Welcome to a marvelous May at the Oakland Public Library! This month we celebrate Asian American Heritage Month, Jewish American Heritage Month, and Free Comic Book Day! Every month we host hundreds of programs and publish librarian curated booklists. This is just a quick snapshot of all the cool things you can explore at the library.
Free Comic Book Day
Come by any Oakland Public Library location and pick up a free comic book on May 2nd!
Summer Reading is around the corner!
Less than 30 days away! Get ready for exciting programs like petting zoos and insect discovery labs as well as a fun, competitive reading challenge with new prizes!
On your mark, get set, read!
Poetry Workshop with Yan-Yin
Begin with meditation and ease into writing poems following Asian traditions, using metaphors, and musicality. This is a generative poetry workshop led by Cantonese author, artist, and poet, Yan-Yin Choy. Her work appears in the “Asian American Healing in Nature” anthology by Chopsticks Alley Art.
Oakland Ilokana: Film Screening & Cultural Preservation Workshop
Oakland Ilokana follows a 90-year-old Filipina American grandmother — one of the first Filipino children born in 1930s Oakland — as she reflects on a lifetime shaped by migration, community, and resilience. Her stories become a bridge across time and place, carrying the weight of a family’s legacy and revealing the untold histories of a community finding its place in America.
Music, Memory, and Community with Chinatown Records
In honor of Asian American and Pacific Islander (AAPI) Heritage Month, join us for a special program featuring Chinatown Records 華埠錄音, a community-driven collective and archive rooted in Manhattan’s Chinatown, New York City. Now bringing the music coast to coast, Bay Area–raised yiuyiu shares selections from the archive through live DJ sets and storytelling.
Check out more Asian American Pacific Islander programs, booklists, and blogs.
These children's picture books featuring Jewish families, published 2023-2026, are intended for reading aloud to kids ages 3 to 9.
Find more Jewish and Jewish American books.
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