Oakland police shut down People's Library installed in vacant building

August 15, 2012 - 8:33am — Blake

Books were still available for checkout Tuesday but from the sidewalk outside the vacant city building that briefly had been occupied as a "people's library" before police shut it down.

Ten to 15 people left the property at 1449 Miller Ave., near International Boulevard, shortly after officers entered the building at about 11 p.m. Monday and told the activists they were trespassing, said Officer Johnna Watson, a police department spokeswoman.

Libraries

Comments

August 15, 2012 - 9:58am — Anonymous

Rent

If you want to setup a library rent or buy some property.

August 15, 2012 - 7:16pm — Anonymous

i really hope you are not a librarian

In a global situation of economic crisis and government austerity, especially in the US and Europe, we have enormous numbers of libraries closing as well as families being evicted from homes by the same criminal banks and financial institutions whose greed brought all this upon us in the first place.
And now, when a group of committed volunteers do what they can to address the situation, and the police and State predictably enforce the rights to private property over the right of a community to access information.... instead of extending solidarity to them and applauding their efforts, you tell them to get a mortgage.
I sincerely hope you do not work in a library yourself if that is your attitude, and I pity and despair for your clients if you do.
LONG LIVE THE PEOPLE'S LIBRARY!
DOWN WITH AUSTERITY!
WE WILL NOT PAY FOR THEIR CRISIS!
@@@
Jura.org.au/library

August 16, 2012 - 1:11am — Anonymous

Ok

>we have enormous numbers of libraries closing

False

>when a group of committed volunteers

Committed volunteers would find a place they could put the books with permission. Permission can be obtained by asking or by purchasing property and having the right to give permission. I am sure there is some hemp shop or coffee shop that is willing to store you volumes of Marx.

>instead of extending solidarity to them and applauding their efforts, you tell them to get a mortgage.

I used the term "buy". You can "buy without a mortgage.

>I sincerely hope you do not work in a library yourself if that is your attitude

WE (I love the word WE) do work in libraries. WE have books. You do not need to setup a crazy hippy library because WE already have libraries setup.

August 16, 2012 - 1:17am — Anonymous

I love anarchist

This is so great. You have to go check out the website that the previous poster listed - Jura.org.au/library

Here is how they describe themselves: The Jura Library is a collectively owned and run anarchist resource. It has been going since 1977 and has been kept alive through the donations and hard work of hundreds of volunteers over the years. There are thousands of books in the collection available for borrowing (see below). The focus of the collection is materials about anarchist and left libertarian politics, movements and history. The aim of the library is to help meet the information, education, and research needs of the Jura community.

After this little blurb they get into how the library works. First thing they do is start listing RULES. Seriously RULES. What kind of anarchist have RULES? How lame.

LISNews: Librarian News

LISWire.com

Headlines By Email

Navigation

User login