Teen Leadership

At OPL, we like teens to lead the way. Ready for your voice to be heard? Sign up for one of our teen leadership opportunities! Details for each below...

When you join an OPL teen leadership group, you become part of a community of teen leaders across the city who work together to make the library, and Oakland, an amazing place for teens. It's also fun!

Stop by and give it a try!

Volunteer

Our teen volunteers not only help us with tasks that need to be done, but they bring their own special talents and interests to our libraries and work with us to figure out how to help the library be an amazing space for teens!

Teen Volunteers help out at branches all around Oakland.

We like to hear what you enjoy doing and then we can figure out how to use your skills and interests to help out.

Stop by your local branch or fill out our online Teen Volunteer Application.

Have community service hours to complete? This might be the right place for you to do your volunteer hours.

Not all branches can accomodate new teen volunteers at all times. The more information you can give us, the better we can do at finding volunteer work for you!

Teen Advisory Boards

Teen Advisory Boards (TABs) work with library branch staff to help make the branch the best place possible for teens. As a member you can be involved with library projects, help plan programs, meet other teens, and earn community service credit.

Teen Advisory Boards meet monthly at branches.

We have TABs at many of our libraries. If you are interested in joining, stop by your local branch and let your teen librarian know. They'll be happy to tell you more!

You can also fill out our Teen Volunteer Application. Be sure to select "leadership" and tell us you are interested in joining a TAB!

The following libraries currently have Teen Advisory Boards:

Oakland Youth Poet Laureate Program

The Oakland Youth Poet Laureate (OYPL) program celebrates teen voices. OYPL poets are connected to far-reaching opportunities and are truly a community of young Oakland leaders.

Each year we accept applications from talented Oakland writers to join the Oakland Youth Poet Laureate program, a community of young poets.

The Laureate earns an educational scholarship.

The Laureate will, and all the Finalists are invited to, serve as ambassadors for literacy, arts and youth expression with ongoing opportunities for performances, projects, and peer support.

Every applicant is invited to stay in connection with the OYPL community.

Applications for Oakland Youth Poet Laureate open at the beginning of each year for approximately one month. During that time, young Oakland poets can apply to the program.

Find out more about the program, including more information on how to apply, on our OYPL page.