Architects: Bora Architecture & Interiors; Colloqate Design
Size and location: A new, two-story 21,000 square foot library on the existing site
Timeline: Closing for construction December 5, 2022; scheduled to reopen summer 2024
While Holgate Library is closed for construction, Multnomah County libraries will be providing services in our service languages in the areas most affected by lack of access. Find your nearest library location and other service updates.
Get involved
Community events will be updated as they are scheduled.
Gifts to The Library Foundation will support an interactive early learning space, a mobile creative learning lab and study space for teens at Holgate Library.
New features
Holgate Library will be a brand new two-story building, triple the size of the current space for a total of 21,000 square feet. It will be one of the largest libraries in Multnomah County.
Based on input from community members, new features will include:
- Large play and learning space for children and families.
- Dedicated teen room with space for technology, homework and creative expression.
- Multiple flexible programming and meeting rooms.
- Updated technology and internet.
- Outdoor plaza for community members to relax and connect.
- New art that represents the community.
- Solar panels to help offset energy use.
Get a sneak peek at what the new Holgate Library will look like with this downloadable poster and this fly-through. The interior design and exterior color, representing patterns and colors found in nature, were all voted on by you, the community.
Look forward to new art in partnership with the Regional Arts and Culture Council. Community artists will design the wall of the elevators and the exterior bike area. Your ideas will help create these designs, so check back for community events.
Centering the community
We heard from the community through focus groups, public meetings, surveys, workshops and more. Holgate Library supports one of the most culturally diverse areas in the region. Community input should reflect that diversity.
That’s why the library and design team worked with Community Design Advocates (CDAs) as part of a paid program. Their mission was to connect with their communities about how this library can represent them.
These are some of the groups they worked with:
- Latinx families
- Chinese community
- Black parents and youth
- Vietnamese community
- Slavic communities
- Indigenous communities
- People experiencing houselessness
- Disability community
- Seniors
For teen spaces, we gathered some exciting ideas and updates through a four-week-long paid teen program in partnership with Your Street Your Voice. Teens shared what matters most to them in the design, with areas for hanging out, technology access and creative expression.
