Día de los niños / Día de los libros (Children's Day/Book Day) is a celebration of children, families, and reading that culminates yearly on April 30th. This year Germar the Magician came to many of our libraries to help us celebrate. He  entertained children of all ages with birds that appeared and disappeared, magic coins that did strange and marvelous things, and more. He did so seamlessly alternating between English and Spanish.

In addition, children at those eleven branches got to choose and take home a free book to keep. 

But we're just getting started! Join us in June as we start our annual celebration of children and books during our Summer Reading Program. This year's theme is "Reading is sooooo Delicious!" Children will be entertained, encouraged to read, and win fabulous prizes. Stay tuned for more information.

Celebrate children and books with bilingual magician Germar the Magician! In this fun show, Germar delights children and invites them to participate. If you miss him at your local branch, you can catch him at another!

Refreshments will be served at many locations (check your local branch), and each child will leave with a new book!

Lakeview Saturday, 4/20/13 11:00 AM

Elmhurst Saturday,  4/20/13 2:00 PM 

Dimond Tuesday, 4/23/13 7:00 PM

Asian Wednesday, 4/24/13 10:30 AM

Golden Gate Thursday, 4/25/13 3:00 PM

Martin Luther King, Jr. Saturday, 4/27/13 11:00 AM

Cesar Chavez Saturday, 4/27/13 3:00 PM

Melrose Tuesday, 4/30/13 5:30 PM

Brookfield Wedesday, 5/1/13 10:30 AM

Eastmont, Wednesday 5/8/13 10:30 AM

It's National Library Week! Last week you got a sneak peek at preparations for the origami installation at the Main Library.  It went up on Saturday, and now the Oak street face of the library (with the entrance to the Children's Room) reminds you of just one of the many fun things you can do inside or outside your library.  A group of preschoolers are checking it out...arriving for Monday morning storytime.  Come see it for yourself...but don't wait! The installation will stay up through Saturday April 20th. 

Thanks to all of the children who folded origami for this project.

Children at libraries throughout Oakland have been busily folding pieces of paper.  Why, you may wonder?  Well, National Library Week is coming and, as part of the celebration, on April 13^th the Main Library's Children’s Room staff will be mounting an origami installation on the outside of the library’s Oak Street entrance. The colorful installation, using more than a thousand origami pieces of varying shapes and sizes, will be attached to the wall so that all can see that Oakland’s kids love to “READ.”  The installation was inspired by the street art posted on the Asian Museum in San Francisco this past August.  The group Upside Up used 550 origami butterflies to write the word “fly” on one of the museum’s exterior walls.  Our installation will remain up for a week.  Come on down and check it out along with some great books.

Here are some pictures of the Wall in waiting.

Play has a direct link to early literacy experience. Play and stories work together to encourage creativity, imagination, and dexterity: all skills that help your child learn.  

If you have DUPLOS at home, try some of the acitivities in the the Read! Build! Play! at Home Toolkit developed by LEGO in partnership with The Association for Library Services to Children (ALSC).  

We also have DUPLOS and LEGOS for your child to play with  at many library locations. Bring your child of any age in to one of our monthly LEGO Mania! clubs, where they can play and build with others. 

LEGO Mania! Monthly Lego Clubs

First Tuesdays at 4pm at the Eastmont Library

First Fridays at 3:30pm at the Dimond Library

Second Thursdays at 3pm at the Main Library Children's Room

Second Fridays at 3pm at the Lakeview Library 

Third Fridays at 3pm at the West Oakland Library

Ask your Librarian for other ways for your child to play at the library!

Malik Pedraza-Palomino is ready to fly with his LEGO creation at the 81st Avenue Library.  

Is your child shy about reading out loud? Is your child shy about reading at all? Join us on Wednesday afternoons in April.  Therapy Pets in Oakland is bringing dogs to the Lakeview Branch to give your child a fun way to practice reading. These gentle dogs do not judge children; they only love them. Research has shown that children gain ease in reading when they read to dogs.

Sign up for a 20-minute session at Lakeview.