Grand opening celebration highlights an expanded space for the community
PORTLAND, Ore.--December 2, 2025
Multnomah County Library is excited to announce the grand opening of the new Northwest Library on January 10, 2026. Northwest Library is now a large, modern space, built to reflect its diverse neighboring communities.
What’s inside:
- Advance press tour January 7, 2026
- Ribbon cutting ceremony January 10, 2026
- Public celebration January 10-11, 2026
- New features and spaces: kids, teens, community rooms
- Community-driven art
Multnomah County Library is transforming library spaces as part of a November 2020 capital bond. With the opening of the new Northwest Library, the library has opened 15 building projects (10 Refreshes, four libraries and one Operations Center) and will complete the remainder in 2026. The Library Capital Bond has responsibly used the community’s investments to deliver beautiful, modern and transformed libraries.
Northwest Library is a perfect representation of these modern transformations. The library is moving from a leased space at 2300 NW Thurman St. to a new library-owned location at 2030 NW Pettygrove St. This new location is around 11,000 square feet, more than twice the size of the former building at 4,700 square feet. As part of the voter-approved bond improvements, the library purchased the building, which sits on Overton Street to the south and on Pettygrove Street to the north, in 2021. The building has been renovated into a brand new space for the community as part of the library’s goal to reduce costs and uncertainty related to leased spaces.
“Northwest Library’s new location is truly a transformed space and community centerpiece,” said Annie Lewis, Director of Libraries. “From a reading area with beautiful wooden benches made from repurposed lumber to a large, new kids area with interactive play features, we can’t wait to welcome the community into this incredible new library.”
Celebrating Northwest with the community
Northwest Library has long been a small but beloved location for Northwest Portland, and its expansion means more space for the community. That's why insights from community members have guided the vision and purpose for the space, with the design team gathering feedback from senior citizens, families, teens, people experiencing homelessness and the neighborhood association. Gifts to The Library Foundation supported an interactive early learning space, a mobile creative learning lab, and a study space for teens at Northwest Library.
To celebrate the opening of the new, expanded Northwest, the library is hosting two, fun-filled days of activities for the community on Saturday, January 10 and Sunday, January 11. Beginning with a ribbon cutting at 9:30 am on Saturday, January 10 followed by music, dancing and more, there will be plenty to do while exploring the new features of Northwest Library. Patrons can stay up-to-date on the library website.
Advance press tour of Northwest Library
**Due to the level of activity expected for the opening events, members of the media are invited to tour the new library early on Wednesday, January 7 at 11 am. The press tour will meet outside the new main entrance at 2030 NW Pettygrove St. At this time, the media can get photos of the completed building, comments about the new features and learn about the expansive space, public art and more at Northwest. **
Exterior of the new Northwest Library along Pettygrove St.; rendering courtesy of Hennebery Eddy Architects
New features include:
- A large early learning and play space for children and their families.
- A teen area with space for technology, homework and creative expression.
- A larger, more diverse collection of books.
- Five small community rooms for study, homework and small group meetings; one medium and one large room for group meetings, library programs and presentations.
- Updated wi-fi and technology, including more laptops, iPads and creative software for patron use.
- New Automated Materials Handling system, ensuring materials get to patrons much faster.
- Modern self checkout stations to provide a better patron experience.
- New art that represents the community in partnership with the Regional Arts and Culture Council including:
- A suspended artwork by artist Christine Clark
- Artwork from the Portland Street Art Alliance including:
- A room-spanning mural that covers the adult seating area, teen area and kids’ area by artist Kyler Martz
- Mural in the gallery seating area by artist Nia Musiba
Centering the community
Northwest Library has been a vital center of the community for decades. To amplify the community’s ideas, the library worked with the design team to table at existing community events and host focus groups, public meetings and public surveys. We engaged over 1,700 people during more than 19 activities. Community members cast 1,189 votes for Northwest’s color palette, with the winning theme being beautiful blues inspired by the Vaux’s Swift migration. The color palette reflects the sky and sunset as the birds funneled into the chimney at Chapman Elementary School.
Project teams held paid affinity focus groups with neighborhood elders, families, teens and social service providers and clients. The local neighborhood association was also engaged in the design process.
Learning and playing in the kids area
Northwest Library is continuing the commitment to early learning and development with a 919 square foot kids’ area. This includes an interactive learning and play installation developed by the Burgeon Group, the premier firm designing, building, and installing creative early learning spaces in public libraries. With an engaging nest theme that evokes the Vaux’s Swift migration, kids can let their imagination soar. The updated kids area will also have technology and seating for youth and their caregivers to learn and play side-by-side.
A new teen area
Northwest Library’s new 275 square foot teen area is a special addition. Guided by teen input, teens will have access to an area where they can study, play games using state-of-the-art video equipment on a 75” screen and just be in community with other teens. Teens have an opportunity to plug-in (or unplug!) in a new area complete with artwork from artist Kyler Martz, which was inspired by an art workshop held with local teens. Participants shared a desire for artwork that is tranquil with a connection to nature.
Entryway and community room at the new Northwest Library; rendering courtesy of Hennebery Eddy Architects
Places for connection
With multiple community rooms available for patron use, people can connect much easier than before at Northwest Library. Going from one meeting room at the old location to seven new community rooms for a total of about 1,300 square feet after construction in the new building, the library is excited to expand these places for connection. Overall, the community rooms consist of one large, one medium and five small community rooms. Whether attending a library event, a community meeting, or just needing a quiet room for a one-on-one conversation, these spaces are for the public.
To increase connection, all community rooms in Northwest boast audio/visual-equipped spaces (A/V-equipped) to accommodate advanced meeting needs and collaboration. Need to connect remotely for a job interview or host a presentation? Northwest has you covered! All of the meeting rooms support state-of-the-art presentation and video conferencing when connected to a library-supplied laptop.
Additionally, these community rooms are even more accessible thanks to assistive listening systems (ALS) which amplify sounds from lectures, presentations, storytimes, and events, allowing hard-of-hearing patrons to fully engage with library programs and resources. Northwest offers assistive listening systems via two different methods: a wireless system that allows patrons to use library provided receivers or their own smartphones and a portable offering which includes a microphone for the speaker and a listening device for the audience.
Northwest is yet another library location to introduce Multnomah County’s new fiber network, providing increased internet speeds and bandwidth. The building boasts a strong wi-fi signal throughout.
Diversity in building
A wide range of tradespeople, experts and construction workers with diverse backgrounds built Northwest Library. Over the life of the project, 320 trades workers from the local area built this library with great pride.
Apprentice utilization: 21.4%
Apprentice-level woman: 38.9%
Apprentice-level minority: 64.8%
Journey-level minority: 35.4%
Journey-level woman:12.4%
Not only was there a diverse workforce building the new Northwest, the companies who employed these workers also represented a wide range of communities.
Women Business Enterprise (WBE): 21.3%
Veteran Business Enterprise (VBE): 6.7%
Minority-owned Business Enterprise (MBE): 1.5%
Emerging Small Business (ESB): 0.3%
Artwork for all
As part of these building projects, each major location gains engaging new artwork. One of these exciting art pieces is thanks to the Multnomah County Percent for Art Program which is led by the Regional Arts & Culture Council (RACC). RACC advocates for equity, inclusion and access within the arts and connects artists and creatives to opportunities throughout the region.
Portland-based sculptor and installation artist Christine Clark has created a multi-piece suspended artwork throughout the library’s clerestory area. Inspired by the rich history of Slabtown and the Vaux’s Swifts, Christine’s powder-coated and mild steel artwork celebrates the people, waterways, and traditions that shaped the neighborhood and the larger Northwest area. Her suspended basket-like forms honor the Native weaving traditions of creating and selling baskets. The green leaves that accompany the multiple elements of the artworks symbolize the crops that were grown by Chinese immigrants in the late 1800s, cultivating vegetables and other produce that were sold locally. The interwoven blue strands that sinew their way throughout the clerestory area and around the baskets evoke the creeks that once flowed throughout Slabtown as well as the flight patterns of the Vaux’s Swifts as they descend into Chapman School. Christine’s hope is that this suspended artwork will allow the library users to look up, reflect, and connect to the past while being present in many of the library’s gathering spaces.
Throughout the room-spanning Bound for Slabtown mural, which covers the adult seating area, teen area and kids area, artist Kyler Martz explores the transformative power of reading and nature through the migratory journey of the Vaux’s Swift. By observing the surreal transformation of trees into books, books into birds, the viewer is encouraged to reflect on their relationship with nature and the ability to grow and change.
In the gallery seating area, artist Nia Musiba created this mural, drawing inspiration from Oregon’s natural landscape and its vibrant flora and fauna. The piece takes a colorful, abstract approach to depicting elements of the natural world, abstracted views of irises, ferns, Oregon swallowtails, Vaux’s swifts, oxalis, and more. It serves as a reminder to enjoy the beauty and balance of the environments that surround us.
Reading gallery in the new Northwest Library; rendering courtesy of Hennebery Eddy Architects
A resilient building
Hennebery Eddy Architects led the design for Northwest. Howard S. Wright, A Balfour Beatty Company, is the General Contractor. Northwest Library is on track to be LEED Silver certified. Northwest reduced its impact on the environment by reusing much of the existing building structure and facades. The building also boasts a seismic upgrade, highly efficient new mechanical and plumbing systems, all LED lighting, as well as low-emitting materials which contribute to improved indoor air quality.
Multnomah County Library is excited to present this larger, transformed Northwest Library to the community.
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About Multnomah County Library
A treasured community institution since 1864, Multnomah County Library is one of the nation’s busiest public library systems, providing social, educational and cultural programs, resources and services, online and through its 19 public locations. With an eye toward the future of community-centered spaces, the library is working to build, rebuild or expand nine libraries through a voter approved capital bond. In addition to being Oregon’s largest provider of free internet access, the library offers millions of print and digital resources, in multiple languages for people of all ages. From early learning to job training, computer-assisted design and 3D printing, the library supports all people in their pursuits to connect, learn and create. Learn more at multcolib.org
For media inquiries related to the Regional Arts and Culture Council, please contact comms@racc.org