STOCKTON -- Library workers greeted Bernice Haynes warmly when she recently returned books to the Maya Angelou Southeast Branch of the Stockton-San Joaquin County Library on Pock Lane.

"I come over here for relaxation, for knowledge," said Haynes, who is Black and a frequent library visitor. "I just feel at home here ... the people, they make the difference. They're helpful and friendly."

Library officials welcome that praise, but they also worry that few other local Black residents know what the library has to offer. Last year, in an effort to attract more Black residents to the library, the library joined with representatives from the Tracy African-American Association and the Stockton chapter of the Links Inc., an international women's group, to form the Gifts of Blackness Coalition.

The coalition holds events designed for Black residents at local libraries. On Saturday, the coalition and the San Joaquin Storytellers Guild are sponsoring a storytelling workshop at the library's Margaret K.Troke branch on West Benjamin Holt Drive.

The library does [not] keep statistics on how many Black residents visit it or use its services. Linda Patrick, the library's Gifts of Blackness program coordinator, noted that about 120 people attended a February presentation at the southeast branch about how traditional African dance had influenced American dance.

Patrick said that because of Gifts of Blackness, Black residents "have become more aware of what's available and how they can participate in library services."

Those services include an adult literacy tutoring program. Elena Marciano, the tutoring program coordinator, said while the number of Black tutors in her program has not increased as a result of the program, she hopes it will in the future.

Students in the program have diverse backgrounds, Marciano said, adding that she wants the tutors' backgrounds to match that diversity.

Peter Barrett, public information officer for the Tracy African-American Association, said Gifts of Blackness also serves to educate the community about Black culture and history.

"There's a strong need for the history of African-Americans to be put out there for all of San Joaquin County," he said, adding Black history typically isn't presented or discussed publicly except during Black History Month.

Past coalition events have included performances of "The Meeting," a play about Martin Luther King Jr. and Malcolm X, in February in Stockton.

Other future programs include a series of presentations by cartoonist and Stockton resident Steven Bentley, who draws the "Herb and Jamaal" comic strip. Bentley's first presentation will be held April 19 at the Ripon branch.

Bentley said he hopes his presentations will show local Black residents that they can succeed in careers typically not open to Black people, such as cartooning.

"When I was growing up, there wasn't anyone I could strive to be like, except ("Peanuts" creator) Charles Schultz, and there was no Black Charles Schultz," he said, adding that today "there are people of color doing a variety of art."

The Gifts of Blackness program is funded by a $25,000 state grant that expires June 30.

Ideas for some of the program's events were the result of a meeting last year between coalition members and representatives of the Black community. Donna Moses, a Black Stockton resident and book club member who attended the meeting, said she's been impressed with what the program has accomplished.

"It seems like every month there is something going on," Moses said.

Lorraina Harris, a Black library aide at the southeast branch, noted that she was "more than proud of [the coalition] for reaching out to the community."

LaVoria Ausborne, 15, a Black Franklin High School student, recently visited the southeast branch library after school. She sat at a table with friend and fellow Franklin student Mardel McPherson, 17, leafing through a copy of XXL, a hip-hop magazine.

"This library is a good library. They have a variety of things to choose from," Ausborne said.

Gladys Beard, who also is Black, said she visits the southeast branch at least once every other week, and that it has "almost anything you want, from romance to history.

"If I want something in particular and they don't have it, they'll get it for me," Beard said.

Candice Spivey and Teayana Fox, both 16-year-old Black Franklin students, came to the southeast branch to check out colleges on the Internet. The teens praised the library and what it had to offer.

"It's really good for high school kids," Fox said. "You can come to the library, spend an hour here and learn."

- To reach reporter Ian Hill, phone (209) 943-8571 or e-mail ihill@recordnet.com