June 2025 community update

June 2025

Dear library friends and advocates,

It’s been an extraordinary few months for Multnomah County Library and we have so much to celebrate, like the recent Día de los Niños y Día de los Libros events and upcoming programs for Juneteenth and Pride. We are also wrapping up our budget work and planning for the coming year. While we celebrate with our community and look towards the future as we finalize next year’s budget and plans, there are concerning developments outside of our library that deserve our collective effort. 

Budget update

Since February, the library has been working hard to develop its Fiscal Year (FY) 2026 budget. At the end of May, we reviewed our plans with the Multnomah County Board of County Commissioners. The FY 2026 library budget includes our plans to open several libraries currently under construction. It also reflects our equity goals to allow access for everyone in Multnomah County through our spaces and services. The Multnomah County Board of County Commissioners will finalize and adopt the library budget during its session on June 12, 2025.

Staffing plan

As I shared in a previous letter, in July we will put a new staffing plan into place to support our new library spaces. The future staffing plan includes changes to positions and services to align the library's staffing structure with its service priorities and the new library spaces funded by the voter-approved Multnomah County Library Capital Bond. The staffing plan reallocates existing resources to ensure sufficient staffing at library locations while avoiding layoffs of any library staff.

Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) report

In 2022, Multnomah County took the proactive step of initiating a formal study to understand the impact of occupational exposure to illicit drugs, due to a lack of existing guidance, by the CDC's National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health (NIOSH) experts. The library acted swiftly to resolve every recommendation in a July 2024 letter outlining preliminary findings. We were pleased to receive the final report from NIOSH on May 7, 2025. 

Multnomah County Library does not allow drug use in the library. While the roots of this problem lie beyond the library, the report validates the steps Multnomah County has already taken to protect health and safety in public spaces when drug use occurs. 

Multnomah County invested significant time and resources into this effort to ensure the health and safety of library and county employees. Library leadership will work closely with AFSCME Local 88 to implement additional staff training and support in alignment with recommendations from the final report. 

Federal actions impacting libraries

Sadly, an Executive Order released in March 2025 reduces the scope of the Institute of Museum and Library Services, which manages Library Services and Technology Act (LSTA) funds. I continue to communicate with Oregon State Librarian Wendy Cornelisen about the fate of LSTA funding for the current funding year, which at this time is unknown. The State Library of Oregon is focused on these immediate funding needs and challenges, while at the same time advocating and planning for future funding — and I am very grateful for their work.

I am also extremely disheartened by the recent dismissal of Librarian of Congress Dr. Carla Hayden. During her nearly nine year tenure, Dr. Hayden championed libraries and our role in expanding digital access, protecting intellectual freedom and equitable access to libraries for all residing in the United States. As the first African American Librarian of Congress, Dr. Hayden has fought hard for the critical role libraries play in our democracy. Her removal from this position without clear justification is alarming. 

In early May the administration also declared that the Digital Equity Act was unconstitutional, threatening to end it immediately. The Digital Equity Act provides technology access allowing fair involvement in education, jobs, healthcare, and other essentials, especially for rural and marginalized communities. We are fortunate to have stable funding for digital access, and Multnomah County Library will be able to continue providing these services to patrons, but this development is concerning for the broader needs that exist in our communities surrounding digital access and training.

You have my commitment that Multnomah County Library will remain diligent and continue to work with the state librarian and members of Congress to advocate against actions that threaten library access, particularly for communities who have experienced systematic oppression and exclusion from public institutions. 

Moments like these highlight the importance of our work and the need for Multnomah County Library to defend our values, our commitments to democracy and human rights. Our purpose and work, even in these challenging times, has never been more important.

With gratitude,

Annie Lewis
Library Director

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