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Community Corner

Piedmont Ave Branch Library Finds Likely New Home at School

The library will be prepared to move by the end of October.

It looks like Oakland Public Library's , frequented by Piedmont residents, will be moving to an elementary school parking lot up the street from its current location. 

The fate of the branch has been in jeopardy since a new owner bought the space at 160 41st St and raised the rent last year from $1 to $4,250 a month, which the cash-strapped library can't afford to pay long term. With that lease set to expire on Oct. 31, the search has been on to find the Piedmont Avenue branch a new home.

The library is now finalizing a five-year lease agreement with the Oakland Unified School District to set up a a 2,000-square-foot modular unit at Piedmont Avenue Elementary School at 4314 Piedmont Ave to house the branch. 

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“We’re going through a process right now trying to get everyone on the same page regarding the lease,” said Oakland Public Library Associate Director Gerry Garzon.

OUSD sent a draft to Oakland city officials two weeks ago, which the library has since reviewed. Garzon will soon meet with the city attorney’s office to finalize various details in the agreement.

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Following that, OUSD staff will present the agreement to the school board. If the board gives the go ahead, the lease agreement will then head to Oakland City Council for final approval.

Garzon said it is difficult to say how long the process will take.

“In terms of a timeline, I almost hate to tell you anything,” he said. “We don’t always know, and things may change.”

The Piedmont Avenue branch's current landlord is required to give the library 30 days notice to vacate the 41st Street space. If that notice doesn't arrive by Sept. 30, the branch could stay there on a month-to-month basis beyond the end of the lease term in October, said Garzon.

“So much is dependent on the landlord and whether he gives us notice or not,” said Garzon. “We haven’t gotten any indication from him.”

Garzon said ideally the branch would remain at the current site for as long as possible so “we can get done with our process on both sides.”

If the library is forced to vacate before the modular unit is ready, the city has arranged for an outside company to remove all the books and materials from the branch and put them in temporary storage.

Whatever the outcome, the library will be prepared to move by Oct. 31, said Garzon.

“We’ll have our plans in place in order to do it,” he said. “If we don’t get a 30-day notice, it only helps us.”

Garzon called the modular unit a “temporary solution” until the economy improves.

“We recognize that we need a permanent library in that area,” he said, “something larger than what we have had for a good many years.”

He said the Piedmont Avenue neighborhood could ultimately follow Rockridge's lead in passing a special parcel tax to help fund a permanent space for their library branch.

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