Library Stuff

Oakland Tribune – “Police made at least 10 arrests Friday afternoon as a band of more than 50 demonstrators protesting library cuts gathered downtown at 12th and Broadway and began blocking the street. The demonstration opposed Oakland library cuts and other austerity measures and began around 4 p.m. It was uneventful at first, but when the protesters moved to the street, blocking traffic, and refused police orders to disperse, at least 10 were arrested on suspicion of offenses ranging from failure to disperse to battery on a police officer.”

Oakland Tribune - “IN EACH legislative session in Sacramento, there is a flood of ill-conceived bills that deserve quick vetoes by the governor. Assembly Bill 438 is one of them. With the prolonged economic downturn, which has hit California particularly hard, cities have been forced to make painful reductions in spending. Among the leading targets are libraries, which often have their hours severely cut back in order to make funds available for basic government services. In some instances, libraries or branches have been closed to save money.”

SF Chronicle – “Oakland Mayor Jean Quan has proposed cutting 14 of the city’s 18 libraries, including a venerated African American museum and library, unless unions slash their pay or voters pass an $11.2 million parcel tax. The proposal has riled library supporters, who have come to council chambers en masse to demand that the council place the tax on the ballot.”

SF Gate – “Oakland library supporters crawled down Telegraph Avenue Saturday evening in their zombie finest to protest the potential closure of 14 of the city’s 18 libraries. The living dead, organized by the group Save Oakland Public Libraries, groaned “Zombies need brains, keep libraries open!” to passerbys in cars, restaurants, and at Oakland’s Uptown galleries, and urged them to “keep Oakland brains the tastiest in California.”

Oakland Tribune – “Henry Delton Williams was outraged when he heard that the African American Museum and Library at Oakland could be on the chopping block under one of three budget scenarios proposed by Mayor Jean Quan. Williams designed costumes for Motown and Hollywood stars, and was one of the first in the Bay Area to sell traditional African dashikis and African clothing in the 1960s. His store, the Original Brothers on the corner of 18th Street and San Pablo Avenue, pioneered designs to fit the new black pride movement and notions of “Black is beautiful.”