)[2] With her personal style, Coolbrith nurtured the reading habits of many young Oakland students including Jack London and Isadora Duncan.

Mabel W. Thomas, who served as assistant librarian and chief reference librarian under Greene, and retired in 1948, began a collection of books, periodicals, and other material that were the foundation of the California Room in the 1940s and are now contained in the well-used Oakland History Room.

The Main Library has occupied its present location at 125 14th Street near Lake Merritt since 1951.

Among the more than 160 collections in the library are archives relating to Martin Luther King Jr., Malcolm X, the Black Panthers, Africa, and genealogy.

Materials include photographs, manuscripts, letters, diaries, newspapers, recorded oral histories, videos, and microfilms.