All Oakland Public Library locations will be closed on Monday, May 28th in observance of Memorial Day. All branch libraries, except Eastmont and Brookfield Branch, will also be closed Tuesday, May 29th
Spring nonfiction releases.
New spring nonfiction titles are arriving at OPL. Here are some that will soon be landing on the shelves and can be placed on hold.
In honor of Women's History Month, we introduce Elizabeth Scott Flood who championed education for Oakland's children of color in the 19th century.
One of Oakland's earliest educators was a woman born in the East but who dramatically changed the racial composition of California schools. Elizabeth Thorne Scott Flood was born free in 1828 in the state of New York. She was educated in New Bedford, Massachusetts, a town known for its political activism. She married Joseph Scott and together they emigrated to California during the Gold Rush and settled in Placerville. Her husband, who worked as a gold miner, died shortly after their arrival, leaving Elizabeth to raise their young son Oliver alone. In the early 1850s she and Oliver moved to Sacramento which had a sizable African American population. When Oliver was barred from attending the local public school, Elizabeth responded by establishing a private school in her home to educate her son and other African American children. This school opened on May 29, 1854. Elizabeth was paid $50 a month by the parents of her pupils. Before long, she was also welcoming Native American and Asian American children into her school.
The following year the
Children can practice reading to a certified therapy dog in the library.
Young readers can read aloud to a certified therapy dog who loves listening to stories! Reading to dogs can help increase children's reading confidence, skill, and enjoyment.
Read to a Dog events are hosted at the following locations/times. Please call in advance of your planned day to make sure the dog is expected. Dogs take vacations too sometimes.
Elmhurst Library, Every Saturday at 11am
81st Avenue Library, First Wednesday of the month at 2pm
Rockridge
We’ve compiled a list of resources that will cover grief/fear/trauma, speaking to your children about traumatic events, gun laws, advocacy, and safety info. We hope you find this helpful.
After last month’s tragic shooting at Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School in Parkland, FL, student activists brought the gun debate to a national level by pressuring lawmakers to make changes.
There are many different aspects attached to the mass community violence that have been dominating the national and local news for decades. What do you need to know? We’ve compiled a list of resources that will cover grief/fear/trauma, speaking to your children about traumatic events, gun laws, advocacy, and safety info. We hope you find this helpful.
When getting ready to speak to your children about these issues, it is important to remember that everybody processes grief and traumatic events differently. Here are some resources that provide helpful tips on this delicate subject:
Here are ten of the many great books headed to the library this month.
The Black Arts Movement was a vibrant creative period that has had a lasting cultural impact on the East Bay.
Ever so often a social and political movement merges with an arts movement to create a uniquely vibrant environment that impacts communities for generations. The Black Arts Movement that began in 1967, and reached its zenith in the early 1980s, was such a cultural moment in this country. Two social/political movements would greatly impact the decade: African independence and American Civil Rights. As the Civil Rights Movement in America grew to gain international attention, young and creative people took an increasingly more active role. Their study and acceptance of Pan-Africanism, their identification with the words of Malcolm X and James Baldwin, and their ardent call for Black Power shifted the movement from a conciliatory call for justice to a more forceful call to political action and radical self-determination. Local artists responded by embracing African cultures, rhythms, and design motifs. This was exemplified in their dress, hairstyles, art themes, writing, and performance.
As the Black Arts Movement grew, galleries and cultural centers
The African American Museum & Library at Oakland is proud to announce its speakers series, "Extraordinary Women, Extraordinary Times" in honor of this year's Women's History Month. Please join us each Saturday in March at 2:00 p.m. for an discussion with an engaging series of speakers.
Considered the country’s leading expert on the 1968 Huey Newton death penalty trail in Oakland, Ms. Pearlman studied law at Boalt Hall, UC Berkeley, and practiced law in Alameda County. She appeared in the acclaimed 2015 documentary, “The Black Panthers: Vanguard of the Revolution,” and she will be signing copies of her new book, With Justice For Some: Politically Charged Criminal Trials in the Early 20th Century That Helped Shape Today’s America.
Ms. Reid is a native of Berkeley and a lifelong educator and champion of community service in the Bay Area. She is a recipient of the San Francisco State University “Alumna of the Year” award and an inductee in the university’s Hall of Fame. She will be signing copies of her book, The Picture Man: From the Collection of Bay Area Photographer E.F. Joseph, 1927 – 1979 which she wrote with co-author, dance legend, and Oakland native, choreographer, Ruth Beckford.
A participant and
Check out new nonfiction at OPL.
This month we received some exciting new nonfiction books. Here are a few that I look forward to reading. I hope you enjoy them, too!
The study of African American history has engaged generations of Oaklanders and East Bay residents.
This year marks the 50th anniversary of the student movement to institute Black Studies into college curricula. The drive to learn the history of African Americans, a history brutally suppressed during slavery and denied and ignored for decades after slavery, was always present. Decades before the Black Power Movement of the 1960s inspired San Francisco State College students to demand the curriculum be representative, Oaklanders were passing along African American history in formal and informal settings.
Journalist Delilah Beasley, the mother of Black California history, published her groundbreaking book, “Negro Trail Blazers of California” in 1919. This masterfully documented work includes interviews with former slaves, profiles of civic groups and prominent citizens, and reports from national conferences. Ms. Beasley also wrote for the Oakland Sunshine (an early African
What has OPL accomplished in the last six months?
Here at the library, we are engaged in a strategic planning process and through that process, we have developed a new mission statement, a vision statement, core values, and three-year goals.
You've probably seen "explore, connect, and grow" on some of our materials recently, including our last annual report and all of our summer program materials. This year our (coming soon) annual report will be focused on YOU and Your Oakland Public Library. That's because our mission is, "Your Oakland Public Library empowers all people to explore, connect, and grow," and we take it quite seriously.
Hopefully our core values aren't a surprise to you, as we aspire to infuse them into everything we do.
And what about those three year goals? Well, in no particular
