Multnomah County Library
Encyclopedia
Multnomah County Library is a public library
system serving Multnomah County, Oregon
, United States. Started in 1864, the system has 19 library locations with books, magazines, DVDs, and computers. It is the largest library system in Oregon
serving a population of 724,680, with more than 425,000 registered borrowers. According to the Public Library Association, it ranks second among U.S. libraries, based on circulation of books and materials, and ranks first among libraries serving fewer than one million residents. In this respect, it is the busiest in the nation.
was one of the early founders, with financial support coming from those such as Henry Corbett, William S. Ladd
, and Erasmus D. Shattuck
among others. The more inclusive Library Association of Portland name was chosen, likely on Judge Deady's suggestion. The founders proclaimed "the library should forever be kept free of politics."
By March 1864, there were 153 members, who had subscribed $2,500, and Ladd was elected president. Harvey W. Scott
served as the first librarian, part-time, at its first location on Stark Street in Portland. In 1869, the library moved to the Ladd & Tilton Bank Building where it received free rent. Deady was the president from 1874 until 1893, and found that fundraising was "like pulling teeth", calling the local establishment "closefisted narrow visioned millionaires" in 1888, also stating "The rich men of Portland will never do much for [the library] until they die, and maybe not then." The first major bequest came from Stephen Skidmore in 1883.
In 1891, a new separate library, the Portland Public Library, was founded by a group that included some former LAP board members. The two libraries would merge in 1902.
The library moved to a new two-story stone library building in 1891 at Broadway and Stark streets. This building cost $156,477 to build, representing 27 years of fundraising, mostly by Deady. It was staffed by D. F. W. Bursch, the library's first trained librarian, and contained 20,000 volumes. A large source of the funds came from the estate of Ella M. Smith, daughter of Benjamin F. Smith, in 1889. Bursch would oversee the implementation of the Dewey decimal system at the library.
Prior to becoming a free public library, the board tried to lower subscription costs as often as possible to allow a larger percentage of the general public to have access to the resource. The board debated whether to become a government supported library, with longtime board member Matthew Deady
arguing against government support as it might lead to the library being a politically charged entity. In 1897, president of the board George Henry Williams
proposed some censorship on the collections of the library.
The library declined an offer of a $100,000 donation from Andrew Carnegie
in 1901, but did receive $105,000 in 1911 and $60,000 in 1912 to build branch locations. The library received nearly 9,000 books in 1900 from the estate of John Wilson, many of these were rare books. However, the bequest called for the books to be available free of charge to the public, thus the board voted to provide library services to the public under government contract. In 1901, the state passed a law to allow governments to tax citizens to pay for libraries. The city of Portland and the library entered into a contract where the privately owned library continued to own its collection, but the city paid for services, thus creating a free publicly supported library. In January 1901, the library allowed books to circulate for the first time.
Opened on March 16, 1902, it was the first free library in the state paid for by taxes. At that time it features more than 38,000 volumes and 215 periodicals. In 1913, the Library Association of Portland (LAP) built the Central Library in downtown Portland at Tenth Street. They did not use any Carnegie funds for the project, instead financing came from a special two-year tax.
On July 1, 1990, the LAP officially transferred ownership of the library buildings and collections to Multnomah County.
, Woodstock
, St. Johns
, Rockwood
, North Portland, Kenton
, Northwest
, Sellwood
-Moreland, Troutdale
, Fairview
-Columbia, Capitol Hill
, Belmont
, Midland, Hollywood, Holgate, Gregory Heights, and Hillsdale
. Midland is the largest of these branch locations with a total of 25000 square feet (2,322.6 m²) followed by the Gresham location with 20000 square feet (1,858.1 m²). The St. Johns and North Portland branches are both Carnegie libraries
. (There were also five Carnegie libraries no longer part of the system: Albina (old), Arleta, East Portland, Gresham (old), and South Portland).
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The Central Library in downtown Portland
serves as the main branch of the system. The building was designed by architect A. E. Doyle
, and opened on September 6, 1913. It was one of the first libraries in the United States to feature an open-plan. The three-story Central Library was listed on the National Register of Historic Places
as the Central Building, Public Library in 1979. It contains 17 miles (27.4 km) of bookshelf space and has more than 130 computers for the public. The branch contains 125000 square feet (11,612.9 m²) of space.
Public library
A public library is a library that is accessible by the public and is generally funded from public sources and operated by civil servants. There are five fundamental characteristics shared by public libraries...
system serving Multnomah County, Oregon
Multnomah County, Oregon
Multnomah County is one of 36 counties in the U.S. state of Oregon. Though smallest in area, it is the most populous as its county seat, Portland, is the state's largest city...
, United States. Started in 1864, the system has 19 library locations with books, magazines, DVDs, and computers. It is the largest library system in Oregon
Oregon
Oregon is a state in the Pacific Northwest region of the United States. It is located on the Pacific coast, with Washington to the north, California to the south, Nevada on the southeast and Idaho to the east. The Columbia and Snake rivers delineate much of Oregon's northern and eastern...
serving a population of 724,680, with more than 425,000 registered borrowers. According to the Public Library Association, it ranks second among U.S. libraries, based on circulation of books and materials, and ranks first among libraries serving fewer than one million residents. In this respect, it is the busiest in the nation.
History
After Leland H. Wakefield began collecting funds door-to-door in 1863, the Mercantile Library Association was started on January 12, 1864, with subscriptions by Portland's merchant elite. Judge Matthew DeadyMatthew Deady
Matthew Paul Deady was a politician and jurist in the Oregon Territory and the state of Oregon of the United States. He served on the Oregon Supreme Court from 1853 to 1859, at which time he was appointed to the newly created federal court of the state...
was one of the early founders, with financial support coming from those such as Henry Corbett, William S. Ladd
William S. Ladd
William Sargent Ladd was an American politician and businessman in Oregon. He twice served as Portland, Oregon’s mayor in the 1850s. A native of Vermont, he was a prominent figure in the early development of Portland, and co-founded the first bank in the state in 1859...
, and Erasmus D. Shattuck
Erasmus D. Shattuck
Erasmus Darwin Shattuck was an American politician and judge in the state of Oregon. He served as the 7th Chief Justice of the Oregon Supreme Court serving from 1866 to 1867...
among others. The more inclusive Library Association of Portland name was chosen, likely on Judge Deady's suggestion. The founders proclaimed "the library should forever be kept free of politics."
By March 1864, there were 153 members, who had subscribed $2,500, and Ladd was elected president. Harvey W. Scott
Harvey W. Scott
Harvey Whitefield Scott was an American pioneer, newspaper editor, and historian.Scott was born in on a farm in Illinois and migrated to Oregon with his family in 1852, settling in Yamhill County. He and his family moved near Olympia, Washington in 1853. At age 18, he fought in the American Indian...
served as the first librarian, part-time, at its first location on Stark Street in Portland. In 1869, the library moved to the Ladd & Tilton Bank Building where it received free rent. Deady was the president from 1874 until 1893, and found that fundraising was "like pulling teeth", calling the local establishment "closefisted narrow visioned millionaires" in 1888, also stating "The rich men of Portland will never do much for [the library] until they die, and maybe not then." The first major bequest came from Stephen Skidmore in 1883.
In 1891, a new separate library, the Portland Public Library, was founded by a group that included some former LAP board members. The two libraries would merge in 1902.
The library moved to a new two-story stone library building in 1891 at Broadway and Stark streets. This building cost $156,477 to build, representing 27 years of fundraising, mostly by Deady. It was staffed by D. F. W. Bursch, the library's first trained librarian, and contained 20,000 volumes. A large source of the funds came from the estate of Ella M. Smith, daughter of Benjamin F. Smith, in 1889. Bursch would oversee the implementation of the Dewey decimal system at the library.
Prior to becoming a free public library, the board tried to lower subscription costs as often as possible to allow a larger percentage of the general public to have access to the resource. The board debated whether to become a government supported library, with longtime board member Matthew Deady
Matthew Deady
Matthew Paul Deady was a politician and jurist in the Oregon Territory and the state of Oregon of the United States. He served on the Oregon Supreme Court from 1853 to 1859, at which time he was appointed to the newly created federal court of the state...
arguing against government support as it might lead to the library being a politically charged entity. In 1897, president of the board George Henry Williams
George Henry Williams
George Henry Williams was an American judge and politician. He served as Chief Justice of the Oregon Supreme Court, was the 32nd Attorney General of the United States, and served one term in the United States Senate...
proposed some censorship on the collections of the library.
Andrew Carnegie
Andrew Carnegie was a Scottish-American industrialist, businessman, and entrepreneur who led the enormous expansion of the American steel industry in the late 19th century...
in 1901, but did receive $105,000 in 1911 and $60,000 in 1912 to build branch locations. The library received nearly 9,000 books in 1900 from the estate of John Wilson, many of these were rare books. However, the bequest called for the books to be available free of charge to the public, thus the board voted to provide library services to the public under government contract. In 1901, the state passed a law to allow governments to tax citizens to pay for libraries. The city of Portland and the library entered into a contract where the privately owned library continued to own its collection, but the city paid for services, thus creating a free publicly supported library. In January 1901, the library allowed books to circulate for the first time.
Opened on March 16, 1902, it was the first free library in the state paid for by taxes. At that time it features more than 38,000 volumes and 215 periodicals. In 1913, the Library Association of Portland (LAP) built the Central Library in downtown Portland at Tenth Street. They did not use any Carnegie funds for the project, instead financing came from a special two-year tax.
On July 1, 1990, the LAP officially transferred ownership of the library buildings and collections to Multnomah County.
Branches
The Multnomah County Library operates a Central Library in downtown Portland and 18 branches: Gresham, AlbinaAlbina, Oregon
Albina is a historical city which was consolidated into Portland, Oregon in 1891.Albina was laid out in 1872 with a plat for the new town filed in April 1873 by Edwin Russell, William Page, and George Williams. Albina was named after Mrs. Albina Page, the wife of William Page. Settlement began in...
, Woodstock
Woodstock, Portland, Oregon
The Woodstock neighborhood of Portland, Oregon, United States, is located in the city's inner southeast section. It is bounded on the north by SE Holgate Boulevard, west by Cesar Chavez Boulevard , east by SE 60th and SE 45th, and south by Johnson Creek...
, St. Johns
St. Johns, Portland, Oregon
St. Johns is a neighborhood of Portland, Oregon, United States located in North Portland on the tip of the peninsula formed by the confluence of the Willamette River and the Columbia River....
, Rockwood
Rockwood, Gresham, Oregon
Rockwood is a neighborhood in the northwest section of Gresham, Oregon, bounded on the west by 162nd Avenue, on the north by the Columbia River, on the east by 202nd Avenue/Birdsdale Avenue, and on the south by SE Division...
, North Portland, Kenton
Kenton, Portland, Oregon
Kenton is a neighborhood in the north section of Portland, Oregon, United States. The neighborhood was originally a company town founded in 1911 for the Swift Meat Packing Company.-Geography:...
, Northwest
Northwest District, Portland, Oregon
The Northwest District is a densely populated retail and residential neighborhood in the Northwest section of Portland, Oregon. Craftsman- and Old Portland-style houses are packed tightly together with grand old apartment buildings and sleek new condominiums, within walking distance of...
, Sellwood
Sellwood, Portland, Oregon
Sellwood-Moreland is a neighborhood on a bluff overlooking the Willamette River in Southeast Portland, Oregon, bordering Westmoreland to the north, Eastmoreland to the east, and the city of Milwaukie to the south...
-Moreland, Troutdale
Troutdale, Oregon
Troutdale is a city in Multnomah County, Oregon, north of Gresham and east of Wood Village. As of the 2010 census, the city population was 15,962....
, Fairview
Fairview, Oregon
As of the census of 2000, there were 7,561 people, 2,831 households, and 1,936 families residing in the city. The population density was 2,360.8 people per square mile . There were 3,116 housing units at an average density of 972.9 per square mile...
-Columbia, Capitol Hill
West Portland Park, Portland, Oregon
West Portland Park is a neighborhood in the Southwest section of Portland, Oregon. It lies between SW 53rd Ave. in the west and SW 35th Ave. in the east, and I-5 in the north and SW Stephenson St. in the south. West Portland Park is a neighborhood in the Southwest section of Portland, Oregon. It...
, Belmont
Belmont, Portland, Oregon
The Belmont Area is a retail and residential district running along SE Belmont St. in the inner Southeast section of Portland, Oregon in a parallel fashion to the Hawthorne District, 6 blocks to the south. From west to east the area extends 48 blocks, from SE 12th Ave. to SE 60th Ave., passing...
, Midland, Hollywood, Holgate, Gregory Heights, and Hillsdale
Hillsdale, Portland, Oregon
The Hillsdale district is a neighborhood in the southwest section of Portland, Oregon, United States. It is centered around the Hillsdale retail and business area, a series of strip malls on SW Capitol Highway between SW Sunset Boulevard and SW Bertha Boulevard...
. Midland is the largest of these branch locations with a total of 25000 square feet (2,322.6 m²) followed by the Gresham location with 20000 square feet (1,858.1 m²). The St. Johns and North Portland branches are both Carnegie libraries
Carnegie library
A Carnegie library is a library built with money donated by Scottish-American businessman and philanthropist Andrew Carnegie. 2,509 Carnegie libraries were built between 1883 and 1929, including some belonging to public and university library systems...
. (There were also five Carnegie libraries no longer part of the system: Albina (old), Arleta, East Portland, Gresham (old), and South Portland).
Central Library
The Central Library in downtown Portland
Portland, Oregon
Portland is a city located in the Pacific Northwest, near the confluence of the Willamette and Columbia rivers in the U.S. state of Oregon. As of the 2010 Census, it had a population of 583,776, making it the 29th most populous city in the United States...
serves as the main branch of the system. The building was designed by architect A. E. Doyle
A. E. Doyle
Albert Ernest Doyle was a prolific architect in the U.S. states of Oregon and Washington. He is most often credited for his works as A.E. Doyle....
, and opened on September 6, 1913. It was one of the first libraries in the United States to feature an open-plan. The three-story Central Library was listed on the National Register of Historic Places
National Register of Historic Places
The National Register of Historic Places is the United States government's official list of districts, sites, buildings, structures, and objects deemed worthy of preservation...
as the Central Building, Public Library in 1979. It contains 17 miles (27.4 km) of bookshelf space and has more than 130 computers for the public. The branch contains 125000 square feet (11,612.9 m²) of space.
Details
As of FY2010, the system has a total of 486 FTE employees, including 91 librarian FTE. Total annual revenue was just over $62.8 million, with expenditures of $60.5 million. There are more than 425,000 library card holders in the system that serves a population of over 700,000 people, the largest in the state. Multnomah County Library has a total of 1,994,541 books, DVDs, CDs, periodicals, and other library materials. There was a total of 5,799,497 visits in FY2010 with the total circulation of 22,715,292. The library system contains a total of about 700 computer search stations for the public and a combined total of 277762 square feet (25,804.9 m²) of space at all 19 libraries.Further reading
- Anderson, Katherine E. Historical Sketch of the Library Association of Portland, 1864-1964. Portland: The Library Association, 1964.
- Richard E. Ritz, Central Library: Portland's Crown Jewel. Portland: The Library Association, 2000. ISBN 0-9674860-0-9