The Multnomah County library system is on track to add a big flagship library in the Gresham area and build three smaller replacement libraries in different quadrants of Portland.

The $405 million library improvement plan, which Multnomah County commissioners appear almost certain to put before county voters in November, would also pay for upgrades and expansions at three other cramped or aging libraries.

The headliner would be a brand-new light-drenched 95,000-square-foot library in or near Gresham comparable to Multnomah’s Central Library in downtown Portland. Library champions say it’s urgently needed because 40% of the county’s residents live east of Interstate 205 – but only 24% of the library system’s square footage is located there. If voters approve the plan, that gleaming facility designed for modern library usage, would open early in 2025.

Backers say the bond measure, if approved, would cost property tax owners about 75 cents per $1,000 of assessed value. Multnomah voters were last asked to approve construction bonds for the library system in 1996, mostly for repairs and a new computer system. The ask was just $29 million, and voters approved it nearly 2-to-1.

This November’s ballot is looking as if it will have other big-ask money measures, including a $700 million transportation bond and a Portland Public Schools construction bond that could exceed $1 billion.

If voters say yes to the library plan, three parts of town would get brand-new libraries to replace the older, smaller ones they have now: Albina in Northeast Portland, Holgate in Southeast Portland and Capitol Hill in Southwest Portland.

Storytime is a popular event at Boston's updated central library. Multnomah County commissioners plan to put a $405 library bond before county voters in the fall. They want to expand or rebuild six libraries to make room for bigger gatherings like storytime sessions as well as add a second flagship library to serve library patrons east of I-205.Amy Miller / Multnomah County Library

Each would be about 30,000 square feet and have enough room to host community cultural celebrations and preschool storytime sessions and feature additional computers and private study space.

The new Albina library would replace 3,500 square feet of leased space in the Whole Foods strip mall on Northeast 15th Avenue and Fremont Street. It would likely be built on Northeast Russell Street just off Martin Luther King Jr. Boulevard, where the current library administration building is located. The new library would also include administrative space.

The Holgate Library, which dates to 1971, would be torn down so a new one could be built, likely on the same lot. The new building would be five times as big.

The Capitol Hill Library on Capitol Highway, which dates to 1973 and resembles its Holgate cousin, would also be scrapped for a much larger building on the same site.

Storytime is a popular event at Boston's updated central library. Multnomah County commissioners plan to put a $405 library bond before county voters in the fall. They want to expand or rebuild six libraries to make room for bigger gatherings like storytime sessions as well as add a second flagship library to serve library patrons east of I-205.Amy Miller / Multnomah County Library

The Midland, Belmont and St. Johns libraries all would be renovated and expanded. The Belmont branch, which dates to 1925 and has just 5,200 square feet, would be greatly transformed, with about half of it being torn down and 17,000 square feet added.

The county commission, which heard an hour-long presentation about the proposed bond Thursday, is slated to vote in early March whether to send the proposal to the November ballot.

At Thursday’s hearing, all five commissioners revealed themselves to be huge book lovers and lifelong library fans. Most were sworn in at one of the Multnomah libraries and all expressed enthusiastic support for the expansion effort.

The public library in Richland, Wash, was updated in 2009 from a "bunker" to this light-filled modern space inviting new spaces, lounge seating, and community meeting rooms. Multnomah County library officials say modern libraries like Richland's suggest what a new flagship library in the east half of the county might look like.Courtesy of Multnomah County Library

Commissioner Lori Stegmann, who represents the eastmost portions of the county, pronounced herself “so excited” about the “critical investment” the proposal calls for. She said when she talks to constituents about libraries, “Faces light up and people tell me how important and how beloved our libraries are to them.”

Wait times to use a computer in an east Multnomah County library are unacceptably long, she said. Building a new flagship library would send the message that the county “sees and values the families who live in east county.”

She said she is “on board 125%” and plans to be a “loud and proud cheerleader” for it.

Commissioner Jessica Vega Pederson said it would meet “the real need in our community,” including for technology and community gathering spots as well as to study and check out books.

Commissioner Susheela Jayapal said “transforming what a library does and transforming those spaces is absolutely critical.” She called the east county flagship building “essential.” The tiny Albina Library is her neighborhood library, she said, “and yes, it is very crowded.”

Sharon Meieran praised the “fantastic, innovative” features library officials plan to introduce to the new and renovated libraries. She called libraries rare trusted institutions in today’s society.

County Chair Deborah Kafoury said she still has her first library card. She hailed libraries for creating “true public space” in communities that have too little of it.

-- Betsy Hammond; betsyhammond@oregonian.com; @OregonianPol

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