For Immediate Release: May 2, 2008

Come Celebrate the Groundbreaking for the
East Oakland Community Library @ 81st Avenue

*****************************************************************************************************************************************

(Oakland, CA)— Join the Oakland Public Library, City of Oakland officials, and the Oakland Unified School District at a Groundbreaking Ceremony for the new East Oakland Community Library @ 81st Avenue on Friday, May 30, 10:00 – 11:00 a.m. The celebration will take place in the amphitheater on the campus of Acorn Woodland School and Encompass Academy, located at the corner of 81st Avenue and Rudsdale in Oakland. It will be followed by a ceremonial groundbreaking on the site of the new library at 1021 81st Avenue. Light refreshments will be served.

The new East Oakland Community Library – at 21,000 square feet - will be the largest branch in the Oakland Public Library system. It will also be the first joint public library-school facility in Oakland. The project will feature children and teen areas, an Internet café, copy center, an adult (quiet) reading room, community meeting room, a computer lab, multi-media classrooms, WiFi connection, and conform to Green building standards (including use of solar PV panels). The library will offer a wide range of materials for all ages, while also providing learning support for the two adjacent schools (Acorn Woodland Elementary School and EnCompass Academy) and the 11 other neighborhood schools.

The $14.3 million (estimated) project is being funded by a $6.5 million grant from the State of California’s Proposition 14 and $4 million from the Oakland Redevelopment Agency. The Oakland Unified School District has committed the land and a total of $497,065 for site development and construction of the common use areas. The Oakland Public Library is raising the additional funds from private donors to purchase new furniture, fixtures, equipment, and Green building projects. The new library is scheduled to open in late 2009.

###