Vol 9 # 10 July 15, 2025

Friends of PAL

FOPAL Meeting July 22, 6:30 - 7:30 pm at the library,

80 Echo Ave.

Visit the Friends at the John Street Jumble, the wonderful multiblock garage sale of treasures, on Saturday July 26,

9 am - 1 pm, at 4288 Montgomery St. We will be telling our neighbors about our library, giving out free children's books and watching the children use our button making machine.

Later that same day (7/26), from 2:30 - 4 pm, come dance, sing, and sparkle at the ultimate Taylor Swift Dance Party at the library.  Join us for an all-ages party filled with music, moves, and major Swiftie vibes:

🎶 Dress up as your favorite era

🎤 Belt out your favorite hits

💃 Show off your fearless dance moves

👯 Celebrate with fellow fans of all ages!

Come shake it off and make memories in a fun, welcoming community of Swifties.

The Friends fund programs at our library -

The average price per program is $350 and we expect price increases this year as material costs for the programs rise. So far this year we have spent $1,550 on programming and our budget for the remainder of the year is an additional $1,600. We coordinate closely with our branch librarian, Sabah Abdula; she has amazing ideas and continues to find programs that draw large crowds. 



The Friends of PAL welcome donations through our web site or by check. The Friends received a generous bequest as well as a recent donation from a Donor Advised Fund. You can designate a donation for programs or for our capital projects funding account. If you would like to discuss a donation or a bequest, please email Joanna Smith at treasurer@friendsofpal.org  

Programs - For more information about each event go to the OPL website.

Ongoing -



Toddler Storytime, every Tuesday, 

10:15 – 10:30 am

Songs, active rhymes and stories especially for ages 18 months to 3 years. Stay and Play after Storytime with fun age-appropriate toys through 11:15 am.

Knitting & Crochet Circle, every 2nd & 4th Monday, 11 am – 1 pm

Join us for a delightful early afternoon of yarn, needles, and good company. Everyone is welcome!

Teen Pop Up Crafts, Tuesday, every 2nd and 4th Tuesday, 3:30 – 4:30 pm

Teens! Come to the Piedmont Avenue Branch to hang out and get creative with the library staff. Supplies provided. Just bring yourself and creativity. 

Plot Twists & Page Turners: A Piedmont Branch Book Club, every 2nd Tuesday, 6 – 7:15 pm

Come together with your fellow book lovers and discover your next literary adventure at our monthly Book Club. Everyone is welcome to join and share their current reads or just hang out and chat about books in general.

More Events -

East Bay Vivarium\ Vivero del Este de la Bahía, Wednesday, July 16, 6 – 6:45 pm

Experts from the East Bay Vivarium will share some of their scaly friends and teach us about the fascinating world of reptiles, amphibians, and bugs. Come meet some scaly friends and learn about the fascinating world of reptiles.

Build Make Play/Construir Hacer Jugar, Saturday, July 19,

10:30 – 11:30 am

Join us for an afternoon of hands-on activities. Make something new every week.

Teens: Duck-o-Rate (decorate a duck), Saturday, July 19, 2 – 3 pm

Come decorate a rubber duck to join our traveling duck art gallery showing off the work of creative teens from all OPL branches. No registration required, all teens welcome, all supplies will be included! Ages 12 - 18 only.

Chair Yoga, Monday, July 21, 10 – 11 am

Chair yoga is designed for those who have difficulty getting up and down from the floor. Learn from a certified yoga instructor how a daily practice will improve your strength, flexibility, and balance. Taught by local instructor Bett Bollhoefer, who is certified in Radiant Body Yoga.

Zita the Spacegirl Summer Book Club, Monday,

July 21 & July 28,

12 – 1 pm

This summer reading program invites children ages 7–11 to join a book club centered around Zita the Spacegirll by Ben Hatke, a vibrant and engaging science fiction graphic novel. The book club will blend guided discussions, interactive crafts, and themed snacks to create a fun and educational experience. Each member will receive a free copy of the graphic novel. Participants must register t online to join the book club

Teens: Make Tiny Art, Tuesday, July 22,

3 – 4 pm

Come in and make a mini masterpiece for our virtual tiny art show, featuring tiny paintings by teens all around Oakland!

No registration required, all teens welcome. All supplies will be included!

Little Explorers Petting Zoo, Thursday, July 24, 2:30 – 4:15 pm

Visit the cute and cuddly animals from the Little Explorers Petting Zoo. This is a popular event for the whole family.

 A Swiftie Dance Party!  Saturday July 26, 2:30 – 4 pm

Get ready to dance, sing, and sparkle at the ultimate Taylor Swift celebration!

Join us at for an all-ages party filled with music, moves, and major Swiftie vibes. Dress up, show off your favorite era, and enjoy a fun-filled afternoon of community fandom and fearless moves.

Mike The Magician/Mike el mago, Wednesday, July 30, 6 – 6:45 pm

Mike Della Penna creates wonder and laughter with family magic performances that are equal parts playful and astonishing.

Baby Bounce & Baby Café, Thursday, July 31, 10:15 – 11:15 am

Baby Bounce is a short and gentle storytime made just for babies. It is a special time to wiggle, rhyme, and bond with your little one. After the stories, hang out at Baby Café where grownups can chat and little ones can explore with toys, music, and sensory fun. For safe playtime, Baby Bounce is just for babies from birth to 18 months.

Family Reading Club, Thursday, July 31,

 12 – 2 pm

Bring your family and favorite books, or choose a book from the library’s collection and read with your neighbors and library staff. Let’s share book recommendations, chat about what we’re reading, or just enjoy reading together in community.

National Night Out @ Piedmont Ave Branch! Tuesday, August 5, 3 – 6 pm

We’re planning a fun, free evening for all ages with music, games, and hands-on activities:

Teens can stop by to take part in a fun craft activity.

Make your own video game with The MADE (Museum of Art and Digital Entertainment). Play giant Connect 4 and other outdoor games.

.Plus: music and snacks for everyone to enjoy.

Oakland’s Youth Poet Laureate



After competing with six other finalists and winning a $5,000 college scholarship generously funded by the Friends of the Oakland Public Library, Cael Dueñas-Lara, 14 years old, has been named the 2025 Oakland Youth Poet Laureate.

Born, raised, and currently residing in East Oakland, Dueñas-Lara, a second-generation Mexican American, is the youngest person to earn the title of Oakland Youth Poet Laureate. He says that writing has, “allowed me to strengthen my voice and take back preconceived ideas of myself and others who may share parts of my identity.”

He strives to educate and inspire both his elders and peers through writing and to debunk the dominant narrative which has often been set forth by societal perceptions of black and brown young men living in Oakland.



“Cael is an incredibly talented writer, a powerful performer, and a strong leader,” says Sharon McKellar, supervising librarian for teen services at the Oakland Public Library. 

On being the 2025 Oakland Youth Poet Laureate, Mr. Dueñas-Lara says, "Oakland is love and I’m excited to love Oakland even more as the Youth Poet Laureate."

To see a Performance by 2025 Oakland Youth Poet Laureate,

Cael Dueñas-Lara, click HERE. 

The Avid Reader by Louis Segal

I’ve been an avid reader since I could read. In high school I used to cut school to read in the Berkeley Public Library.  I’m writing this column to share some of the books I love. I hope, perhaps, you might grow to love a few of them. 

James by Percival Everett, 2024

I was somewhat reluctant to read and review Percival Everett’s James. First, I had read a couple of Everett’s books and found him bewilderingly, indeed dazzling, iconoclastic. Second, I didn’t enjoy his screenplay for American Fiction where a Grade A satire [like Spike Lee’s Bamboozled] devolved into a saccharine romance. Third, Bob Wells wrote a powerful and parodic revision of The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn (reviewed in the Hoot in February 2022) and I wasn’t yet ready for another “take” on Mark Twain’s classic book. Lastly, as a boy I enjoyed both the unexpurgated Tom Sawyer and Huck Finn and that enjoyment turned for a while to foggy adult confusion as classic books were increasingly censored for reasons I loathe. Wells’ version helped clear that fog. I bought James and for a while the book sat on my to-read shelf, glowering at me until I opened its pages in May.

From the first two chapters I was enthralled. This book completes the Triple Crown in Huckological genius. The first, of course, was Twain’s, narrated through the words and eyes of Huck Finn. The second was Wells’ Passing Through to the Territory [2010] where Huck finds a new voice, Jim emerges more fleshed out as a human and the two are rescued from going down the Mississippi (they also avoid Tom Sawyer’s scene stealing). Jim and Huck end up in Bloody Kansas where John Brown’s Army and slavers clash in a foreshadowing of the Civil War. Jim aka James finally is the tale’s narrator and becomes moral center of Everett’s James.

Everett’s Huck struggles, as he does in Twain’s and Wells’ books, with dual allegiance to friendship, even kinship, with Jim and his ideas about property and propriety, about kindness and the unbearable whiteness of his being.

At its core, James is a treatise on language; in particular on Black language in the presence of white folks; while seemingly ignorant and rough-hewed, and, alone, among his compatriots, a language crafty, smart, precise, and profoundly eloquent. Jim is truly the books bilingual exemplar. He teaches enslaved children the double use of language, to conceal intention and their hard won intelligence from Whites and to communicate with precision and stealth outside of White ears; in a word to signify and craft a new language of liberation.

Reflection: Mastering this double language is at the heart of the book and, indeed, to this day “bad” can be “good,” “cool” can be warm elegance, and “boss” can be great or it can be a slyly subversive distancing, a faux submission. “Uptight” can be coitus that is “out of sight” or angst-ridden white anxiety; “you’re the man” can become a caveat “here comes the man;” and then there’s the wonderful “copacetic” and “down” and “on the down low.”  In terms of dual languages what it was is what it is. And Everett’s work is a wise meditation on language, power, eloquence, and subterfuge. This is a wonderful book that ends with a mind-blowing reveal.

By Louis Segal. Louis was born in Oakland, raised his family in Oakland, dropped out of school in 1968, worked many jobs over the decades, dropped back into school in the 80s, got a Ph.D. in history, taught as an adjunct professor from 1993 to 2015. Retired but not withdrawn. 

Friends of the Piedmont Avenue Library Board of Directors 2024

President: Ronile Lahti; Secretary: Arleen Feng; Treasurer: Joanna Smith

The Friends of the Piedmont Avenue Library is a 501(c)(3) nonprofit. Our tax ID is 84-4203055.

All contributions are tax deductible.

Donate to Friends of PAL