Vol 8 # 11 August 15, 2024

Events at our Library

From Sabah Abdulla, Branch Manager and Nathan Page, Children’s Librarian

While our weekly programs of the past two months have been a blast, we are shifting gears with the start of school. Check out The OPL Events page https://oaklandlibrary.org/events for exciting crafts, special guests, and more.

Toddler Storytime

Every Tuesday morning, 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 with Susan Segal

Monday Aug. 26 & Sept. 9, 11 -1 pm

Join us every second and fourth Monday of the month for a delightful early afternoon of yarn, needles, and good company at our Adult Knitting & Crochet Circle! Whether you're a seasoned pro or just starting, everyone is welcome!

Face Painting at

National Night Out

Teen Pop Up Crafts

Tuesday, Aug. 27 & Sept. 10, 3:30 - 4:30 pm

Come and hang out and get creative with us every 2nd and 4th Tuesday of the month. Teens age 13-18 all welcome. Snacks will be provided.

Science in September is happening at the Oakland Public Library!

Stay tuned to our events webpage https://oaklandlibrary.org/events for fun science-based programs throughout our libraries.

September is National Library Card Sign-up Month!

Since 1987, Library Card Sign-up Month has been held each September to mark the beginning of the school year. During the month, the American Library Association and libraries unite in a national effort to ensure every child signs-up for their own library card. Visit Oakland Public Library today to get your free library card, or get started immediately by visiting https://oaklandlibrary.org

Violinist Nate Guinto

Hello & Lots of Cookies

Aquacero - Bomba!

Notes from the Friends of PAL Meeting 7/23/24

by Arleen Feng, Secretary, Friends of PAL

The Friend's July meeting featured Jamie Turbak, Oakland’s Library Director, who covered the following topics:

Library budget: Recent midcycle adjustments of Oakland’s 2-year budget came in a flurry of changes; Jamie thinks the department won’t lose any positions for FY2023-24. However the General Fund budget was bolstered by taking away the library’s reserve fund balance (built up from savings during the pandemic) and also dedicated funds from library parcel assessments (reallocated under a special “Fiscal Emergency” declaration by City Council). That leaves the Library Department in a weak position moving forward and it could suffer big impacts if the next budget cycle starting in July 2025 faces similar deficit problems.

Feasibility Study for a new branch at 86 Echo: Jamie confirmed that the Feasibility Study report will present a Conceptual Design for a new building similar to the new-construction option presented at community meetings in May. On-site parking won’t be added but Jamie wasn’t sure what other alterations had been made in response to neighbors’ input at the meetings. The Conceptual Design will be posted online after her department receives the final report. The report will also include some research on options for future funding; the overall project cost estimate is still roughly $19-20 million as presented in the May meetings. Link for “new-construction option presented at community meetings in May" https://bit.ly/3WCyvAD

Next Steps for the new branch project: Approval of the Conceptual Design by City Council and the Board of the Oakland Unified School District (OUSD) later this year is a milestone in the existing agreement on the 86 Echo property and will benefit from supportive comments by the library and school communities. The city’s budget for Capital Improvement Projects is completely separate from the General Fund and has already budgeted for the next step of preparing detailed design drawings for construction and bid--this may or may not be done by the same architects involved in the Feasibility Study, and some minor changes can be made from the Conceptual Design. Bond infrastructure funds such as Measure U is one possible source of construction funds and the Feasibility Study report may suggest other strategies. The city’s process for allocating capital funds is slow and involves an algorithm for setting priorities. Some renegotiation of the timelines in the existing lease agreement could be helpful especially it getting City Council support for locking in the long-term lease. It will be important for Friends to maintain ongoing visible support for the project with members of Council and the OUSD Board.

Branch Library Name: As some Friends have noted, the word “Piedmont” in the name can be problematic in getting political support for our branch. Jamie said there is an administrative procedure for requesting a name change for a library facility--it hasn’t often been used but could be relevant for a new building.

Feasibility Study Update - A recap is available at https://www.friendsofpal.org/campaign/

The City of Oakland has successfully completed the first two phases of the feasibility study to relocate the Piedmont Ave Branch Library to 86 Echo Ave. During Phase 3, the City and the Design Team are working on developing a funding plan, with the assistance of economic consultants.

John Street Jumble: the famous multi-block garage sale is happening Saturday, August 17, 9 am - 1 pm.

The Friends of PAL will have a table at

4288 Montgomery St. We'll talk to our neighbors about our "small but mighty" library. Children can design and make buttons and there will be free children's books and cookies by Pam.

There will be no Friends of PAL General Meeting in August - see you at the Jumble!

A Secret Helper

It has happened again! Mystery people, or person, have once again swept in and done a clean-up at the property at 86 Echo (we hope soon to be the site of our new library building). Each year, or a couple of times a year, The Friends group holds a clean-up Saturday there, and neighbors come to help rake leaves, prune bushes, and weed. But in-between those times, the leaves begin to pile up and the foxtails grow, and we say, “We should do another clean-up”. But again, this last month, mysteriously, the piled-up leaves and debris disappeared. We don’t know who you are, but you have our heartfelt cheers for helping to keep 86 clean and tidy!

By Joanna Smith, President, Friends of PAL

The Panther in the new mural, part of the Curry foundation’s remodel of the school grounds is PAES mascot.

School is Back in Session at PAES

It is wonderful to have the children and their teachers back in the library after school now that Piedmont Avenue Elementary School opened on August 12.

Self portrait by Kindergarten student at PAES

Our Avid Reader is on vacation and the Bookworm is kindly filling in.....

The Book Worm Recommends

The Military Philosophers, by Anthony Powell

I just finished reading “The Military Philosophers”, the ninth novel in Anthony Powell’s “A Dance to the Music of Time.” At this point, the narrator of the series is serving in a group coordinating with Liaison Officers of Allied and neutral countries during World War II. He is in London, but living alone in a hotel room, isolated from his family. Life is periodically interrupted by exploding bombs, V1 rockets, later V2s. In one scene, he’s on the roof doing “fire duty”, watching three rockets approaching in the distance, vividly described as dragons. Friends are occasionally killed by bombs in London, or in combat on the front lines, or on secret missions. He’s living a life of tedium and tension.

The writing is eloquent, often comic. When I was reading the eighth novel in the series the social satire was so amusing that I checked out a Jeeves and Wooster novel from the library for comparison. Well, there are times when P. G. Woodhouse sounds a bit like Anthony Powell, but Woodhouse carefully balances any occasional eloquence with a boatload of slang and goofiness. We need all kinds of humor and eloquence but Powell’s quieter style is more satisfying over the long haul.

The narrator works in a bureaucratic world, sometimes visiting a fearsome obstructor “down into the bowels of the earth, the caves and potholes of the basement and subbasement, an underground kingdom . . . . It might have been thought that Mime and his fellow Nibelungen haunted these murky subterranean regions.” Imagine what Anthony Powell would say if he had to renew his license at DMV.

In the last chapter there is victory. He supervises his foreign Liaison Officers in a ceremony of thanksgiving at Saint Paul’s. I’ll be getting the tenth novel from my library soon.

By Peter Sownie, a retired gentleman who has lived in the Bay Area for 56 years, 35 of them working for large banks, while somehow remaining a basically good person. He likes to travel, ride his bicycle, visit libraries and bookstores, and have dinner with friends, when possible.