The eight musical programs in July and August open with a one-hour set by a featured artist or group, followed by a jazz-history lecture by expert Randy Moore.

"We traditionally conclude the afternoon with a jam session open to anyone with an instrument (or voice) and the urge to play," says Susan Majors of the Friends of Golden Gate Library, one of the event's organizers. "Musicians and students of every age and ability are invited.

"At the last performance each summer, scholarships are awarded for private lessons to school-age musicians who show the most persistence and promise."

The summer program was the brainchild of well-known jazzman Donald "Duck" Bailey and Susie Laraine, a noted saxophonist and teacher. For the past four years, the programs have been organized and managed by "Friends" members Josephine Lee and Ed Reavis. The programs are free and donations welcome.

The Friends of Golden Gate Library was founded in 1991 by neighbors in the Golden Gate neighborhood of North Oakland.

Its primary goal was to keep the library open, as it was threatened with permanent closure because of the city's financial woes. Later the group continued to seek ways to serve the library and bring enrichment programs to the neighborhood. It is a non-profit group funded by grants and donations.

According to history files, the red brick Golden Gate branch, opened in 1918, is one of five local so-called Carnegie libraries, erected with funds provided by the Carnegie Corporation, established early in the last century by Pittsburgh steel industrialist-turned philanthropist Andrew Carnegie (1835-1919).

Carnegie's philanthropist foundation donated more than $350 million (pre-World War I dollars) to fund colleges and hospitals as well as libraries around the world. Between 1886 and 1917, his library program provided funds for more than 1,600 buildings in some 1,500 American cities.

The files reveal that the existence of free public libraries supported by local taxation can be traced to Boston in 1849, and received a vigorous boost nationwide, once Carnegie decided to make libraries a major focus of his giving strategy.

California is second only to Indiana with the number of grants to construct Carnegie library buildings. Altogether, there were 142 public and two academic Carnegies built between 1902 and 1921. Currently 85 of the original California Carnegies are still standing; 36 are still operating as libraries. The others are now used as museums or for other community uses.

A study of the California Carnegie libraries reveals the Golden Gate branch is unique because of its Georgian Revival architectural style. Two locally prominent architects, Charles W. Dickey and John J. Donovan, were the designers. The Golden Gate branch, as well as its sister branches, Temescal and Melrose, and the 23rd Avenue Branch (no longer open) are city landmarks, listed on the National Register of Historic Places.

For a number of years, the Golden Gate branch was the location for meetings of a small group of folks interested in collecting information on early African-American families who settled in the East Bay. The group soon began accepting donations of artifacts, photographs and other archival information. The donations became the basis of a growing collection that eventually outgrew its branch library location.

In 2000, the library closed for a two-year earthquake retrofit, and renovation with funds approved by voters. The African-American history collection was moved downtown to another former Carnegie, the original main library building, on 14th Street and Martin Luther King Jr. Way.

The dates for upcoming jazz events at the Golden Gate are July 18 featuring Walter Savage & the Jazz Strings; July 25 with the Bill Steward Quintet; Aug. 1 with Melvin Butts & the Melltones; Aug. 8 featuring the Hal Stein Quintet; Aug. 15 with Julius Courtney's Big Band; Aug. 22 with Yancy Taylor; and Aug. 29 featuring Denise Perrier and her quintet.

The Golden Gate Library is at 5606 San Pablo Ave.

The Oakland Tribune: Cityside
Leanne McLaughlin, Managing Editor
(510) 208-6447
(510) 208-6477 Fax##
lmclaughlin@angnewspapers.com Email