Update: COVID-19 Tax Relief Options

As of March 18, 2020, the Federal Government is allowing all individual and other non-corporate filers to defer up to $1 million in federal income tax payments until July 15, 2020. As of March 25, 2020, under Governor Brown's direction, the state of Oregon will be following the federal government's extension for state taxes, as well. You can check for more information on the "COVID-19 Tax Relief Options" page of the state government website.

Since library locations are currently closed, we recommend you print state and federal tax forms and instruction booklets online as they become available. We can still help refer you to tax professionals. Some tax preparers are able to work with you online or in another way that doesn't require an in-person visit.

Federal Hard Copy Forms

While libraries are closed, you can download and print federal tax items from the IRS Forms & Publications page. You can also direct questions to the IRS offices in Oregon. Of special note, neither the 1099 and 1096 forms nor any of the W series (W-2, W-4, etc.) are available for download. You can contact the IRS directly to have those mailed to you.

State Hard Copy Forms

Public libraries are no longer a distribution center for state tax forms and booklets. If you need Oregon forms or booklets, you can print them from the Oregon Department of Revenue page. If you want forms mailed to you, then you can contact the Oregon Department of Revenue via:

• Phone: 800-356-4222
• Clicking on "Order Paper Forms" on the Forms and Publication Library page
• Visit a regional Department of Revenue office

Other States

You can go to the Federation of Tax Administrators State Tax Forms & Filing Options, which provides links to tax forms for each state.

Online Filing

Once the tax season officially opens, both the IRS and Oregon Department of Revenue will have listings for online filing services. Remember, with the COVID-19 Tax Relief, most state and federal taxes can be submitted by July 15th without penalty. Take a look at the state of Oregon's page on COVID-19 tax relief for up-to-date details.

You can find tax preparation assistance through the AARP's Tax-Aide Locator, CASH Oregon and the IRS's Volunteer Income Tax Assistance program. Some of these programs may be offering virtual help or have rescheduled their appointment availability while others may not have specific information at this time. 

While the doors are closed to our physical buildings, the library is still here for you. We are communicating with publishers and digital platforms to increase your access to online resources and content however we can. 

On March 17, Macmillan Publishers announced it is ending its library e-book embargo. Multnomah County Library (MCL) joins the American Library Association and other libraries in welcoming this decision. Equitable service to our community is critical, especially during these times.

Effective immediately, MCL will resume purchasing Macmillan e-book titles. The library is also purchasing additional copies of other titles to help reduce your wait time for e-books and audiobooks. 

Thank you to everyone who expressed their support of MCL’s previous decision to boycott Macmillan. It is because of your support, and collective action from libraries around the country, that we can continue to provide #ebooksforall. 

Login with your library card and get free access to thousands of digital titles. If you don’t have a library card, you can sign up for OverDrive access with your mobile phone number. 

by Sarah Binns, MCL volunteer

By the time Title Wave volunteer Diane Hogan and I finish our meeting we’ve talked about everything: From politics to cats, from the #metoo movement to how societal gender roles have changed over the past fifty years. I feel like I’ve barely scratched the surface of the very interesting life of another one of Multnomah County Library’s fantastic volunteers.

Born in Tulsa, Oklahoma, Diane and her family moved to Corvallis when she was a pre-teen. She later attended Oregon State University, graduating “with a degree that no longer exists: secretarial studies.” She also got a bachelor’s degree in graphic design at PSU, but long before computer programs were the design method. “I’m not sure I could do it now,” she laughs.

Diane worked for a time as a civil service secretary with organizations like civil defense and the Worker’s Compensation Board. After marrying, she and her husband moved to Portland’s Alberta Street area in the early 1980s. Adventure arrived when her husband got a six month contract to teach in the Czech Republic. Diane laughed remembering their communal living arrangements there, especially being woken late at night by drunken people wandering the halls. She ended up teaching English to students, too: “Their teenagers are a lot more mature than ours!” she recalls.   

Diane started working at Title Wave in 1998, first organizing books in the back room and then becoming a cashier. She says she most appreciates “the great atmosphere and good coworkers. And you know,” she adds, “most volunteers, when they leave for the day, they take a book home.” Besides her time at Title Wave, Diane also volunteers at the cattery at the Oregon Humane Society three days a week and enjoys going out to eat with friends in her Alberta neighborhood. As we parted ways we exchanged cat photos (naturally) and I realized the next time I need a book I might bypass my library—and head to Title Wave to talk to Diane instead!

A few facts about Diane

Home library: Thanks to the wealth of books at Title Wave, “I haven’t been to the library in years!”

Currently reading: Underland: A Deep Time Journey by Robert Macfarlane. “It’s all about caves!”  

Most influential book: A twenty-volume encyclopedia set called The Book of Knowledge that originally belonged to her grandfather. “It had everything from French lessons to handwriting lessons…”

Favorite book from childhood: Mr. Bear Squash-You-All-Flat by Morrell Gipson. “A few years ago I bought a brand new edition.” 

Favorite place to read: On the couch or on her exercise bike. 

E-reader or paper: “I don’t read e-books!”

by Jane Salisbury, MCL volunteer

Gaby Delgado loves children. Everything in her life reflects that love, including her service for the past three years as a program assistant with Library Coordinator Delia Palomeque Morales in the Listos para el Kinder (“Listos”) program. Listos is a youth services program for Spanish-speaking children aged three to five and their parents. Sessions are conducted entirely in Spanish, and teachers emphasize early learning skills, such as pre literacy, early math, self-regulation, and interpersonal skills. Parents are encouraged to observe how their children learn best and how to build confidence and connection with their children as they grow. Listos families frequently become library users.

Gaby was a teacher in Peru for twenty-five years, working with parents and young children, and doing early intervention with babies. She has also taught baby massage to help parents connect deeply with their babies. 

When Gaby and her family came to the United States from Peru four years ago, the first thing they did together was go to the library. With her husband and daughter Ximena, who is now a senior in high school, she came every week to the Gresham Library to use the internet and make connections. When she saw a flyer at the library about the Listos program, she thought, “That is for me.”

Of her work, Gaby said,  “Delia is excellent, an angel. In the Listos program, we work directly with children ages 3-5, first together, and then the children have their own time. I set up, we work on things like letters, shapes, colors, numbers, and promote positive interactions between parents and children. I can advise parents on how to connect with their children. Many families are new immigrants who only speak Spanish and have many challenges. I love working with them.” 

Gaby grew up in a family where reading was highly valued, but libraries were not the same as they are in the United States. Gaby explained, “Libraries in Peru are very different— they are academic, silent, and you can only borrow one or two books. Being in the library here is like being at home with your own family.”  

Gaby’s whole family is involved at the library. Ximena is a Summer Reading volunteer, and Gaby’s husband has taken English classes at the library and now works for Hacienda CDC, as a result.  

Gaby is currently re-reading books on baby massage, getting ready to do some workshops on massage and attachment. When I asked her about a favorite book from childhood, Gaby mentioned El Principito, (in English, The Little Prince, by Antoine Saint-Exupery). She is also fond of poetry and the writings of Gabriel Garcia-Marquez. But most important for her is the poem she recited by heart as we sat together in the library, because it mirrors her own experience and her deep love of children. The poem is “Tristitia” by the great early 20th century Peruvian poet Abraham Valdolemar. The words stayed with her throughout her childhood and helped her change her own story.