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1929 1

The Gibson Branch Library was a small Oakland public library at 6915 Sunkist Drive. The building was donated by Col. Chauncey W. Gibson, who also donated for the construction of the Montclair Branch Library.

The library opened May 2, 1929. Despite efforts from neighbors and activists, it was closed in ??? due to low usage compared to the cost to operate the library. According to Oakland History Center librarian Dorothy Lazard, in a July 1968 letter to Mayor John Reading, one patron remembered the Gibson Library as a "warm, happy, humming place."

The library was still open when I attended Burckhalter Elementary School. I was there from September 1970 - June 1977.  I do not know exactly when the library closed but it was after 1968 as I was only 4 years old, not in school so definitely not walking to the library after school. It may have been Librarian Lazard that was there guiding my young mind to items of interest such as aeronautics (paper airplanes), baseball and cooking.  It was indeed a "warm, happy, humming place." because (to me at my young age) it was a house that just happened to have books in it and Dorothy Lazard treated me as her child as opposed to a patron.  Please adjust the date of closure as it had to have been in the 1970's.

[ Question: what year did the Gibson Branch close? It is still listed in the 1969 directory, and the property was auctioned off in 1977 2 ]

Photos accompanying article announcing opening 1  Article announcing the opening 2

The building is still standing, after the property was auctioned off by the City in 1977. 3 The purchaser of the property, and current owner, is a nonprofit corporation known as Ahmadiyya Anjuman Ishaat-I-Islam of U.S.A., 4 described as a separatist offshoot of an Islamic sect. According to the records of the California Secretary of State, the entity was suspended by the Franchise Tax Board in 1984, although the property remains exempt from property taxes according to Alameda County tax records. 5

The library was near Burckhalter Elementary School.

Some of the initial announcements regarding the location of the library, such as the 1929 Oakland Post Enquirer article and photos shown above, listed the address as 6915 Edwards Street rather than on Sunkist. This appears to have been an error, likely caused by a misreading of an ordinance that took effect just a few weeks before the library opened which changed a number of street names, including changing the name of former 73rd Avenue between Sunkist Drive and Mountain Boulevard to Edwards Avenue. 6

Links and References

  1. Oakland Post Enquirer April 30, 1929
  2. Oakland Library to Open Gibson Branch Thursday Oakland Post Enquirer April 30, 1929
  3. City Auction Offers a Variety of Properties Oakland Tribune May 29, 1977
  4. Deed recorded in the Official Records of Alameda County on September 29, 1977 Deed for 6915 Sunkist Dr - 77_193829.pdf
  5. Public copy of 2024-25 Secured Property Tax Statement for APN 40A-3427-5 6915 Sunkist - Secured Bill.pdf
  6. 1929 Ordinance changing street names Oakland Tribune April 17, 1929
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