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The 2023 Women’s History Month theme is “Celebrate Women Who Tell Our Stories.” We are highlighting women storytellers who work in print, radio, TV, podcasts and other media.

Multnomah County Library would not be what it is today without the leadership and influence of Mary Frances Isom, a champion for local public libraries in the Portland community, Multnomah County, and for school libraries.

Multnomah County Library’s Summer Reading program encourages kids, teens, and families to read throughout the summer. With hundreds of kids signed up each year to participate, Summer Reading relies on youth volunteers to keep everything running smoothly.

Multnomah County Library is community built; it’s your library. What do you want to see in the collection? You can make recommendations of materials the library can purchase to include in the Black Resources Collection and the Black Pacific Northwest Collection.

February is Black History Month, a time to celebrate influential people, events and actions contributing to Black History in the United States. Each year, the Association for the Study of African American Life and History selects a theme for Black History Month to focus the attention on one specific aspect of the Black experience.

Multnomah County Library offers services to the community in several languages. One of these is Chinese. The library’s Chinese speaking team offers activities, resources and events specifically for the Chinese community.

In 2021 the library formed an Indigenous team to provide better representation of Indigenous people in the library. The Indigenous team strives to offer multi-generational programs and better access to resources. They also create displays that value elders, youth, storytelling, tradition and activism.

The Mobile Library is a custom RV that is the size of a band’s tour bus! It will bring library services to neighborhoods around Multnomah County. Along with space for storytimes and programs, the Mobile Library features bookshelves to browse, computer stations, wifi access, printers with scanning and faxing abilities, AC and heat.

The library hosts storytimes in multiple languages including Chinese, Vietnamese, Russian, Spanish and English. Storytimes are family-friendly library programs, typically for young children birth to age six.

Vailey Oehlke, Multnomah County’s longtime Director of Libraries, will retire in June after serving as director for the past 15 years.

Lecia Michelle is the author of The White Allies Handbook: 4 Weeks to Join the Racial Justice Fight for Black Women. She is a librarian by trade with experience at universities and public libraries.

National Library Workers Day is a day of recognition for all that library staff, administrators and volunteers do for our libraries. Library workers play a critical role in our communities. At Multnomah County Library, employees across the organization keep the library running.

Multnomah County Library offers library services in Vietnamese, Chinese, Russian and Spanish. The library’s Vietnamese team helps patrons find materials and library services in Vietnamese.

The Spanish language team collaborates with schools, community partners and nonprofits to connect with patrons in and out of the library.

Multnomah County Library’s Tween Council provides youth ages 9-12 the opportunity to advise the library on services for tweens. Youth can socialize with peers and earn volunteer credit at the same time!

Multnomah County Library's Indigenous and teen services teams will welcome acclaimed Native author Cynthia Leitich Smith (Mvskoke) to two high schools.

This Pride Month, the library is recognizing the LGBTQ+ (Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, Transgender, Queer) communities. Through the sharing of their own experiences, talents and advocacy, they’ve become influential voices for our time.

Central Library, beloved by the community since 1913, is now open with modern enhancements for you to enjoy. This historic building maintains its charm while offering new updates to better serve you. The refreshed Central Library is now brighter and more open, with new modern features for library users.

On May 19, Multnomah County Library broke ground on one of its most historic building projects, North Portland Library.

The library’s new Operations Center is complete! The building is the first of the library’s capitol building projects, funded by the 2020 voter-approved bond, to open on time and within budget.

The theme for Black History Month 2024 is “African Americans and the Arts.” Celebrate this year’s theme with these suggestions.

The first Juneteenth in Portland was led by Clara Peoples in 1945.

This March, kids can learn how math can be fun by participating in March Mathness!