For Immediate Release: March 26, 2007

Bay Area Libraries Celebrate National Library Week,
April 15-20, With Click It! Campaign

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(Oakland , CA.) -- The library is more than just books. You’ll find downloadable e-books, audiobooks, genealogy databases, online auto repair manuals and electronic newspapers from all over the world, and much, much more at Bay Area libraries.

In celebration of National Library Week—April 15–20—the Oakland Public Library and the Bay Area Library and Information System (BALIS), a consortium of local libraries, will launch a regional multimedia campaign promoting their wide range of electronic resources, highlighting their contributions to the community and encouraging more people to use the library.

This year’s “Your Library: Click It!” campaign will run during the month of April and include colorful signs on local buses and in Bay Area BART stations, and public service announcements on Bay Area radio and TV stations.

Bay Area libraries continue to attract visitors in record numbers. Last year, there were more than 17.5million visits to the public libraries serving Alameda, Contra Costa and San Francisco counties. In addition, over 23.5million books, videos, audio books, CDs, DVDs and other items were loaned to Bay Area library customers. Last year, Oakland’s libraries received more than 2.5 million visitors and circulated over 2.3 million items. Over 400,000 visitors clicked on the Oakland Public Library’s Website.

To promote its e-resources, the Oakland Main Library, located at 125 14th Street, will offer the following free classes during April:

Thursday, April 10, 6:30 pm :   Business Information on the Web: Investors and business researchers won’t want to miss this introduction to Mergent Online, a powerful research tool offered free to library patrons.

Wednesday, April 25, 6:30 pm : Health on the Web: Librarian Barbara Bibel, Kaiser’s Ysabel Bertolucci, and Debbie Sommer from California Healthcare Foundation will share how to find and use Web resources like MedlinePlus, Librarians Internet Index, and California Healthcare Foundation.

In addition, check out the library’s new Kids’ World pages. A new look that is more user-friendly and attractive to both children and parents will pull you into all the resources that are offered on those pages.

Don’t forget that the Oakland Public Library also sponsors ongoing computer classes in English, Cantonese, Mandarin, Korean and Spanish at various libraries. Please visit oaklandlibrary.org for a full schedule of events.

Members of BALIS include Oakland Public Library, Alameda County Library, Alameda Free Library, Berkeley Public Library, Contra Costa County Library, Hayward Public Library, Livermore Public Library, San Francisco Public Library, Pleasanton Public Library and Richmond Public Library. To learn more about BALIS and its members, visit www.baylibraries.org/. For more information about Oakland, visit oaklandlibrary.org.

click here for the flyer.

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