East Portland Branch, Public Library of Multnomah County facts for kids
Quick facts for kids |
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East Portland Branch,
Public Library of Multnomah County |
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The East Portland Branch Library in 2008 as an office building
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 Location in Portland, Oregon
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| Location | 1110 Southeast Alder Street, Portland, Oregon |
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| Built | 1911 |
| Architect | A. E. Doyle (Doyle, Patterson & Beach) |
| Architectural style | Renaissance Italian |
| NRHP reference No. | 87001491 |
| Added to NRHP | 1987 |
The East Portland Branch, Public Library of Multnomah County was an important building for the library system in Portland. It served as a library from 1911 to 1967. The building was designed by architect A. E. Doyle. It was completed in 1911 at 1110 Southeast Alder Street in Portland's central eastside.
A Special Library Building
The library building was partly paid for by the Carnegie Foundation. When it was first built, it had one main floor and a basement. Inside, there were special reading rooms for both children and adults. The outside of the building was made of red bricks. It also had fancy terra-cotta decorations and a green roof with Spanish tiles.
In 1956, the building was updated. It was changed again before it was sold in 1967. The original library had very tall rooms, about 18 feet high. After it was sold, it became a two-story office building.
From Subscription to Free Libraries
For many years, from 1864 to 1902, Portland had "subscription libraries." This meant you had to pay a fee to use them. They were open to the public, but they were not free.
In 1902, things changed! The library system became supported by taxes. This made it free and open for everyone living in Portland. Just one year later, in 1903, it became free for all residents of Multnomah County. After the library became free, many more people started using it. The number of users quickly grew from 1,000 to 8,000 registered borrowers.
Growing the Library System
Before 1902, the subscription libraries only had reading rooms in downtown Portland. With so many new users, the library needed more space. So, new reading rooms were opened in other parts of the city.
By 1907, the library had opened neighborhood branches. These new branches were in areas like Sellwood, Albina, and the central eastside neighborhood. Architect A. E. Doyle first designed a small, temporary building for the eastside branch. Later, enough money was found to build the permanent and beautiful East Portland Branch Library.
