Don’t get us wrong: we love books. And one of our favorite places to find them is at Oakland’s libraries, which are packed with stories and knowledge that anyone living in California can hold in their hands and bring home with them for free.
But anyone who’s stepped foot in a library in the 21st century, or visited the website of one, knows that these institutions long ago entered the digital age, offering tech tools, e-books and all sorts of digital media to check out. Visitors can also get help with basic needs like finding connections to social services or attending workshops on tax filing and English language classes.
What you might not know is that your library card comes with a whole bunch of perks beyond the library’s bread-and-butter access to information and services. Through the library, you can fill an entire Oakland weekend with fun and productive activities for all ages. And hey, your taxes support these institutions, so you might as well reap the benefits.
Stream movies
Nobody wants to pay for another ConglomerateFlixPlus account. Luckily, the Oakland Public Library contracts with streaming service Kanopy, a treasure trove of films and TV shows available for free with a library card. Kanopy’s curated collection includes big-studio movies, a whole bunch of indie, foreign films and documentaries, and lots of episodes of British dramas. Viewers get a limited number of “tickets” per month to stream content, but the kids’ programming is unlimited. We recommend The Watermelon Woman, Oakland filmmaker Cheryl Dunye’s 1996 debut.
You can also stream eight movies per month on Hoopla, or check out DVDs at the library.
Visit museums
Through OPL’s Discover & Go program, library card holders who reside in Oakland, Emeryville or Piedmont can visit museums around the Bay Area. We’re talking classics like San Francisco’s de Young Museum and Asian Art Museum, as well as smaller collections like the Pacific Coast Air Museum or the Richmond Museum of History. Each location has different terms, but most allow Discover & Go users to reserve one free pass per calendar year.
Travel to state parks
Before going on a hike or to the beach, swing by your local library. The California State Parks system partners with libraries to offer day-use vehicle passes. You can check out one of OPL’s hundreds of passes for up to three weeks at a time, and hit up as many parks as you want for free. The Oakland Public Library even has backpacks with binoculars that you can borrow for the trip.
Borrow toys and tools
Along with your mystery novels, you can take home a lawn mower, a xylophone and a baby doll. The Oakland Tool Lending Library is open Monday through Saturday at the Temescal Branch. While anyone in California can get an Oakland library card and access most services, the tool library is available only to Oakland, Emeryville and Piedmont residents. The Berkeley Public Library has its own tool library. Oakland’s has 5,000 items, including gardening and building tools and books teaching you how to use them.
Parents and other caretakers can also check out a variety of toys for ages 0-6. Like books, different toys live at different locations, but you can request that any of them be sent to your neighborhood branch for pick-up. Just remember that the Main Library is closed for renovations.
Take crafting classes
Want to make something? With your library card, you can access Creativebug, a collection of online crafting courses, from crocheting to calligraphy. (Don’t make fun of our yarn banner, please.) OPL also offers in-person art classes for children, teens and adults.
Repair your bike
OPL hosts Bike Fix events three times a month at the 81st Avenue and Martin Luther King Jr. branches in East Oakland. Staff can make simple repairs or give you the tools to do it yourself. While you can’t check out bikes from the library, there are tire pumps and bike locks you can use at most branches. The Tool Lending Library has full repair kits. Or the library might come to you via bike; OPL has a fleet of mobile book collections that get pedaled around town.
