Friends of the Piedmont Avenue Library

Please join the PAES PTA in signing a letter in support of the Piedmont Avenue Branch Library being located at the CDC site, just outside school grounds.

The funds to pay for the design and feasibility study is going to be included in the City budget that will come before City Council in the coming month or so and Dan Kalb suggested we gather written support for the project to make sure it’s not contested.

Here is the letter we will be sending with your support:

As members of the Piedmont Avenue Elementary School PTA we are writing today in support of the Piedmont Avenue Branch of the Oakland Public Library. Our school is a Title One school, which means that over 75% of our families are low-income. A lot of our students’ first exposure to the library system is through our regular class trips to the library. Having the Piedmont Avenue Branch Library in close proximity to our school has been a great benefit for our students and families to have easy access to the books and resources the library offers. Pre-Covid, students would regularly visit the library during the week where they would get a library card, if they didn’t have one previously, as well as books for them to take home. 

Our school does not have the funds to run a library on-site so the Piedmont Avenue Branch is our primary resource for access to books, however, the existing portable is too small. We would like for the currently vacant CDC building to become the library‘s permanent home. The CDC building would allow for more than one class and the public to be utilizing the library at the same time, which is not possible currently.

Please approve funds in the city’s budget for this to become a reality for Piedmont Avenue Elementary School students, families, teachers and the greater community the Piedmont Avenue Branch Library supports.The families, teachers and staff listed below are in support of this initiative.

Sincerely,
Piedmont Avenue Elementary School PTA