Friends of Montclair Library

Beatles at the Metropolitan Stadium, 1965. Photo: Minnesota Historical Society

Fifty years ago today, on February 7, 1964, the Beatles arrived in New York, touching off the British Invasion.

The Oakland Public Library has Beatles books, DVDs and CDs to help you re-live those days or see what the excitement was all about. There are even a couple vinyl records listed in the catalog, although they’re in storage. Through the library’s partnership with Freegal, you can also download MP3s from the Sony Music Entertainment catalog — so although that doesn’t include the Beatles’ music, you’ll find interviews, covers and tributes, from baby Beatles to bluegrass Beatles.

Some things you’ll find in the Montclair collection:

1 [sound recording] / The Beatles

Abbey Road [sound recording] / The Beatles

A Hard Day’s Night [sound recording] / The Beatles

The Beatles: The Biography by Bob Spitz (782.42166 BEATLES)

Fab: An Intimate Life of Paul McCartney by Howard Sounes (782.42166 McCARTNEY)

Venturing further afield, you can find books from the traditional (The Beatles: From Yesterday to Today by the editors of Life, 782.42166 BEATLES at Main) to the tangential (How the Beatles Rocked the Kremlin: The Untold Story of a Noisy Revolution by Leslie Woodhead, 781.66 WOODHEAD at Main).

Some highlights at other libraries (many of them at Main):

The Beatles Anthology [videorecording] (DVD 782.42166 BEATLES)

The 4 Complete Ed Sullivan Shows Starring the Beatles [videorecording] (DVD F FOUR TV Series)

The Beatles for Ukulele arranged by Barrett Tagliarino [sheet music] (SCO 787.92 BEATLES)

The Beatles’ London: A Guide to 467 Beatles Sites In and Around London by Piet Schreuders et al (782.42166 BEATLES)

Read the Beatles: Classic and New Writings on the Beatles, Their Legacy, and Why They Still Matter edited by June Skinner Sawyers (782.42166 BEATLES)

What’s your Beatles story?