When the coronavirus caused San Francisco to close its public libraries in March, Ramses Escobedo, a 41-year-old manager at the Excelsior neighborhood branch, was put on paid furlough. He took advantage of the free time to install shelves in his home and catalogue his wedding photographs. But he missed seeing people from his community, and he wished he had a way to lend a hand during the crisis. So when an email from the library’s human resources department popped up on his computer asking if he wanted to be a contact tracer, he jumped at the opportunity... Read more.