They say having fun isn’t hard when you’ve got a library card, and soon people with an Oakland Public Library card will be able to have even more fun as the system expands its hours at all of its branches.

Starting April 1, the Main Library on 14th Street and the 81st Avenue branch will be open every day. The other 15 neighborhood branches (except for the Eastmont branch) will be open six days a week including two evenings until 8 p.m., and all branches will be open on Mondays. This adds an additional day to almost all branches and will also increase the number of days branches are open past 5:30 p.m.

The library is also extending the hours of its Tool Lending Library at the Telegraph branch and the African American Museum and Library at Oakland.

“We’ve heard pretty regularly that the hours aren’t as flexible as people would like,” said Library Director Jamie Turbak.

Library hours were cut in 2009 during the Great Recession, leaving most branches only open five days a week and on one evening. All 28 San Francisco Public Library branches are open seven days a week, and all 25 San Jose Public Library locations are open six days a week, with the Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. branch open every day.

The expanded Oakland hours are being funded by Measure D, a $75 increase to the city’s library parcel tax, which voters approved by a 3-to-1 margin in June 2018. The tax is expected to bring in $10 million a year, much of which will go toward expanding the library system’s hours for the first time since 2004.

Turbak said the library has added nearly 100 new, mostly permanent staff positions to work the expanded hours, which will also allow for additional programming — like storytimes — as well as extending the library’s summer lunch program for kids to Mondays, a day that most branches have not been open.

The funds will also go toward increasing the library’s online content, such as e-books and databases, and some “light remodels” of the branches, according to Turbak.

If people make use of the extended hours over the next year, Turbak said the library will look into adding Sunday hours to more branches.

With the help of the Measure D funds, Turbak said the library is also asking the City Council to follow the lead of several other Bay Area libraries and get rid of fines for overdue library materials in the coming year.

Oakland Public Library Hours Starting April 1:

Main Library
Monday: 10 a.m. – 8 p.m.
Tuesday: 10 a.m. – 8 p.m.
Wednesday: 10 a.m. – 8 p.m.
Thursday: 10 a.m. – 8 p.m.
Friday: 12 p.m. – 5:30 p.m.
Saturday: 10 a.m. – 5:30 p.m.
Sunday: 10 a.m. – 5:30 p.m.

81st Avenue Branch
Monday: 10 a.m. – 5:30 p.m.
Tuesday: 10 a.m. – 8 p.m.
Wednesday: 10 a.m. – 8 p.m.
Thursday: 10 a.m. – 5:30 p.m.
Friday: 12 p.m. – 5:30 p.m.
Saturday: 10 a.m. – 5:30 p.m.
Sunday: 10 a.m. – 5:30 p.m.

All other branches (except Eastmont)
Monday: 10 a.m. – 5:30 p.m.
Tuesday: 10 a.m. – 8 p.m.
Wednesday: 10 a.m. – 8 p.m.
Thursday: 10 a.m. – 5:30 p.m.
Friday: 12 p.m. – 5:30 p.m.
Saturday: 10 a.m. – 5:30 p.m.
Sunday: Closed

Eastmont Branch
Monday: 9 a.m. – 7 p.m.
Tuesday: 9 a.m. – 5:30 p.m.
Wednesday: 9 a.m. – 5:30 p.m.
Thursday: 9 a.m. – 5:30 p.m.
Friday: 12 p.m. – 5:30 p.m.
Saturday: Closed
Sunday: Closed

Tool Lending Library (at Telegraph Branch)
Monday: 10 a.m. – 5:30 p.m.
Tuesday: 10 a.m. – 8 p.m.
Wednesday: 10 a.m. – 8 p.m.
Thursday: 10 a.m. – 5:30 p.m.
Friday: 12 p.m. – 5:30 p.m.
Saturday: 10 a.m. – 5:30 p.m.
Sunday: Closed

African American Museum and Library at Oakland (AAMLO)
Monday: 10 a.m. – 5:30 p.m.
Tuesday: 10 a.m. – 5:30 p.m.
Wednesday: 10 a.m. – 5:30 p.m.
Thursday: 10 a.m. – 5:30 p.m.
Friday: 12 p.m. – 5:30 p.m.
Saturday: 10 a.m. – 5:30 p.m.
Sunday: Closed