For Immediate Release: December 5, 2007

Free West Oakland Library Shuttle Encourages
Low-income Children to Use the Library

- $150,000 Program Recently Launched -

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(Oakland, CA)—Thanks to a program administered by the Alameda County Congestion Management Agency ( Alameda County CMA), children in West Oakland are riding a free shuttle to the library. The West Oakland Library Shuttle Program, initiated in fall 2007, transports preschool and kindergarten students, teachers and parents from their schools and preschools to the West Oakland Library. Without the program, the children would have to pay bus fare, or walk up to a mile to reach the nearest public library.

The West Oakland Library Shuttle is funded by Metropolitan Transportation Commission (MTC) through their Lifeline Transportation Program. The Lifeline Transportation Program is designed to improve transportation for low income people in the San Francisco Bay Area. Alameda County CMA Executive Director Dennis Fay states, “The flexibility of the Lifeline

Transportation Program makes it possible to address the transportation needs of low income residents in innovative ways. We are pleased to fund the West Oakland Library Shuttle Program to provide a critical transportation link between Oakland residents and the library.”

The $150,000 program is expected to transport over 1,500 children, parents and schoolteachers to the library over three years. The students will be picked up by bus from two elementary schools and eight preschools and transported to the West Oakland Branch of the Oakland Public Library. Oakland Librarian Catherine Francioch states, “The program has a ripple effect. Once the children come to the library, we see them returning with their siblings, parents and grandparents.”

Once the children are at the library, the librarian and her assistant conduct special story times to expose children to the joy of books and reading. During their visits the children also learn how to use the library and discover the other resources it has to offer. Francioch states, “Studies have shown that being exposed to the library at a young age helps ensure the children’s future success. The program is an ideal partnership between transportation agencies and educators.”

For more information on using the West Oakland Library Shuttle, contact Oakland Librarian Catherine Francioch at 510- 238-7352 .

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