Oakley, CA – If you love libraries and the community of Oakley, now is the time to demonstrate that love and leave your legacy on the new Oakley Library and Community Center.
Design plans are being completed, and groundbreaking is scheduled for fall 2026, A Donor’s Walk near the library entrance will feature engravable bricks that will be personalized with your name or message. Every time you approach its doors, we hope the Donor’s Walk will remind you that the new Oakley Library and Community Center belongs to not only you, its generous patrons, but also to the community at large.
Bricks are engraved by Bricks R Us, and can be purchased online at Friends of the Oakley Library Help Create Our New Oakley Library Donor Walk Donor Site or https://www.bricksrus.com/donorsite/fotol. The cost is $250, and buyers will be given three lines, 18 characters per line, to write their personalized message. You can also pay by check (and save the processing fee), payable to Friends of the Oakley Library. Drop it off at the Oakley Library or mail it to 1050 Neroly Rd., Oakley CA 94561. For more information about brick purchases, contact our Brick Guru Alan Kemp at offthehill@aol.com or 925-219-6729.
For more information about the library project visit the Friends’ website at https://www.oakleylibrary.org/ and the City of Oakley’s website dedicated to the project at https://engage.oakleyca.gov/en/projects/oakley-library-and-community-center-1. You can also email the Friends at friendsoftheoakleylibrary@gmail.com.
Previous
- Feb. 2025 – Friends of the Oakley Library Receive $400,000 Grant
- Aug 15 – Supervisor Diane Burgis Pledges $250k to New Oakley Library
- Nov 15, 2023 – Oakley Aims to Build $26 Million Library
- July 6, 2023 – Oakley Set to Look at Downtown Library Feasibility
Editors Note:
Oakley Library Timeline per Friends of the Oakley Library:
- November 1913 – In November, The Oakley Women’s Improvement Club, in conjunction with Contra Costa County Library, establishes the Oakley Branch Library. The library is located within the General Store and consists of three shelves.
- 1916 – Library moves to Oakley Woman’s Club.
- September 20, 1966 – Oakley Lions Club and Oakley Woman’s Club contact Supervisor Linscheid to explore the possibility of constructing a library building in Oakley
- 1972 – Friends of the Oakley Library is founded to raise funds for new library materials and to construct a new library building.
- 1975 – Oakley Library moves to a new space in the former Oakley School building on East Ruby Street.
- 1992 – Friends of the Oakley Library revive a decades-long search for funding for a new Oakley Library.
- September 1998 – Governor Pete Wilson signs Omnibus Education Bill that includes $345,000 to establish a joint-use public/school library for Oakley in the new Freedom High School.
- January 1999 – Decision is made between Oakley and Contra Costa County that the Library will share the space at Freedom High School for a period of five years.
- July 17, 1999 – Old Oakley Library on East Ruby Street closes.
- August 3, 1999 – Oakley Public Library is moved to the Vernon C. Noble Library at Freedom High School.
- October 2, 1999 – Grand Opening Celebration to mark the reopening of the Oakley Library at Freedom High School.
- October 1999 – Newly incorporated City of Oakley appoints Committee on Community Center/Library Funding.
- December 2002 – City of Oakley funds additional library hours.
- 2012 – Friends of the Oakley Library form a New Library subcommittee to pursue a new location and funding for a downtown stand-alone library.
- 2015 – The New Oakley Library and Community Learning Center Committee present a new measure to create a new Library and Learning Center in downtown Oakley.
- June 2016 – Ballot Measure K fails to get 66% of votes needed for a new Library and Community Learning Center in downtown Oakley.
- May 31, 2019 – The City of Oakley celebrates 20 years of Cityhood. The Oakley Library is still located in its shared space at Freedom High School.
- November 2019 – City of Oakley looks to convert the sheriff’s substation at East Ruby Street into a library for Oakley.
- May 2022 – The City of Oakley and Contra Costa County agree to share the cost of demolishing the sheriff’s substation. Under the agreement, Oakley and the county would split the estimated $400,000 demolition costs. The city would then have 36 months to secure funding to pay for capital costs and some operational costs for a new library. If successful, the county, which approved the demolition last fall, would then deed the property to the city, McMurray said. If the city fails in securing funding, though, it would be responsible for the entire demolition costs.