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Feeling a bit trapped at home?  Well, this week's theme for summer programs at OPL is Global Society and while there are a lot of ways to earn a raffle ticket to fit this theme, we wanted to feature some virtual tours. 

There are several places online that you can find photos and tours of places all over the world.  We really like this one, for example.  But, as you'll see below, YouTube has plenty to see, and there are tours in your own backyard that you can hit up, even during shelter-in-place.  

Here are some examples, provided by three different staff members who work with teens at the library.  Some are near, some are further away, all are pretty fun to read and watch!

Backpacking in the High Sierra, California

by Peggy Simmons, Library Assistant, Teen Services

We are very proud to announce the launch of We are Still Here, a project conceived of and designed by Samuel Getachew, Oakland's 2019 Youth Poet Laureate.  

As Samuel describes:

We Are Still Here is a visual showcase of first-draft poems from writing workshops in Oakland public school classrooms. This project went through many iterations in its conception, its purpose, and its execution. When I began, I had one goal: I wanted to emphasize that despite stark economic disparities, a lack of educational resources, rampant gentrification, and countless other issues impacting young people in Oakland, my city was and is still a place of beauty