Hillsboro Public Library facts for kids
Quick facts for kids Hillsboro Public Library |
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| Established | 1914 |
| Location | Hillsboro, Oregon |
| Coordinates | 45°32′34″N 122°56′09″W / 45.54278°N 122.93583°W |
| Branches | 2 |
| Collection | |
| Size | 329,000 |
| Access and use | |
| Circulation | 2.85 million |
| Population served | 137,000 |
| Members | 64,000 |
| Other information | |
| Budget | $9.5 million |
| Director | Stephanie Chase |
| Staff | 140 |
The Hillsboro Public Library is a public library system in Hillsboro, Oregon, USA. It has two main locations. The library first opened its doors in 1914. It was in a special building called a Carnegie library.
The library serves about 137,000 people in the area. In 2015, people visited the library over 922,000 times. They checked out almost 3 million items each year. One library is in Shute Park. The other is near the airport. The Hillsboro Public Library is part of the Washington County Cooperative Library Services (WCCLS). This group helps make sure everyone in Washington County can use library services. Stephanie Chase is the library director.
Contents
Library History: How It Started
The first library in Hillsboro opened on December 9, 1914. It was called the Carnegie City Library. This library was one of over 2,500 libraries built with money from Andrew Carnegie. He was a very rich businessman who wanted to help people learn.
The First Carnegie Library Building
The land for the first library was given to the city. It was at Northeast Second and Lincoln Streets. An architect named Ernest Kroner designed the building. It cost $10,000 to build. This was a lot of money back then!
In 1925, the library had about 4,855 books. People checked out books about 19,445 times that year.
New Library Buildings and Growth
A group called the Friends of the Library started in 1968. In 1971, this group began asking for a new library building. Voters later agreed to pay for a new library.
On January 21, 1975, a new library opened at Shute Park. It replaced the old Carnegie building. The new building was designed by Martin, Soderstrom & Matteson. In 1975, people checked out about 130,000 items. The library had around 40,000 books.
A year later, another library opened in the Tanasbourne area. This was on the east side of Hillsboro. In 1990, the city took over running this library. In 1996, it moved from the old Tanasbourne Mall.
Changes and Expansions
In 1998, a small "Books-by-Rail" branch opened. It was at the Hillsboro Central MAX Light Rail station. This small space was about 168 square feet.
In 2002 and 2004, the city tried to get money to build a new, bigger library. They wanted to build a 60,000 square foot building. It would replace the Tanasbourne branch. They also wanted to fix up the Shute Park location. But the plans did not get enough votes.
The Books by Rail branch closed in 2003. This happened because the library had less money. Hillsboro cut its library funding by $350,000 that year.
A New Main Library
In 2005, the city decided to buy an existing building instead. They would fix it up to be a library. This plan cost about $13 million. Some of the money came from donations.
The city bought a large, two-story office building in September 2005. It was 77,000 square feet. This building was on Northeast Brookwood Parkway, near the Hillsboro Airport. It cost $6.8 million.
When this new location opened, the Tanasbourne library closed. Its books and other items moved to the new library. The new library opened in May 2007. At first, only the first floor was open.
In June 2013, the second floor opened. This added 38,000 square feet of space. It also included an art gallery. The Shute Park location closed for repairs in 2013. It reopened in March 2014. A 3D printer was added to the Shute Park branch in December 2014. In November 2015, the library added a Book-O-Mat kiosk at the Hillsboro Civic Center. This is like a vending machine for books!
Library Locations and Services
The Hillsboro Public Library system has two main locations. They offer many services for everyone.
Brookwood Library
The Hillsboro Brookwood Library is a big, two-story building. It is 76,000 square feet. This library has over 300,000 items. These include books, movies, and more.
The Brookwood Library offers story times in many languages. These include Mandarin, Japanese, Bengali, and Spanish. The second floor has an art gallery. It shows art from local artists. There is also a coffee shop inside the building. The Brookwood Library also keeps old newspapers. These include the Hillsboro Independent and The Hillsboro Argus. They go all the way back to 1887!
Shute Park Library
The Shute Park Library opened in 1975. It is the older of the two libraries. The building cost $760,000 to build. It is 15,000 square feet. This makes it smaller than the Brookwood location.
The building has a unique triangular shape. The wall facing north is all glass. After being updated in 2013–2014, Shute Park has over 57,000 items. These include books, videos, and audio materials. It has 140 seats and 31 computers for people to use.
How Many People Use the Library?
As of 2016, the library serves about 140,000 people.
From 2015 to 2016, the library had over 329,000 items. People checked out items over 2.85 million times. The library spends about $9.5 million each year. There are 55 staff members, including librarians. The Hillsboro Public Library has 63,747 library card holders. It is part of the Washington County Cooperative Library Services. In total, people visited the library 921,000 times. It is the third largest library in Oregon based on how many people it serves.
Images for kids
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Old Carnegie building
