Portal:Oregon/Selected article/123

The Woodstock Library is a branch of the Multnomah County Library in southeast Portland, Oregon, United States. The library's origins date back to 1908, when the people of the Woodstock neighborhood established a reading room at the Woodstock Fire Station, which soon became one of fifteen "deposit stations" (packing crates that turned into two-shelf bookcases and could hold up to 50 books each). The Woodstock collection began as an assemblage of children's books and was housed within a public school. In 1911, the station was replaced by a "sub-branch" library offering more books for adults and children, but without the reference works and services available at regular branches. The collection moved into a larger facility in 1914, which became a full branch in 1917, offering additional resources and services. The library occupied a series of temporary locations during the 1920s–'40s. Construction began on Woodstock's permanent library building in 1959. It was dedicated on June 1 the following year, the fourth community library built by Multnomah County. Until the mid-1990s the library was maintained as-is with only regular maintenance, though capacity strained as public use grew and new technologies demanded additional shelf space. In 1995, the City of Portland's Bureau of Planning released the "Adopted Woodstock Neighborhood Plan", which included a policy to improve the branch and its services. In 1996, the county adopted a $28 million bond measure to renovate some branches and upgrade technology throughout the system. Given multiple issues with the existing building, including structural problems and non-compliance with building codes, Multnomah County Library determined reconstruction was necessary. The library was demolished in January 1999. The current 7,500-square-foot (700 m²) Woodstock Library building was completed in 2000. It has a "lantern-like" quality and has received multiple awards for its design. In addition to offering the Multnomah County Library catalog, which contains two million books, periodicals and other materials, the library houses collections in Chinese and Spanish and employs Chinese-speaking staff.