Oakland Public Library
Encyclopedia
The Oakland Public Library is the public library
Library
In a traditional sense, a library is a large collection of books, and can refer to the place in which the collection is housed. Today, the term can refer to any collection, including digital sources, resources, and services...
in Oakland
Oakland, California
Oakland is a major West Coast port city on San Francisco Bay in the U.S. state of California. It is the eighth-largest city in the state with a 2010 population of 390,724...
, California
California
California is a state located on the West Coast of the United States. It is by far the most populous U.S. state, and the third-largest by land area...
. Opened in 1878, the Oakland Public Library currently serves the city of Oakland, along with some neighboring smaller cities including Emeryville
Emeryville, California
Emeryville is a small city located in Alameda County, California, in the United States. It is located in a corridor between the cities of Berkeley and Oakland, extending to the shore of San Francisco Bay. Its proximity to San Francisco, the Bay Bridge, the University of California, Berkeley, and...
and Piedmont
Piedmont, California
Piedmont is a small, affluent city in Alameda County, California, United States. It is surrounded by the city of Oakland. The population was 10,667 at the 2010 census. Piedmont was incorporated in 1907 and was developed significantly in the 1920s and 1930s...
. The Oakland Public Library has the largest collection of any public library in the East Bay
East Bay (San Francisco Bay Area)
The East Bay is a commonly used, informal term for the lands on the eastern side of the San Francisco Bay, in the San Francisco Bay Area, in California, United States...
, featuring approximately 1.5 million items. It consists of a main library located in downtown Oakland
Downtown Oakland
Downtown Oakland is the central business district of Oakland, California; roughly bounded by 6th Street or the Oakland Estuary on the southwest, Interstate 980 on the northwest, Grand Avenue on the northeast, and Lake Merritt on the east....
, a roving bookmobile, and 15 branch libraries throughout the city (see below).
Special services within the Oakland Public Library system include the African American Museum and Library at Oakland
African American Museum and Library at Oakland
The African American Museum and Library at Oakland is a museum and non-circulating library dedicated to preserving the history and experiences of African Americans in Northern California and the Bay Area. It contains an extensive archival collection of such artifacts as diaries, correspondence,...
(AAMLO), the Second Start Adult Literacy Program, and the Temescal Tool Lending Library.
History
The Oakland Library Association was formed in 1868 as a subscription library. The poet Ina CoolbrithIna Coolbrith
Ina Donna Coolbrith was an American poet, writer, librarian, and a prominent figure in the San Francisco Bay Area literary community...
was hired as librarian in 1873. In 1878, the library was reformed as the Oakland Free Library, the second public library created in California under the Rogers Free Library Act. (Eureka
Eureka, California
Eureka is the principal city and the county seat of Humboldt County, California, United States. Its population was 27,191 at the 2010 census, up from 26,128 at the 2000 census....
was first.) With her personal style, Coolbrith nurtured the reading habits of many young Oakland students including Jack London
Jack London
John Griffith "Jack" London was an American author, journalist, and social activist. He was a pioneer in the then-burgeoning world of commercial magazine fiction and was one of the first fiction writers to obtain worldwide celebrity and a large fortune from his fiction alone...
and Isadora Duncan
Isadora Duncan
Isadora Duncan was a dancer, considered by many to be the creator of modern dance. Born in the United States, she lived in Western Europe and the Soviet Union from the age of 22 until her death at age 50. In the United States she was popular only in New York, and only later in her life...
. Coolbrith's nephew Henry Frank Peterson replaced Coolbrith in 1892, greatly expanding the library's circulation as well as improving accessibility by completing a card catalog system. Charles S. Greene, poet and former editor of the Overland Monthly
Overland Monthly
Overland Monthly was a monthly magazine based in California, United States, and published in the 19th and 20th century.The magazine's first issue was in July 1868, and continued until the late 1875. The original publishers, in 1880, started The Californian, which became The Californian and Overland...
, became librarian in 1899 and served until 1926.
Main library
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 is 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
As of 2007 the Oakland Public Library has 15 branches. In 2009 a new East Oakland Community Branch opened in a shared-use facility that will also house two new public elementary schools. 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.- Asian (1976, current location 1995), 388 9th Street
- Brookfield (1957, current location 1992), 9255 Edes Avenue
- César E. Chávez (2004), 3301 East 12th Street, Suite 271
- Dimond (1915, current location 1980), 3565 Fruitvale Avenue
- Eastmont (1945, current location 1998), Eastmont Town CenterEastmont Town CenterEastmont Town Center is a shopping mall and social services hub located on bounded by Foothill Boulevard, Bancroft and 73rd Avenues, and Church Street, in the Eastmont neighborhood of East Oakland. The mall opened in 1970 on the site of a 1920's-era Chevrolet truck factory. Architect William...
, 7200 Bancroft Avenue - 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 Martin Luther King, Jr, was originally established in 1916; it was named the Lockwood Branch in 1929. In 1970, it was replaced by a new facility, which is the present library. It features a black historyAfrican American historyAfrican-American history is the portion of American history that specifically discusses the African American or Black American ethnic group in the United States. Most African Americans are the descendants of captive Africans held in the United States from 1619 to 1865...
collection, containing books written by or about people of African descent.
- Melrose (1911, current location 1916), 4805 Foothill Boulevard
- Montclair (1930), 1687 Mountain Boulevard
- Piedmont Avenue (1912, current location 1932), 160 41st Street
- Rockridge (1919, current location 1996), 5366 College Avenue
- TemescalTemescal, Oakland, CaliforniaTemescal is one of the oldest neighborhoods in Oakland, California. It is located in North Oakland, centered on Telegraph Avenue, and bordered by Broadway and State Route 24 to the east and west. MacArthur Boulevard is to the south...
(1899, current location 1918), 5205 Telegraph Avenue
- The Temescal branch houses the Tool Lending Library, one of the few of its kind 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.
- West Oakland (1977), 1801 Adeline Street
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.