To advance the role of the Oakland Public Library as a vital community resource and as an institution critical to the culture, education, and welfare of Oakland’s diverse community.
The Friends of the Oakland Public Library has made the Oakland Public Library itself the center of its grantmaking, with three of the largest recent awards all going to OPL for literacy support and systemwide programs and facilities. That pattern shows a funder focused on strengthening the city’s public library as a service network, not on dispersed external grants. Their grants support branch services, teen services, children’s services, adult programming, outreach, special projects, and facility improvements across Oakland. Recent awards also point to a mix of core operating support and targeted project funding, including systemwide literacy work and program-and-facility needs. Smaller awards are part of the picture too: the organization runs mini-grants for library staff, and it also supports a scholarship for staff pursuing library and information science education. Taken together, the grant portfolio centers on library access, programming, and infrastructure for Oakland residents, with recurring support for the same public institution and its branches. The Friends of the Oakland Public Library’s stated purpose is to advance the Oakland Public Library as a vital community resource and as an institution tied to the culture, education, and welfare of Oakland’s diverse community.
A major theme is literacy support. The largest recent grant, $487,234, went to Oakland Public Library for literacy support, and another $260,364 award in 2025 carried the same purpose. The foundation also backs programming and facilities together: a $302,021 grant to Oakland Public Library was designated for literacy, programs, and facilities, showing that service delivery and building-level needs can be funded in the same award. Children’s services are another clear area. Through its children’s grants, the organization supports Kids’ Summer Reading, Winter Bingo, outreach supplies, and year-round enrichment for children and families across Oakland. Adult programming and digital literacy also appear in the active grant programs, including workshops, honoraria, prizes, and digital literacy classes.
Typical grant size is in the low hundreds of thousands: the p25 is $281,192, the median is $302,021, and the p75 is $394,628. That distribution reflects a grantmaker that usually writes substantial awards rather than many small checks, though it also operates mini-grants for Oakland Public Library staff at $1,500 to $2,000 and a special-grants track that can vary widely. The recipient pattern is recurring rather than one-off: Oakland Public Library appears across multiple recent years and in multiple program lines. The foundation also accepts unsolicited requests for some staff mini-grants and the MLIS scholarship, while core annual and special grants are not unsolicited.
$433K
$1.6M
$685K
$711K
Most grants fall between $281K and $395K, with a median of $302K.
25th Percentile
$281K
Median
$302K
75th Percentile
$395K
SARA JEWELL
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Giving is local and entirely concentrated in California, with 100% of grants going to recipients in the HQ state. The recipient city most often named is Oakland, including Oakland Public Library and its branches, plus the African American Museum & Library at Oakland. The grant record does not show an out-of-state or international footprint, and the country distribution is exclusively US. Within Oakland, awards reach systemwide services as well as branch-level work, outreach, and special projects.
The foundation funds the Oakland Public Library system directly, including branch services, teen services, children’s services, adult services and outreach, administration, community relations, special library projects, and facility improvements. Its stated purpose is to advance the library as a community resource for Oakland’s culture, education, and welfare.
The typical grant size is substantial: the 25th percentile is $281,192, the median is $302,021, and the 75th percentile is $394,628. The recent grant list also includes awards above $260,000 and $487,000, showing that core grants are usually large system-support awards.
The recent grant record is centered on Oakland Public Library, which appears repeatedly across 2023, 2024, and 2025. The active programs also focus on OPL branches, staff, and related library units such as the African American Museum & Library at Oakland.
Yes, some smaller programs are open to unsolicited requests. The mini-grants for Oakland Public Library staff accept unsolicited applications, and the Friends of the OPL Scholarship for staff pursuing an MLIS also accepts unsolicited applications. Core annual and special grants do not.
The smaller grants support staff-led library programming and improvements. Mini-grants have funded creative work such as digital literacy, gardening, cooking, youth programs, and projects like The Story Bus. The special-grants track has also supported outreach infrastructure, branch improvements, events, clean-ups, and exhibit updates.
2026
Source: IRS Form 990-PF, fiscal year 2026.
Current and upcoming funding from Friends of the Oakland Public Library that your nonprofit may be able to apply for.
Who can apply: Open to Oakland Public Library (OPL) staff at all locations to apply for funds to implement or improve library programs or services.
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Most recent grants reported to the IRS.
| Recipient | Location | Amount | Year | Purpose |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| OAKLAND PUBLIC LIBRARY | OAKLAND, CA | $432,877 | 2026 | LITERACY SUPPORT |
| OAKLAND PUBLIC LIBRARY | OAKLAND, CA | $260,364 | 2025 | LITERACY SUPPORT |
| OAKLAND PUBLIC LIBRARY | OAKLAND, CA | $487,234 | 2024 | LITERACY SUPPORT |
| Oakland Public Library | Oakland, CA | $302,021 | 2023 | Literacy, Programs & Facilities |
OAKLAND PUBLIC LIBRARY
$432,877LITERACY SUPPORT
OAKLAND PUBLIC LIBRARY
$260,364LITERACY SUPPORT
OAKLAND PUBLIC LIBRARY
$487,234LITERACY SUPPORT
Oakland Public Library
$302,021Literacy, Programs & Facilities
