Tagged: Localore

If you’ve visited your local library recently, you might have seen some kids listening to story time ... teenagers seated in front of  computers ... adults reading on couches ... somebody sleeping. Libraries aren’t just for quiet reading anymore.

“If we’re quiet, hush places with books only, we’re not relevant to this community,” says Oakland’s 81st Avenue Senior Library Assistant, Anthony Propernick. “I think we have to provide a safe place; we have to provide a place where people can come and hang out and exchange ideas and develop a sense of community.”

The 81st Avenue Library is connected to two small elementary schools. So you can imagine how this place is abuzz with loud voices and tiny feet.

“I’ve been able to meet all these wonderful children and fifth graders, and I don’t have children of my own, so it’s a pleasure for me to be able to be a part of a child’s life and to meet kids and to just experience how wonderful they can be, especially the fifth graders,” says Senior Library Assistant, Anthony Propernick.

Our new community storytelling project, Hear Here is popping up in libraries, food banks, and schools to capture these stories and snapshots of life in Oakland and San Francisco. A few months ago, Hear Here set up shop in the Golden Gate branch of the Oakland Public library to talk to local residents about work. They heard this story from Regina Tolbert.

Listen to the full story above. This story originally aired on July 24, 2012.