A big thank you to all who participated in the Free2 Contest! The 10 Grand Prize winners have been announced. They include Roslyn Head-Lyons from the Oakland Main Library, who wrote:

Free2 think beyond the confines of my race, looks and income to continue to strive to be the best that I can be.

The ten winners were selected from more than 300 entries and the prizes included a FLIP Ultra Video camera, an iPod Shuffle, and the opportunity to appear in future campaign marketing. For a list of all the winners and their entries, please go to www.WeAreFree2.org.

The Free2 Contest was the first engagement activity of a year-long marketing campaign launched by Bay Area libraries in April to reintroduce communities to their local libraries. Taking its cue from “Got Milk?” and similar industry-raising image efforts, Free2 is designed to raise awareness of the central role libraries play in people’s lives.

Be sure to check out all that you are Free2 be and do at your Oakland Public Library by browsing our Web site or dropping in for a visit at one of our 17 locations. View the numerous free events, download an audiobook, ask us a question, meet a Lawyer in the Library, join a Teen Advisory Board, look at treasures in our African American Museum and Library, learn to read—it’s all here at our library or online at www.oaklandlibrary.org.