The Eastmont Branch opened on the corner of Parker and MacArthur Blvd in 1945. In 1983, the Baymont and Eastmont branches were consolidated in a 500-square foot kiosk in the Eastmont Mall. With a growing clientele, a full service, 9500 Square foot branch opened in The Eastmont Town Center on October 5, 1998. The collection includes 65,000 volumes, including reference and circulating titles of general interest to all ages. Highlights include a Career section, African American studies, English as a Second Language, and Spanish language materials.
Recently, Eastmont was a site for OPL’s early literacy grant from First Five Alameda County, and has also hosted weekly art classes with the Museum of Children’s Art (MOCHA). Eastmont was also the center of operations for the oral history project “East Oakland Stories,” funded by a “California of the Past” grant from the Media Arts Center of San Diego. The videos that resulted from this project can be see here.
I work for Center for Elders’ Independence, the local PACE program that works to keep frail seniors living in the community rather than moving into nursing homes. We have two PACE centers at Eastmont Mall serving well over 200 seniors who are home bound — many in walkers and wheelchairs. We take them on fieldtrips to the branch in the mall and help them apply for library cards and check out books. It’s a vital part of helping them stay informed and active in the community. Please do not close this branch!
I’d like to suggest we move all our libraries to be financed the way Oregon finances their libraries. In Oregon, libraries are not financed through the city but have taxing authority. Every five years residents around the library vote to keep the library open with dedicated funding. It makes libraries accountable to residents and doesn’t allow them to be shut down by cities if the residents still want them. With library usage increasing over the last decade, we cannot afford to lose this valuable resource.