The Montclarion/East Bay Times ran a nice article today about the library and our branch manager, Mahate Osborn.
Filling at first a temporary position before becoming the library’s permanent manager last December, Osborn is keen to ramp up operations at the Montclair branch. Top priorities on a practical level include making the outdoor hillside space behind the building compliant with the federal Americans with Disabilities Act; developing multifunctional, flexible areas indoors and outdoors that allow for mobile craft or other maker spaces and community gatherings in a variety of configurations; continuously surveying community interests to discover new interests; and centering outreach and programming on the diverse needs and desires of the library’s users, not just those who run it.
Thursday, December 1, 2022 – 10:15–10:45am Storytime At toddler storytime, you’ll find songs, active rhymes, and stories, especially for kids 18 months to 3 years old. There’s also always lots of time to play and make friends.
Wednesday, December 7, 2022 – 2:00–3:00pm Gingerbread Houses Craft for Kids Please join us for an afternoon of fun making Gingerbread Houses out of graham crackers and candy.
Thursday, December 8, 2022 – 10:15–10:45am Storytime
Tuesday, December 13, 2022 – 3:30-4:30pm Teen Crafting @ Montclair Come hang out and get crafty every second Tuesday at 3:30pm. Geared for teens ages 13-18. All ages welcome.
Tuesday, December 13, 2022 – 6:30-7:30pm One Village, One Book Come discuss There There by Tommy Orange as we continue exploring books set in Oakland.
Wednesday, December 14, 2022 – 2:00–3:00pm Winter Wind Chimes Craft for Kids Come make wind chimes using personalized shrinky dinks. Create your own designs and watch them shrink in a toaster oven. Shrunk cutout images are strung together and hung from a windowsill.
Thursday, December 15, 2022 – 10:15–10:45am Storytime
Wednesday, December 21, 2022 – 2:00-3:00pm Paper Stars Craft for Kids Come be creative with scissors and paper folding. These paper stars can be a welcome addition to your holiday celebrations.
Thursday, December 22, 2022 – 10:15–10:45am Storytime
Wednesday, December 28, 2022 – 2:00-3:00pm Pom Pom Snow People Craft for Kids Come and make some adorable Pom Pom Snow People. We will have premade pom poms, materials to decorate your snow person, and of course, goggly eyes. This is not too challenging, but young children will need adult assistance.
Thursday, December 29, 2022 – 10:15–10:45am Storytime
For our December meeting, our One Village, One Book Club is reading Tommy Orange’s There There. Join us Tuesday, December 13th from 6:30-7:30pm at the library to discuss this book set in Oakland by an author born and raised in Oakland.
Here’s the summary from the library website, in case you missed all the hype and awards when this book came out in 2018:
Jacquie Red Feather is newly sober and trying to make it back to the family she left behind in shame in Oakland. Dene Oxedrene is pulling his life together after his uncle’s death and has come to work the powwow and to honor his uncle’s memory. Edwin Frank has come to find his true father. Bobby Big Medicine has come to drum the Grand Entry. Opal Viola Victoria Bear Shield has come to watch her nephew Orvil Red Feather; Orvil has taught himself Indian dance through YouTube videos, and he has come to the Big Oakland Powwow to dance in public for the very first time. Tony Loneman is a young Native American boy whose future seems destined to be as bleak as his past, and he has come to the Powwow with darker intentions–intentions that will destroy the lives of everyone in his path.
Tuesday, November 8, 2022 – 3:30-4:30pm Teen Crafting @ Montclair Come hang out and get crafty every second Tuesday at 3:30pm. Geared for teens ages 13-18. All ages welcome.
Wednesday, November 9, 2022 – 2:00-3:00pm Dinovember! Discover the wonders of dinosaurs! Create an origami dinosaur or build one with Legos. Perhaps you want to make a dinosaur snow globe or save one from the Ice Age While you’re enjoying one of our crafts, please make sure to check out all the fantastic books we have on dinosaurs.
Thursday, November 10, 2022 – 10:15–10:45am Storytime At toddler storytime, you’ll find songs, active rhymes, and stories, especially for kids 18 months to 3 years old. There’s also always lots of time to play and make friends.
Thursday, November 17, 2022 – 10:15–10:45am Storytime
Remember: Masks are required inside all library locations so we can all stay healthy and keep having in-person events! (And if you’re not feeling well, please stay home and take care of yourself.)
Maybe it’s the Harry Potter generation growing up, maybe we’re all looking for a little escapism in the Covid era; whatever the reason, the last couple of years have brought us a cauldron-full of rom coms with a magical bent. Here for your Halloween reading pleasure are nine fun books that mix romance and witches (plus two bonus ghost stories). You’ll find all the usual tropes here — second-chance romance, fake dating, enemies-to-lovers, forced proximity — along with a welcome smattering of diverse representation. (For even more witchy books, see this list from October 2020.)
The Ex Hex by Erin Sterling “Vivienne Jones handled the biggest break-up of her life the way that any witch would: vodka, bubble baths, and a curse on her ex. That was nine years ago. Now Rhys Penhallow, descendant of the town’s founders, breaker of hearts and still irritatingly gorgeous, is back…But when his every move results in calamity, Vivi realizes that hexing her ex might not have been so harmless after all…Vivi and Rhys must put their personal feelings aside and work together to break the curse and save not just the town, but also Rhys’s life.” — FantasticFiction.com. (If you like this book, the next book in the series is The Kiss Curse.)
Payback’s a Witch by Lana Harper Reviewers described this book as “the Sapphic modern Gothic I didn’t know I needed” and “John Tucker Must Die meets the Tri-Wizard Tournament,” as witches with a lot of history between them converge on the magical town of Thistle Grove for a spellcasting tournament. (If you like this book, check out the sequel, From Bad to Cursed.)
The Very Secret Society of Irregular Witches by Sangu Mandanna “As one of the few witches in Britain, Mika Moon knows she has to hide her magic, keep her head down, and stay away from other witches so their powers don’t mingle and draw attention. And as an orphan who lost her parents at a young age and was raised by strangers, she’s used to being alone and she follows the rules…with one exception: an online account, where she posts videos “pretending” to be a witch. She thinks no one will take it seriously. But someone does. An unexpected message arrives, begging her to travel to the remote and mysterious Nowhere House to teach three young witches how to control their magic.”
Witch Please by Ann Aguirre “Practical Magic meets Gilmore Girls in this adorable witchy rom-com” between a cursed bisexual baker and a thoroughly modern witch whose family runs a magical tech repair shop. (There are two more books in the series: Boss Witch and Extra Witchy.)
Go Hex Yourself by Jessica Clare “When Reggie Johnson answers a job ad in the paper, she’s astonished to find that she’s not applying to work at her favorite card game…but to be an actual familiar for an actual witch.” The only problem “is warlock Ben Magnus, her employer’s nephew and the most arrogant, insufferable, maddening man to ever cast a spell.”
Not The Witch You Wed by April Asher A magic-less witch in New York City and a werewolf who broke her teenage heart end up fake dating to circumvent arcane Supernatural Laws requiring them to find mates.
Witchful Thinking by Celestine Martin “On the eve of her ten-year high school reunion, Lucy…casts a spell that brings trouble in the form of…her high school crush merman Alex…But once he discovers that his new neighbor is the witch who got away, Alex starts to rethink his plan” to flip his new house and get back to the ocean.
The League of Gentlewomen Witches by India Holton Witchcraft, pirates, flying houses and madcap humor make for a rollicking historical romance with added magic as witch Charlotte Pettifer joins forces with pirate Alex O’Riley to track down a missing amulet. (There is some dispute about who is kidnapping whom.)
What the Hex by Alexis Daria “The Addams Family meets Miami in this short and steamy witchy rom-com” set on “Isla Bruja, a secret magical enclave home to the richest and most powerful Latinx witch families.”
Plus two bonus ghostly romances about ladies who can see (very handsome) ghosts: A Ghost in Shining Armor by Therese Beharrie and Dead Romantics by Ashley Poston
October 4, 2022 – 6:00-7:30pm Poetry of the Senses: A Creative Writing Series Come take a break from the demanding news of the day with The Poetry of the Senses, a series of six creative writing sessions at Montclair Branch Library.
October 6, 2022 – 10:15-10:45am Storytime At toddler storytime, you’ll find songs, active rhymes, and stories, especially for kids 18 months to 3 years old. There’s also always lots of time to play and make friends.
October 11, 2022 – 6:30-7:30pm One Village, One Book Club After a brief 2-year hiatus (ahem), we are bringing back our book club reading set in Oakland! Books will be selected from a variety of genres and eras, so you’re sure to find something you’re interested in. We’ll get to learn more about our city, meet some neighbors, and discuss what we’ve read. At this meeting we’ll be discussing the cookbook Flavors of Oakland by Elazar Sontag and Anya Ku.
Join us for in-person events for kids and adults this month. Remember: Masks are required inside all library locations so we can all stay healthy and keep having in-person events! (And if you’re not feeling well, please stay home and take care of yourself.)
September 5, 2022 LIBRARY CLOSED (Labor Day)
September 6, 2022 – 6:00–7:30pm Poetry of the Senses: A Creative Writing Series Come take a break from the demanding news of the day with The Poetry of the Senses, a series of six creative writing sessions at Montclair Branch Library. Each session will focus on finding inspiration from one of the senses, such as by viewing touching and tasting a blackberry, examining and smelling a lavender flower, looking at a painting, or visiting the library’s garden under the blue sky in the wind. Sessions will consist of inspiration time (model poem, discussion, sense experience), writing time, and sharing time.
September 8, 2022 – 10:15–10:45am Storytime At toddler storytime, you’ll find songs, active rhymes, and stories, especially for kids 18 months to 3 years old. There’s also always lots of time to play and make friends.
Join us for in-person events for kids and adults this month. Remember: Masks are required inside all library locations so we can all stay healthy and keep having in-person events! (And if you’re not feeling well, please stay home and take care of yourself.)
August 9, 2022 – 6:00–7:30pm Poetry of the Senses: A Creative Writing Series Come take a break from the demanding news of the day with The Poetry of the Senses, a series of six creative writing sessions at Montclair Branch Library. Each session will focus on finding inspiration from one of the senses, such as by viewing touching and tasting a blackberry, examining and smelling a lavender flower, looking at a painting, or visiting the library’s garden under the blue sky in the wind. Sessions will consist of inspiration time (model poem, discussion, sense experience), writing time, and sharing time.
August 11, 2022 – 10:15–10:45am Storytime At toddler storytime, you’ll find songs, active rhymes, and stories, especially for kids 18 months to 3 years old. There’s also always lots of time to play and make friends.
Join us at Montclair Library in July for fun events for all ages. Remember: Masks are required inside all library locations so we can all stay healthy and keep having in-person events! (And if you’re not feeling well please stay home and take care of yourself.)
July 12, 2022 – 6:00–7:30 PM Poetry of the Senses: A Creative Writing Series Come take a break from the demanding news of the day with The Poetry of the Senses, a series of six creative writing sessions at Montclair Branch Library. Each session will focus on finding inspiration from one of the senses, such as by viewing touching and tasting a blackberry, examining and smelling a lavender flower, looking at a painting, or visiting the library’s garden under the blue sky in the wind. Sessions will consist of inspiration time (model poem, discussion, sense experience), writing time, and sharing time.
July 13, 2022 – 1:00-1:45 PM Yoga Storytime Join Librarian Pat this summer for Yoga Storytime. Pat invites you to make shapes with your body, practice deep breaths, and enjoy a few stories.
July 14, 2022 – 10:15–10:45am Storytime At toddler storytime, you’ll find songs, active rhymes, and stories, especially for kids 18 months to 3 years old. There’s also always lots of time to play and make friends.
July 20, 2022 – 1:00–2:00 PM Traveling Lantern Theatre Mr. Sharky, your snaggle-tooth camp counselor has planned a fish-fact-filled voyage to the bottom of the sea. All hands-on deck as we get underway for Camp Ocean.
July 26, 2022 – 4:00–5:00 PM Teens: Let’s make Tiny Art! Come in and make a mini masterpiece for our tiny art show, featuring tiny paintings by teens all around Oakland! (And yes, you can have your art back when the show is over.) Don’t miss out on this opportunity to earn raffle tickets for our Summer Program, which includes prizes like a Nintendo Switch, an electric guitar, beats earbuds, and so much more! No registration required, all teens welcome. All supplies will be included!
Protect access to local libraries for everyone in Oakland – without raising taxes – by voting YES on Measure C on the June 7 ballot. Ballots will be mailed to Oakland voters the week of May 9.
Measure C will extend an existing, voter-approved parcel tax (which you may remember as Measure Q from 2004). Oakland’s libraries are largely funded by two parcel taxes, overwhelmingly passed by voters in 2004 and 2018 for 20 years each. The measure passed in 2004 expires soon and must be extended to keep libraries open and maintain library services. Bottom line: Without Measure C, our neighborhood libraries will be forced to cut hours and services, and some will likely close.
Recent polls show a lot of Oaklanders aren’t even aware of Measure C, and the campaign could use your support getting the word out. Here are four ways to help the Measure C campaign, courtesy of FOPL:
Tell all the Oaklanders you know to VOTE YES ON C to protect access to local libraries for everyone in Oakland – without raising tax rates. Did you know that Measure C funds can be spent only for Oakland Public Libraries? You heard that right – the City cannot spend this money for any other purpose. And the measure includes exemptions for low-income seniors and residents, community oversight and regular independent audits. We voters have approved this funding in the past. Let’s approve it again!
Sign up to phone-bank and ask your friends to join. Supporters are phone-banking on Mondays from 5 to 8 pm. If you can sign up for even ONE three-hour session, you would be giving OPL some high-quality support. Please go to the VolunteerSignUp ASAP!
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