After a year-long, community-centered strategic planning process, the Library has a Strategic Action Plan for 2024-2028 with new Mission, Vision and Values statements as well as new Strategic Priorities. Thank you to all of you who participated via community meetings, surveys and interviews.
"The power of community voices drove this process forward," shares Tess Mayer, Director of Library Services. “While building upon our past, we are looking to the future. We now have a plan for moving forward, together.”
Bay Area Book Fest Family Day Programs are all at the Library!
Central Saturday, May 4 10:30am-5pm
Celebrating themes including “Star Wars: May the 4th be With You” and “National Free Comic Book Day,” program highlights will include:
90+ youth and YA-oriented authors in talks, panels, and book signings
Panels on Graphic Novels, Fantasy, Mystery, Superheroes, Sci-Fi, Family, Coming of Age, Black Joy, Latina Expressions, AANHPI Stories, Youth Poets and much more!
Story Time readings with favorite children’s authors and 25 exhibiting children’s book authors - check out the impressive line-up!
Showcase of original work by the students of the Graton Writing Project, the Festival’s annual partnership with Federated Indians of Graton Rancheria
Flash Fiction workshop for young writers, hosted by Grant Faulkner, formerly with NaNoWriMo
Free comic giveaway
Star Wars “May the 4th be With You” Cosplay - come dressed in costume!
Free comics will be available for children, teens, and adults at all library locations, while supplies last. Also in honor, of Stars Wars Day (May the 4th be with you!), we will have a few Star Wars themed crafts and activities.
Gentrification is uprooting communities around the world and inspiring new forms of resistance that may very well transform it. Lee will discuss gentrification’s historical roots and global scope while sharing the analyses emerging from interviews with over a dozen activists across the US.
Join us for a poetry reading and conversation with Aya de León (Berkeley Poet Laureate), Julia Segre (Berkeley Youth Poet Laureate), and Serena Griffin (Berkeley Vice Youth Poet Laureate).
Join us for this humorous and immersive three-day music residency that distills six decades of mind-altering, revolutionary-starting, beat-making, and life-affirming music that originated from our very own East Bay.
May 8 - '60s & '70s May 15 - '80s &'90s May 22 - '00s & '10s
***In order to accommodate a large audience, this event will be held near North, at the Hillside Club - 2286 Cedar Street. The event will be livestreamed on the Library's Instagram @berkeleypubliclibrary
We will close down the street in front of Claremont for this open-air event to celebrate Asian American and Pacific Islander (AAPI) Heritage Month with music and community:
2:00 - Jiten Daiko
3:00 - Leung's White Crane Lion Dance
4:00 - Manilatown Ancestral Ensemble
The Library will be at the Berkeley Bay Festival this weekend. See you there!
Celebrate the San Francisco Bay at the Berkeley Marina. Enjoy live music, performers, food, hands-on educational activities, and free boat rides. Over 30 environmental and wildlife conservation organizations from around the Bay will share their exhibits with the public.
