Originally appeared in the 03/95 issue of Off the Shelf

This month our ongoing series on the Branches of the Oakland Public Library visits the Asian Branch, located in Asiatown near downtown Oakland. This branch serves the Asian language community by providing materials in Asian languages and on Asian culture and history in English. You can also find the best sellers and paperbacks that are also available at other branches.

The Asian Branch began in 1975 at the old Park Blvd. branch, near East 18th Street. A federal grant helped start the Asian Community Library. When the grant ended in 1978, the Oakland Public Library continued funding. In the beginning materials were provided in 5 languages, Chinese, Japanese, Korean, Tagalog and Vietnamese. Today the variety of languages has expanded to include Khmer (Cambodian), Lao and Thai. The Branch has its own bookmobile that travels to seniors and shut-ins in the Asian community.

In 1980, a Federal grant enabled the Asian Branch to move to a new location at 449 9th Street near Broadway, where it remained until the end of last year. This year it moved to a newer roomier location on the ground floor of the new Pacific Renaissance Plaza at 388 9th Street.

The Asian Branch's collection has video tapes that include non-fiction titles on Asian culture. Many are in Asian languages, but there are English-language videos. Fictional video tapes at the branch include re-enactments of classical myths and stories and art films from Asia and the expatriate Asian community.

The new branch provides a story area in the juvenile section for children's events and activities. In the future the library will provide; a game table for Chinese and Western Chess for use by patrons, CDs for stereos and computers, a reader/magnifier for sight impaired patrons, and an audio visual preview center so patrons can sample materials before checking them out. The public has come out to the new branch in droves. The branch has been issuing 50-80 new library cards a day, compared to 10 a day in the old location. The dedication for the new location is scheduled for April 7th.

The Asian Branch plays a vital role in our community. It provides materials in native languages for the Asian-Americans. For those who cannot read in English this is a cultural life-line. Others who are fluent in English, may be more comfortable reading in their native language. For all library users, the materials in English are a valuable source of information on these diverse and interesting communities.

Thanks to Asian Branch Librarian Suzanne Lo for her assistance on this article.
-- Alice Mercer

(Please note that this story may not reflect current staff assignments at this branch.)

Click here for current information about the Asian Branch Library.