Posted on April 24, 2018 by Emily Weak

Bike Month at Oakland Libraries

Bike to books! Celebrate bike month with fun programs and more.

We're pretty crazy about bikes here at the Oakland library!

We celebrate bikes all year with things like the Women Bike Book club, lending bike tools from the tool library, working with the Scraper Bike team at the Shed, and providing pumps and locks at all locations. 

But we really get pedaling in May for bike month. Look at all the great things we have planned!

From Sea to Sea with Zeke Gerwein

Last summer, local teen Zeke biked from Delaware back to the Bay Area in an effort to meet fellow Americans and understand our political climate. Enjoy photos and tales from

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Posted on April 13, 2018 by Sean Heyliger

AAMLO's Collections Now on Historypin

Historypin is a place for people to share photos and stories, telling the histories of their local communities.

The African American Museum & Library at Oakland is now on Historypin! Check out hundreds of historical photographs from AAMLO's collections mapped and superimposed on Google street view. The photograph below shows Stephens Restaurant, an African American-owned restaurant established by William Stephens in 1924 at 112 14 St. and eventually moved to 200 E. 14th St. (now International Boulevard). The second photograph shows the same building in a 2018 Google street view image and its current tenant New King Restaurant.  

Stephens Restaurant 1930

Stephens Restaurant 2018

The Historypin app allows researchers

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Posted on March 31, 2018 by Marco Frazier

"Nevertheless She Persisted" Women's History Month 2018

Celebrating Phenomenal Women During Women's History Month

By Marco Frazier - Library Assistant

African American Museum and Library at Oakland

 

“Nevertheless She Persisted” is the national theme for Women’s History Month 2018. The theme honors women who have fought against discrimination throughout history. African Americans women have carried the scarlet letter of discrimination for being both women and African American. The Archives Department at the African American Museum and Library at Oakland has many collections and interviews that highlight the trials, tribulations and triumphs that resulted from women fighting for equal rights.

                                  

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Posted on March 29, 2018 by Andrea Guzman

If it’s not a data breach…

Learn more about Facebook and privacy in this latest post by our Digital Safety Team.

OPL Digital Safety Team 

If you’ve been reading the news in the past couple of weeks, chances are that you’ve heard of the Cambridge Analytica Files scandal and information in 50+ million Facebook profiles that were used to influence political elections. We’ve written about data breaches and how to recover from identity theft when Equifax was hacked back in September 2017, but this was not a data breach. If it’s not a data breach or “leak,” then what is it?

Turns out, the scandal isn't because Facebook did anything illegal but because it was legally able to sell or share your information to third parties (businesses

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Posted on March 27, 2018 by Emily Weak

Poetry Month at Oakland Libraries

And it was at that age ... Poetry arrived in search of me -Pablo Neruda

Join us at libraries all over Oakland as we celebrate "language at its most distilled and most powerful" (Rita Dove), "eternal graffiti written in the heart of everyone" (Lawrence Ferlinghetti) and "making the private world public" (Allen Ginsberg).

April is ... poetry month. 

Events for Adults

Blackout Poetry
Repurpose the pages of old books & magazines into poetic works of art! Intended for adults but welcomes teens and kids ages 8+. Supplies provided.
▸Golden Gate Branch, April 3, 6pm

Bi-Ku: Bike Haiku and More with the Women Bike Book Club
Read and discuss bike related poetry. Everyone is welcome to attend and participate in discussing bikes and feminism in a WTF friendly (but not exclusive) space.
▸Golden Gate Branch, April 5, 6 pm

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Posted on March 14, 2018 by Sharon McKellar

OPL Responds: Mass Shootings, Community Violence, and School Safety

We’ve compiled a list of resources that will cover grief/fear/trauma, speaking to your children about traumatic events, gun laws, advocacy, and safety info. We hope you find this helpful.

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After last month’s tragic shooting at Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School in Parkland, FL, student activists brought the gun debate to a national level by pressuring lawmakers to make changes.

There are many different aspects attached to the mass community violence that have been dominating the national and local news for decades. What do you need to know? We’ve compiled a list of resources that will cover grief/fear/trauma, speaking to your children about traumatic events, gun laws, advocacy, and safety info. We hope you find this helpful.

   

Parents & Caregivers: Talking to Children about Traumatic Events

When getting ready to speak to your children about these issues, it is important to remember that everybody processes grief and traumatic events differently. Here are some resources that provide helpful tips on this delicate subject:

  • NPR, with help from the

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Posted on March 1, 2018 by Sean Heyliger

AAMLO Celebrates Women's History Month

The African American Museum & Library at Oakland is proud to announce its speakers series, "Extraordinary Women, Extraordinary Times" in honor of this year's Women's History Month. Please join us each Saturday in March at 2:00 p.m. for an discussion with an engaging series of speakers.

Lise Pearlman, Saturday March 3

Considered the country’s leading expert on the 1968 Huey Newton death penalty trail in Oakland, Ms. Pearlman studied law at Boalt Hall, UC Berkeley, and practiced law in Alameda County. She appeared in the acclaimed 2015 documentary, “The Black Panthers: Vanguard of the Revolution,” and she will be signing copies of her new book, With Justice For Some: Politically Charged Criminal Trials in the Early 20th Century That Helped Shape Today’s America.

Careth Reid, Saturday March 10 

Ms. Reid is a native of Berkeley and a lifelong educator and champion of community service in the Bay Area. She is a recipient of the San Francisco State University “Alumna of the Year” award and an inductee in the university’s Hall of Fame. She will be signing copies of her book, The Picture Man: From the Collection of Bay Area Photographer E.F. Joseph, 1927 – 1979 which she wrote with co-author, dance legend, and Oakland native, choreographer, Ruth Beckford.

Halifu Osumare, Saturday March 17

A participant and

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Posted on February 16, 2018 by Sharon McKellar

We've Accomplished so Much!

What has OPL accomplished in the last six months?

Here at the library, we are engaged in a strategic planning process and through that process, we have developed a new mission statement, a vision statement, core values, and three-year goals.  

You've probably seen "explore, connect, and grow" on some of our materials recently, including our last annual report and all of our summer program materials.  This year our (coming soon) annual report will be focused on YOU and Your Oakland Public Library.  That's because our mission is, "Your Oakland Public Library empowers all people to explore, connect, and grow," and we take it quite seriously.

Hopefully our core values aren't a surprise to you, as we aspire to infuse them into everything we do.

And what about those three year goals?  Well, in no particular

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Posted on February 6, 2018 by Ally Hack

OPL Responds: I.C.E. in the Bay Area

Here's what you need to know to protect yourself or support friends and neighbors in the event of an I.C.E. raid in the Bay Area.

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Recent reports that I.C.E. (Immigration and Customs Enforcement) descended on businesses in the Bay Area remind us how important it is to know your rights.  

The library can help you get the information you need to protect yourself, your family, and your neighbors. Ask us! If we don’t know the answer, we’ll connect you to someone who does.

Creative Commons photo by Joe

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Posted on January 26, 2018 by Sean Heyliger

African Americans in Times of War: The Story of We Also Serve

In honor of this year’s Black History Month theme, “African Americans in Times of War,” the African American Museum & Library at Oakland will feature events and community blog posts in February that tell the stories African Africans’ valiant and brave contributions to our country both at home and abroad in war time.

World War II brought profound changes to the African American community in Oakland and across the Bay Area. In the first four years of the war, the African American population of Oakland bloomed from 8,462 in 1940 to 21, 770 by 1944 to a considerable 47,562 residents by 1950.  Some families were beckoned to the Bay Area by government recruiters that scoured the South and Midwest looking for workers to fill the manpower shortage in war industries caused by the war. But most families moved here based on word of mouth from family members and Pullman Porters who touted the area’s plentiful jobs, good wages, and better opportunities for families seeking to escape the brutal social conditions of the American South. Most African Americans migrants came from four states – Texas, Arkansas, Louisiana, and Oklahoma – and some referred to the trains out West as ‘Liberty trains.’ Economic opportunities for African Americans expanded exponentially following Franklin D. Roosevelt’s Executive Order 8802 prohibiting racial discrimination in hiring in federal war industries. Roosevelt was

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