OHC Friends Newsletter #2
Exhibit on the Main Library’s first 75 years will run through June 30, 2026
January 2026
The Hear Hear truck gathers community stories
Oakland Main Library's 75th Birthday Celebration
We're excited to partner with Hear Here Community Billboard to celebrate the Main Library's 75th Anniversary on January 24th!
From 11am to 2pm during our 75th birthday party, you'll find a small flatbed truck outfitted with an LED billboard on the Library's northwest lawn (Madison & 14th St). It's the Hear Here Community Billboard, where we'll be gathering your Library stories and sharing memories of our own!
Come view vintage photos of the Main Library, Lake Merritt, and surrounding neighborhood. Tell us your own Oakland memories, the first time you visited the Library, or the most memorable Library event you've ever attended. Your stories will be saved and added to the collections of the Oakland History Center for posterity.
At 2pm, we will head inside to the Library's first floor lobby for birthday announcements, then to the lower level auditorium for cupcakes, Oakland trivia, and a library-themed photobooth! Wear your best 1950s attire.
In the event of rain, story gathering will occur inside the Library (Oakland History Center, Second Floor). Cupcakes and party favors will be available in the Bradley C. Walters Community Room, along with a 1951 trivia game!
Saturday Jan 24th; 11:00 am - 2:00 pm
14th and Madison Streets outside of the Oakland Library, Main Branch, 125 14th Street
Crowd outside Oakland Main Library on opening Day, Jan 7, 1951. Photo credit: Ken Rice.
Collection Spotlight
The Oakland Main Library will celebrate its 75th birthday this January. The Main Library opened on January 7, 1951, to great fanfare with a parade along Lakeside Drive and speeches delivered by local and state dignitaries including California Governor Earl Warren. Since its opening, the Main Library has built impressive collections on a wide range of subjects, one of the most important being the Oakland Public Library (OPL) Archive.
Housed in the Oakland History Center on the library’s 2nd floor, the OPL Archive tells our institutional history through news articles, event fliers, annual reports, staff newsletters, scrapbooks, architectural drawings, photographs, correspondences, and staff profiles. All current and former branches of the OPL system are represented in the archive which contains over 350 files of information. There are also files on the Bookmobile, literacy and tutoring programs, teen services, and on the various bond measures that kept the library afloat during lean times.
Library school students, biographers, library branch managers, and architects are among the many researchers who have consulted this archival collection. It not only tells the story of how our library system has grown to meet the changing needs of East Bay residents over the decades, but how our city has grown.
This archival collection is available for research in the Oakland History Center. The collection does not circulate. Just ask the OHC librarians for assistance. To learn more about the Oakland History Center’s special collections, visit: https://oaklandlibrary.org/ohc/
The community enjoying the Oakland history trivia contest.
Fall History Series Recap
The Oakland History Center's 2025 Fall History Series was a huge success. The series began with a Celebration of Dioramas, a reception for the very popular All the News that's Fit to Build: Local News Dioramas exhibit. We had Oakland trivia presented by Liam O'Donoghue and prizes awarded by celebrity judges Alexis Madrigal and Dorothy Lazard for the top 10 diorama makers. We also hosted an inspiring film screening of The School: The Legacy of Hintil Ku'u Ča with executive producer Leah Aguilera, an illuminating panel discussion with the Fruitvale History Project, and an insightful book talk with author Alex Werth (On Loop: Black Sonic Politics in Oakland) in conversation with Rickey Vincent. If you were one of the over 200 attendees, thank you for coming out! If you missed these events the first time around, you can still watch the video of the On Loop event or see the dioramas in the online version of the exhibit. And if you're feeling inspired to make your own diorama, we have great news: there will be another call for entries in 2026!
The History Diorama exhibit was one of the Oakland History Center’s most popular exhibits.
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Questions? Comments?
contact oaklandhistorycenterfriends@gmail.com
Friends of the Oakland History Center
The Oakland History Center Friends meet at 6 pm on the second Wednesday of odd-numbered months in the Oakland History Center (Oakland Main Library, 125 14th Street, 2nd floor). Donations to the Oakland History Center Friends help fund a variety of projects in the Oakland History Center. Our next meeting will be March 11. Please join us.
To join the Oakland History Center Friends, reach out to us by email.
Donations are gratefully accepted. Checks payable to "Oakland History Center Friends" can be mailed to our attention at the Oakland History Center, 125 14th Street, Oakland, CA 94612.