A Sacramento city councilwoman is fighting to bring back an Oak Park neighborhood library

Sacramento City Councilwoman Caity Maple is working to find $10 million to $12 million needed to re-establish a public library branch in Oak Park.

The neighborhood library closed in 1989 as part of a plan to consolidate the Oak Park, Fruitridge and Mabel Gillis branches into a new site: Colonial Heights Library, 4799 Stockton Blvd., library records show.

That branch is “like two miles away, so it’s really not feasible for a lot of the young people that are living in Oak Park to get there,” Maple said. In addition, she said, Stockton Boulevard has so much traffic that it isn’t safe for children to cross it alone.

The University of the Pacific acquired the former Oak Park Library building, then on 5th Avenue between 33rd and 34th streets, for its McGeorge School of Law, Maple said, so she has looked at other structures that could house a library. One potential site is centrally located, she said, and has been vacant for a while.

Longtime Oak Park resident Dorothy Benjamin has been advocating for many years to bring a library branch back to the neighborhood, Maple said. When Maple was vying for a seat on the Sacramento City Council, she promised Benjamin she would do everything in her power to re-establish a library branch in the neighborhood.

Maple has been working to identify a site and raise the money needed for renovations. Benjamin’s son, Michael Benjamin II, works as Maple’s district director and recently gave a presentation on these and other library developments to the Oak Park Oak Park Neighborhood Association.

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Libraries play a key role in fostering resilient communities and nurturing both the civic and social infrastructure of cities, offering programs that promote literacy and education, assist job seekers and assure broad access to computers and the internet, according to the Public Library Association, a division of the American Library Association.

In a 2022 report, the Public Library Association surveyed library users across the country to assess what services they felt they needed to strengthen their communities and then looked at whether libraries were meeting the needs. Among the areas community residents would like to see libraries address: literacy and educational achievement, digital equity and civic engagement.

“Many people still don’t have access to the internet at home,” said Peter Coyl, the director of the Sacramento Public Library. “There is still a great digital divide across this country.”

All branches of the Sacramento Public Library branches offer free internet access, access to hot spots and connect residents to a robust adult literacy program, Coyl said. The literacy program serves both native English speakers and individuals learning English as a second language, and a number of community residents volunteer as tutors.

During the summer, local public libraries often shift gears to pick up responsibilities typically handled by public schools. To combat food insecurity among children, for instance, some library branches offer free lunches to children under age 18, Coyl said, and librarians encourage reading by offering special incentives aimed at ensuring students practice skills they acquired over the past academic year.

Library would provide services and a safe space

A library branch would provide not only services but also equally as important a safe, climate-controlled space where everyone is welcome, Maple said.

“It’s not just necessarily the kids,” she said. “It’s the community members, even our unhoused neighbors. They need a place to go. They need a place to be connected to the internet, to make sure you can find your next apartment or get your next job or whatever it might be. It’s such a valuable community resource.”

The latest library facilities report showed there’s also plenty of demand in Oak Park, she said, with residents traveling far beyond the nearby Colonial Heights and Ella K. McClatchy library branches.

The six libraries surrounding Oak Park are among the Sacramento Public Library’s busiest sites, the facilities report noted. The demand is growing, Maple said, as new residents have moved into the neighborhood.

The Friends of the Oak Park Library has collected 800 to 900 signatures on a petition backing the effort to open a new branch, Maple said, but finding the funding for a makeover has been challenging at a time when the city of Sacramento is facing a budget deficit.

The Sacramento Public Library, an independent, joint powers authority established by the County of Sacramento and the incorporated cities of Citrus Heights, Elk Grove, Galt, Isleton, Rancho Cordova and Sacramento, also is seeking capital investments to refresh, expand and enhance many of its facilities.

Maple said she’s determined to figure out a way to pay for a new Oak Park Library.

“We did submit a congressional funding request, but we unfortunately were not selected, which is understandable. It’s very competitive. So we’re in the phase right now of figuring out how we are going to pay for this,” Maple said.