Although the East Palo Alto Library may be small, but it brings the whole community of East Palo Alto together. The achievements have an impact on people of all ages with different programs for the benefit of others. The library has a bright future ahead, as the planning to make the library 3-4 times larger is underway.
The members that are involved with organizing events and collaborating with other libraries, such as Kenny Gabe and Sereptha Strong, are filled with joy seeing their community come together. The higher ideas of expanding their library would allow more people can come together and enjoy all the privileges it offers.
“We have a solid blueprint of the library and what we want our library to look like. The plan is created from not only staff and the architects that we are working with, but also the community input,” Gabe said. The community is encouraged to give their opinions towards the expansion, and with all considerations and input in mind, the plan will be presented to the city council on Tuesday, March 3, 2020.
One special feature of the East Palo Alto Library is its distribution of free lunches Mondays through Friday, starting at 3:30 p.m. to people of all ages. There are many other events and community-building events that are planned by the library that anyone can join in on the fun.
Strong said, “The EPA Library also helps out people who may not have the internet at home with working Wifi. There are also hotspot devices that people can check out and use for one whole week with unlimited data for free! There is also a laptop vending machine inside where you can check out a laptop and use it inside the library for four hours.”
A recent event was Black History Month, where 200 books were checked out in one day. There are high hopes to grow the community by creating a larger space where teens, adults, children can interact and share their ideas with another library — something the library staff has been wanting to achieve. The beautiful scene of diverse cultures coming together and having a community where everyone can share their stories can be found in the East Palo Alto Library.
