⁄Spotlight⁄ PHOTOS BY JASON E. KAPLAN Multnomah County’s Central Library was built in 1893 and last renovated around the time of its 100th birthday. Now it’s undergone another refresh — one meant to bring it in line with library trends. BY CHRISTEN McCURDY FROM THE OUTSIDE, Multnomah County’s Central Library doesn’t look much different than it did when it closed early last year. There’s more outdoor seating — and hopes for outdoor events, including concerts, this summer — but it’s still the same three-story brick building that has occupied a city block at Southwest 10th and Yamhill for 131 years. Inside the building, the change is a little more obvious — especially on the first floor. The Friends of the Library bookstore has been moved from its out-of-the-way corner right off the foyer to a glass-walled space at the center of the first floor. Patrons can still pick up books on hold from the first floor, but what used to be the beginning of what was called the Popular Library — mostly adult fiction, teen material and new books, all in English — is now a collection of works in four languages, as well as large print. The fiction collection is now on the second floor, in a room previously occupied by periodicals — which are still on the second floor but have moved to the north side of the building. Other areas look more familiar. The Beverly Cleary Children’s Room has retained much of its familiar and much-loved art, including a bas-relief of Alice in Wonderland (made during the 1930s as part of the Works Progress Administration’s federal arts project) and an elaborate bronze tree sculpture made by Dana Lynn Louis and Barbara Eiswerth for the 1993 remodel. But books for teenagers have their own section within the children’s room, and there’s now a meeting room inside the children’s room for kids’ events, including teen book clubs. “Anyone who has teens knows they want their own spot,” Shelly Jarman, the Central Library’s regional manager, told Oregon Book to the Future Business during a March tour of the building, which reopened in February. The Central Library’s recent remodel is the result of a bond measure passed by voters in 2020 that provides $387 million — $13 million of which went to the Central Library — to update buildings throughout the library system. Some of the decisions are simple technological shifts, like installing an automatic sorting system, which Jarman says every other large library system in the country already has. Others reflect the changing needs of patrons, New movable shelving at right provides multiple benefits. Formerly, shelving was the same height as those seen at left. 22
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