Meeting Time: November 13, 2024 at 4:00pm PST
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Agenda Item

L.-69 24-2827 Adoption by the Board of Education of Resolution No. 2425-2016 - Termination of Joint Occupancy and Lease Agreement ("Agreement") By and Between The District and The City of Oakland for the Latter to Lease the Former Piedmont Child Development Center, pursuant to Section 2(B)(V) of the Agreement.

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    Erin Feeney at November 13, 2024 at 5:30pm PST

    This is outrageous to abandon the library after so much public engagement and when it is a critical institution in this neighborhood.

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    David Grant at November 13, 2024 at 3:26pm PST

    I am a neighbor with mobility challenges who would be devastated to lose the important neighborhood resource that is our branch library. Please do not terminate the lease. I'm only grateful that that I learned about this opportunity to comment today in time before I left to pick up a book they put on hold for me.

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    Jennifer Benitez at November 13, 2024 at 2:55pm PST

    Do not stop this program from happening. This library renovation needs to happen school and neighborhood greatly support and need a functioning library and use of space for the benefit of literacy community education and a safe place for children and families. What a shame that this is even being proposed For termination.

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    Courtney Baxter at November 13, 2024 at 2:41pm PST

    I am a neighbor on Echo Ave and library user. The Piedmont Ave branch library serves a vital community service to the residents of the area.

    The partnership between the City of Oakland and OUSD is critical to serving the residents here. There are so many learning opportunities by continuing the relationship between the two and extending the lease on the property so that the long vacant Children’s Center can provide needed services to the children and families of Oakland.

    Keeping in mind that there was a global pandemic when the initial lease agreement was signed in 2020, our communities long felt the impacts of this, and trying to attract and obtain capital during a pandemic and general economic downturn was not an easy task.

    Please continue this agreement and OPPOSE the cancellation of the lease so that the plans to improve this location and provide critical library and educational services to local residents can be fully realized.

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    Laura Boutelle at November 13, 2024 at 12:38pm PST

    I am a neighbor and a library-user and an OUSD parent, and oppose the termination of the lease and I hope that the library can eventually relocate to the former CDC site at 86 Echo Ave as planned. Critically, this location (and same would be true for 86 Echo) is providing all the students at PAES with access to a regular library experience - this has a HUGE impact.

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    Rachel Dornhelm at November 13, 2024 at 12:37pm PST

    Please do not terminate the lease of this library. The library is a tremendous asset for the neighborhood and for the students of Piedmont Ave Elementary who I often see there with their families. There are so many community events that happen there from youth library events to adult programming. I have fond memories of musicians from the symphony coming to play and kids from Montclair 4H sharing their animals with families and explaining all they learn. I am an OUSD parent of 13 years and my kids grew up learning independence walking to this library, it is an important educational community resource and truly core to the OUSD mission of providing free, equitable opportunities. To close the library would be against the district’s guiding principles.

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    Andrew Campbell at November 13, 2024 at 12:25pm PST

    I live in Oakland within walking distance of the Piedmont Avenue Branch Library. My family, including my elementary school aged daughter, are regular users of the library. My daughter loves the independence of being able to walk to the library on her own to check out a book with her library card. Please do not cancel the lease due to the uncertainty it creates for the current library location, and please support the library's efforts to develop the derelict CDC site.

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    Megan Reasor at November 13, 2024 at 11:30am PST

    I am a nearby resident and I oppose the termination of the lease. I go to my community library very often. It's a wonderful walk, and it gets me out of the house and reading more. In times like these, we need libraries more than ever. Libraries are the foundation of a community, and the sign of a healthy society. Please keep the library open for children and adults alike.

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    Sarah Cohen at November 13, 2024 at 11:03am PST

    We vehemently oppose closing our community library. It is a valued community resource used by all. Please do not terminate the lease.

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    Jovida Ross at November 13, 2024 at 9:37am PST

    Please keep the library open. It is a neighborhood asset for all. Kids and families are some of the most active users.

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    Yousuf Bhaijee at November 13, 2024 at 9:10am PST

    I strongly oppose! We use this library all the time and our kids love it.

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    Jim Walker at November 13, 2024 at 9:01am PST

    I’m a frequent user of the Piedmont Ave Library. I’ve also participated this year in community planning meetings to develop a new library on Echo Street. I’ve heard how the Piedmont Ave School faculty and staff want the present library in the portable to continue until a new library can be build on Echo Street. I’ve also heard how community residents want the current plans for a long-term lease for a new library to happen. Please find an accommodation for all those things to happen. It is very, very necessary! Education is needed to preserve democracy and oppose authoritarianism.

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    Tiffany Roberts at November 13, 2024 at 12:01am PST

    I oppose

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    Tamarind Fleischman at November 12, 2024 at 11:46pm PST

    Please keep the plan to house the Piedmont Avenue Library in the Piedmont CDC building and allow the Library to extend its current lease. I have been using the Piedmont Avenue Branch library for at least 40 years. From when I was a child to taking my own children there. It is one of the foundations of our community and contribute to it being a walkable neighborhood for residents. It serves a wide crosscut of people living in the area and shoppers: families, seniors, low income, homeless, students, and more (as evidenced by all of the supporters writing in to oppose this item). Voiding the extension of the current lease on the library portable would be a devastating loss for our community. Losing the agreement for the permanent home at the CDC (which has been vacant for years), would allow for the continued waste of a valuable resource and be a tremendous missed opportunity for improvement. Thank you.

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    Emily Harris at November 12, 2024 at 9:32pm PST

    The library is a crucial part of our community infrastructure. We walk to it regularly with our 1 and 4 year old children and visits there are cultivating joy in sharing stories and early literacy. Voiding the extension of the current lease on the library portable would be a devastating loss for our community and the OUSD students at Piedmont Avenue School. Furthermore, losing the agreement for the permanent home at the CDC (which has been vacant for years), is a horrible waste of the community effort and demonstrates that OUSD just pays lip service to being full service community schools and doesn't actually walk the walk.

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    Anand Kalra at November 12, 2024 at 8:15pm PST

    Public library branches are essential to the health, well being, safety, and enrichment of our communities. Having a non-commercial public space with free informational and recreational resources makes us all better off. Please reject this proposal and keep the branch library open!

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    Jesse Bachrach at November 12, 2024 at 8:01pm PST

    I am a resident of the Piedmont Ave area and have been coming to this library branch (both in its current location and when it was a few blocks away) for years. It would be a great loss to the community if it were forced out.

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    Tijana Petrovic at November 12, 2024 at 7:55pm PST

    I get books from this library for myself and my small child on a regular basis. It’s been an amazing resource and a place where I can bring my child and read together. It is walking distance from our apartment which is the reason we get to come by often. Libraries are needed more than ever. Please keep it open.

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    Emily Goodwin at November 12, 2024 at 7:23pm PST

    Please don’t do this, we need and deserve public libraries

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    Krystyna Wiercioch at November 12, 2024 at 7:03pm PST

    Do not close, I live in this community.