Oakland Public Library

The Oakland Public Library is the public

Special services within the Oakland Public Library system include the African American Museum and Library at Oakland (AAMLO), the Second Start Adult Literacy Program, and the Tool Lending Library

History

The Oakland Library Association was formed in 1868 as a subscription library. The poet

The Main Library has occupied its present location at 125 14th Street near Lake Merritt since 1951. It is one of the largest public library facilities in the Bay Area. It features popular reading materials, business resources, government publications, videos/DVDs/CDs, maps, and a computer lab for the public. It also houses the Oakland History Room, including primary materials and unique books that explore the history of the East Bay; a large and active Children’s Room; and the TeenZone. Adaptive technology is available for persons with disabilities at this and other sites. Call (510) 238-4974 for more details.

Branches

The Oakland Public Library has 16 branches. Dates listed in the following list of current branches indicate the year the branch was established and, if the branch has since moved, the year the current location opened.

• 81st Avenue (2011), 1021 81st Avenue
  • This branch is jointly operated with the Oakland Unified School District and serves two elementary schools as well as the neighborhood. Construction funding included grants through the California Reading and Literacy Improvement and Public Library Construction and Renovation Bond Act of 2000 (aka Proposition 14).^[3]

• Asian
  (1976, current location 1995), 388 9th Street
• Brookfield (1957, current location 1992), 9255 Edes Avenue
• César E. Chávez (1966, current location 2004), 3301 East 12th Street, Suite 271
  • This branch, now named after worker rights activist César E. Chávez, was formerly named the Latin American Library Branch, and was established in 1966. It was one of the first public libraries in the United States to offer services and materials in Spanish, and was the first library branch exclusively dedicated to the Spanish-speaking community in the United States.
• Dimond (1915, current location 1980), 3565 Fruitvale Avenue
• Eastmont (1945, current location 1998), Eastmont Town Center, 7200 Bancroft Avenue, Suite 211
• Elmhurst (1911, current location 1949), 1427 88th Avenue
• Golden Gate (1899, current location 1949), 5606 San Pablo Avenue

• Lakeview (1930, current location 1949), 550 El Embarcadero
• Martin Luther King Jr. (1970), 6833 International Boulevard
  • This branch, now named after civil rights activist
    black history collection, containing books written by or about people of African descent.^[4]
• Melrose (1911, current location 1916), 4805 Foothill Boulevard
  • One of four Carnegie Library Branches in Oakland that were built between 1916-1918, thanks to the Carnegie grant of $140,000. Because of the early donation of the land, Melrose Branch was able to begin its construction before the war, and with $35,000 (¼ of the grant) of the funding the Carnegie architect William H. Weeks was able to add more resources to use more materials such as including a marble lined foyer, compared to the construction of the other 3 sites. The Classical Revival style was designed by William H. Weeks, and C. Christensen. The Classical Revival building is in the form of two rectangles set at angles with a generous rotunda between.[5]^[6]
  • This Branch is a historic Landmark. The ordinance date is November 4, 1980.^[7]
• Montclair (1930), 1687 Mountain Boulevard

• Piedmont Avenue (1912, current location 2012), 80 Echo Avenue
  • This branch had been on 41st Street at Piedmont Avenue since 1932, but had to move when the building owner raised the rent. The library is now on the grounds of Piedmont Avenue Elementary School.^[8]
• Rockridge (1919, current location 1996), 5366 College Avenue

• Temescal (1899, current location 1918), 5205 Telegraph Avenue
  • The Temescal branch houses the
    tool libraries in the Bay Area, which allows library patrons to check out tools for various kinds of repairs and home-improvement projects, as well as books, videos, and other instructional materials.^[9]
• West Oakland (1977), 1801 Adeline Street [10]

African American Museum and Library at Oakland (AAMLO)

The African American Museum & Library at Oakland (AAMLO) is a non-circulating library that archives historic collections and reference materials documenting the African American experience in California. Among the more than 160 collections in the library are archives relating to Martin Luther King Jr., Malcolm X, the Black Panthers, Africa, and genealogy. Materials include photographs, manuscripts, letters, diaries, newspapers, recorded oral histories, videos, and microfilms. AAMLO’s two galleries host changing exhibitions of art, history, and culture.^[11]

References

External links

• Official site of the Oakland Public Library
• The Friends of the Oakland Public Library

Further reading

• Oakland Free Library (1879), Catalogue, Oakland: Printed by the Daily Evening Tribune,
  OL 7182127M
• Catalogue of the Oakland Free Public Library, Oakland, Calif: Printed by the Tribune Publishing Company, 1885,
  OL 7234472M
• Oakland Free Library (1902), Finding list, Oakland: Tribune Print,
  OL 14007919M
• By-laws and rules of the Oakland Free Library, Oakland, 1914,
  OL 13998250M{{citation}}: CS1 maint: location missing publisher (link
  )

37°48′2.8″N 122°15′49.8″W / 37.800778°N 122.263833°W / 37.800778; -122.263833