving — especially books.
Get in touch
Questions, ideas for collaboration, or interest in supporting the library's founding are all welcome.
hello@hackmannlibrary.org