Multnomah County Library
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| Established | 1864 |
|---|---|
| Location | Multnomah County, Oregon |
| Coordinates | 45°31′8″N 122°40′59″W / 45.51889°N 122.68306°WCoordinates: 45°31′8″N 122°40′59″W / 45.51889°N 122.68306°W |
| Branches | 19 |
| Collection | |
| Size | 1,994,641 |
| Access and use | |
| Circulation | 22,715,292 |
| Population served | 724,680 |
| Members | 425,749 |
| Other information | |
| Budget | $61 million |
| Director | Vailey Oehlke |
| Staff | 495 FTE |
| Website | www.multcolib.org |
Multnomah County Library is the public library system serving Portland and Multnomah County, Oregon, United States. A continuation of the Library Association of Portland, established in 1864, the system now has 19 branches offering 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.
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 Deady 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. William Ladd was the elected its first president. The founders proclaimed "the library should forever be kept free of politics."
By March 1864, there were 153 members, who had subscribed $2,500.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 merged in 1902.
The library moved to a new two-story stone library building in 1893. The building cost $156,477, representing 27 years of fundraising, mostly by Deady. A large portion of the funds came from Ella M. Smith, daughter of Benjamin F. Smith, in 1889. The library was staffed by D. F. W. Bursch, the library's first trained librarian, who oversaw the implementation of the Dewey Decimal system. It contained 20,000 volumes.
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