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Carmen Lorena Martinez Named
New Oakland Director

Concluding a 17-month vacancy at the helm of the 15-branch Oakland (Calif.) Public Library system, city officials announced that Los Angeles Public Library staffer Carmen Lorena Martinez, 49, has accepted the post of OPL director. Currently serving as LAPL’s director of branches, she is slated to begin her duties by mid-October.

“Our young people . . . have been neglected by libraries and these children need space, understanding, and education in library use and technology,” Martinez said in the September 1 Oakland Tribune. Her agenda echoes that of City Manager Robert Bobb, who told the paper “there’s a need for more community outreach” even as he admitted that OPL has been underfunded.

The August 31 announcement ends a protracted search complicated by Mayor Jerry Brown’s indecision in choosing a successor to Billie Dancy, who left in 1998 to head the Pleasanton (Calif.) Public Library. At one point, Brown said he wanted to hire writer Maya Angelou because she “can exemplify the love of learning and literature.”

Posted September 4, 2000.

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