This grant supports African American Museum and Library of Oakland (AAMLO) and every branch library and pays for programs, facility improvements, film licensing for public movie screenings, seeds for OPL seed libraries, and parts and supplies for The Bike Fix. These grants include extra funding for AAMLO and branches in high-priority neighborhoods.

These grants pay honoraria to authors and speakers at adult programs, Adult Summer Reading program prizes, systemwide programs such as craft workshops and digital literacy classes, OPL staff t-shirts, adult outreach supplies, promotional items, and more.

Teen Services grants pay for speaker honorariums, craft supplies, after-school snacks, teen furnishings, video game equipment, summer program prizes, the $5,000 scholarship award and $500 finalist prizes for the Oakland Youth Poet Laureate program, teen volunteer appreciation efforts, and more.

Administrative grants allow OPL to provide refreshments at staff meetings, participate in recruiting events, organize special staff trainings, make safety improvements, rebind valuable books, and pay for critical items that aren’t available through the City of Oakland. This grant also includes the annual Friends of the OPL scholarship, a competitive award open to OPL staff pursuing a master’s degree in Library and Information Science.

Friends of the OPL support allows OPL’s Community Relations team to document and promote all the programs and services that the library offers. These grants pay for photography services, special programs, adult volunteer appreciation, and Summer Reading tote bag prizes for all ages.

Combined with donations from individuals and other organizations, this grant supports library programming for children and families throughout Oakland. The library’s most popular programs -- Kids’ Summer Reading and Winter Bingo -- would not be possible without this critical funding. These grants also pay for children’s outreach supplies and year-round enrichment programming.

Contingent upon the award of a $10 million grant that the City of Oakland applied for in late September, this $200,000 grant will support the implementation of the Hoover Branch Library and Community Resilience Center. If that project is not selected for funding in spring 2027, this grant will be made available for other OPL projects.