West Oakland Branch Programs and Events:

Recurring Programs –

A Taste of West

A Taste of West (ATOW) aims to support West Oakland residents by offering live cooking demos, distributing grocery bags with ingredients for home recipes, and providing resources for affordable, healthy local food through our community partner, Mandela Partners. Each event features music, discussions, and a sense of family, transforming it beyond a typical program into a communal practice of care. The West Oakland Branch functions as a third space for the community. We serve, educate, care, restore, foster fellowship, empower, and nourish everyone free of charge.

ATOW takes place two Fridays a month, outside, on the plaza from 1:00 to 3:00 PM next to the Mandela Partners produce stand. Please check social media and the West Oakland Branch website for upcoming dates.

The Black Studies Collective

The West Oakland Branch Library is excited to announce that the Black Studies Collective is back! This series invites community members to reflect on how the ideas and traditions of Black Studies continue to shape our communities, histories, and everyday lives. Join us as we continue West Oakland’s legacy of collective learning and cultural engagement, celebrating the ongoing importance of Black Studies as a living, community-centered tradition.

The Black Studies Collective is the 1st Tuesday of each month from 6:00 to 7:15 PM.

Black Authors Book Club

Join the club for an engaging discussion on a text from the African American Special Collection, mocktails, and a custom bookmark! Follow us on Instagram to keep up with our latest book selections and updates. Each month, we vote on the next book at the end of our meeting.

Black Authors Book Club is the 3rd Tuesday of each month from 6:00 to 7:00 PM.

Adult Craft Club

Join us at the West Oakland Branch for the Adult Craft Club. Arts and Crafts are for grown folks, too! Build community, learn new crafting skills, and hang out. The projects are DIY, beginner-friendly, and all materials are provided. Every month, the craft will rotate. Feel free to bring your own art projects as well. Hobby hoppers, newbies, advanced crafters, and all are welcome.

Adult Craft Club is the 4th Tuesday of each month from 5:30 to 7:00 PM.

WOLF Grounds Cleanup and Outdoor Watering

Join us on the second Saturday of the month for some community care at our Cleanup & Watering events! Together, we spend the day picking up trash, doing light landscaping, watering the pollinator garden, and giving the library grounds the care it deserves.

WOLF cleanup and watering events are the 2nd Saturday of each month from 10:00 to 12:00 PM (beginning in September).

Annual Events –

Hunger Action Month Event

September is Hunger Action Month, a national effort to raise awareness about food insecurity and inspire action to address its root causes. We partner with fantastic local organizations, brands, community members, and West Oakland residents to bring you a memorable event. We have fresh food and cooking demos, a DJ and live music, the West Oakland seed library, kids’ activities, relevant community resources and book recommendations, and a grocery giveaway, to name a few!

This year’s event, titled Rooted in Community, United Against Hunger, will be on Saturday, September 26th from 12:00 to 4:00 PM.

Black Maternal Health & Wellness Expo

Rooted in ancestral wisdom and practice, spirituality, and collective care, this gathering centers on Black mamas, Black birthing people, and Black families. We are reclaiming birth and wellness as sacred, safe, and our own. Experience community healing through speakers, storytelling, and Q&A sessions; journaling and affirmation exercises; flower seed starting; herbalism; doula and midwifery resources and representatives; lactation consulting; youth organizations that center on young mothers and reproductive services; local reproductive justice, birthing, holistic health, and Black maternal-centered organizations; and county and community services.

In this space, we come together to learn, challenge racism in healthcare, uplift Black birth joy and wellness, and build community!

This year’s event, titled A Womanist View: Community-Rooted Birth Care, will be on Saturday, September 19th from 12:00 to 4:00 PM.

West Oakland Has Roots

Join us for a joyful gathering celebrating Earth Month, community care, and the people who call West Oakland home! This community partner event honors environmental stewardship and the vibrant spirit of the West. It is a day to connect, share, build together, and engage in environmental impact. We partner with fantastic local organizations, brands, community members, and West Oakland residents to bring you a memorable event. We have fresh food and cooking demos, a DJ and live music, the West Oakland seed library and tree and pollinator planting/watering ceremonies, a photobooth, kids’ activities, relevant community resources and book recommendations, and a grocery giveaway, to name a few!

Next year’s event (2027) will be the 2nd or 3rd Saturday in April from 12:00 to 4:00 PM. Please check back for the updated date.

We Losin’ Recipes: A Juneteenth Celebration

Our Juneteenth is a celebration of Black joy, culture, and community! This event brings generations together at the West Oakland Branch for an event rooted in history, resilience, fellowship, culture, ancestral wisdom, and Blackness. From line dancing, live music, creating and crafting, seed starting, and wellness practices to Spades, Dominoes, double-dutch, and community resourcing, every corner of the library reflects the richness of Black culture, history, and the power of gathering.

Through food, music, movement, games, storytelling, learning, laughter, and deep connection, we honor the traditions that continue to shape and sustain our communities. Stories are shared, cards are dealt, the music is loud, the ancestors and elders are present, and the love is infinite.

Next year’s event (2027) will be the 2nd or 3rd Saturday in June from 12:00 to 4:00 PM. Please check back for the updated date.