Forum on the Road: From Scraper Bikes to Support Groups, Public Libraries in the Digital Age

The 81st Avenue branch of the Oakland Public Library serves as a joint library for two elementary schools and their surrounding East Oakland neighborhood. Depending on when you drop in, the branch also serves as a bike repair shop, a support group for fathers and a drop in center for legal advice. That range of services speaks to a theory posited by historian Wayne Wiegand: that libraries have always been as much about the places they're in and the communities serve, as the books they hold. In this special broadcast from the Oakland Public Library’s 81st Avenue branch in East Oakland, Forum discusses libraries in the age of big tech and online meetups.