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(by mk30)

César E. Chávez Branch Library is located near the Fruitvale BART station and it is part of the Fruitvale Transit Village. One of sixteen branch libraries of the Oakland Public Library system, it became the first all-Spanish library in the Western states in September 1966. It was first known as the Fruitvale Branch and it was located on 1457 Fruitvale Ave. It then changed its name to the Latin American Branch before moving to the transit village. In March 1997, it was renamed to honor the leader of the United Farm Worker's Movement, Cesar Chavez.

(by mk30)The library serves as a neighborhood library and a city-wide latino resource center. It offers tutoring services, open chess games, children's storytelling, ESL classes, youth events, and other community services to Oakland residents, and is headed by manager Pete Villasenor. The Chavez library was the first in the United States to start a Spanish literature collection, with 18,500 circulating Spanish items available. There's an excellent historical collection of Chicano Studies Collection housed in this branch.

The branch is equipped with sixteen (16) computers with Internet access for public use, and two (2) additional internet-only express stations.

Seed lending library (by mk30)One important aspect of the Cesar E. Chavez branch is its Seed Lending library, which is a free urban seed project working to increase wholesome food within the community. Available to everyone, there is no library card needed in order to participate. All the library asks is that gardeners allow some of the plants to go to seed and share the seeds for other using the Seed Lending library.

In December, 2013, the OPL launched Chinese Corner at the Cesar Chavez branch, a new collection with a variety of Chinese language learning tools, materials about China and materials in Chinese or bilingual (English/Chinese) of all formats (books, CDs, DVDs). The new collection, sponsored by China Hanban, a publisher of Chinese language teaching materials, offers Chinese language learning tools for all ages. Thinking of learning a new language? Or ready to polish your Chinese conversations? The Oakland Public Library has the right tools for you.

Programs

Part of the childrens' area (by mk30)

  • Dungeons & Dragons Club for Teens, Saturdays, 12 PM - 2 PM

Location

Cesar E. Chavez Library

3301 East 12th Street, Oakland, California 94601

Telephone

510.535.5620

Hours

  • Monday: 10 AM - 5:30 PM
  • Tuesday: 10 AM - 8 PM
  • Wednesday: 10 AM - 8 PM
  • Thursday: 10 AM - 5:30 PM
  • Friday: 12 PM - 5:30 PM
  • Saturday: 10 AM - 5:30 PM
  • Sunday: 10 AM - 5:30 PM

Links and References

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