For Immediate Release: April 29, 2009

Lakeview Branch Library Commemorates
60th Anniversary with Day of Fun and Festivities

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( Oakland, CA)—On Saturday, May 16, 2009, Lakeview Branch will celebrate six decades at its 550 El Embarcadero home, on Lake Merritt, with a huge party. All are welcome to listen to local dignitaries speak, hear original literary works, see a play, knit, play chess, and dance to funky music! The festivities begin at 11 a.m. and conclude at 3 p.m.

The Lakeview Branch Library opened in April 1949. A local branch had been in operation since 1930, but it was confined to a one-room portable installed on the grounds of Lakeview Elementary School. A 1945 bond measure generated the funds to build a permanent home for the library, and the Oakland Parks and Recreation Department donated the land. The wood frame and stucco library cost $45,000 and took seven months to build.

The celebration on May 16 begins at 11 a.m. with a ceremony and reception, during which CouncilmemberPat Kernighan and Library Director Carmen Martinez will speak. Lakeview’s generous volunteers will also be honored during this ceremony.

From 12 to 12:30 p.m., members of the Lakeview Writers Group will read their original works. The Lakeview Writers meet at the branch on the second Monday every month, from 6 to 8 p.m.

From 12:30 to 1:30 p.m., Ed N Sted’s Funky Soul Stop will get people dancing with live music. Ed N Sted is a local musician and artist whose works have graced the walls of Lakeview Branch.

The day’s festivities culminate, from 2 to 3 p.m. with a special performance of Scenes from the Life of Julia Morgan, an original play by Judith Offer. Ms. Offer is an Oakland-based playwright, poet, and musician whose work has entertained audiences across the United States. Scenes from the Life concerns architect Julia Morgan, designer of numerous landmark buildings in the East Bay.

Please contact the Lakeview Branch at (510) 238-7344 for more information, or see the Oakland Public Library’s Web site: www.oaklandlibrary.org. Please refrain from wearing scented products to library events. The Oakland Public Library is a department of the City of Oakland.

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