City Councilman Honored for Helping Public Libraries

An Oakland city council member received an award Thursday for service to public libraries, the council member’s office said.

Officials with California Public Library Advocates awarded council member Dan Kalb with the 2015 Award for Outstanding Public Official at the CPLA Award Program in Pasadena, according to Kalb’s office.

Kalb was able to get the mayor and the city council in 2014 to set aside $500,000 for Oakland public libraries, Kalb’s office said. The city council also approved this year a proposal to provide money to expand library hours at various branches, according to Kalb’s office.

The new hours will begin in July of 2016, Kalb’s office said.

“As a library advocate, I was proud to see my own District 1 Council Member, Dan Kalb, step up and become one of the Oakland Public Library’s most fervent champions,” Oakland Library Advisory Commission Commissioner Andrew Racle said in a statement.

“His leadership over the past year and a half was instrumental in maintaining library services, and he remains outspoken and committed to creating long-term sustainability for the library going forward,” Racle said in the statement.

--Bay City News