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PORTLAND, Ore. — February 1, 2024 — Multnomah County Library invites the community to join in celebrating and honoring Black History Month. Visit a library location through February 29 to learn about events, book displays and activities.

Black-owned newspapers date back to before the Civil War. Even after Black people began publishing newspapers, there were areas of the country where people still communicated in secret to avoid violence and suspicion. In much of the country, Black people, especially enslaved Black people, lived under governments that made it illegal for them to read or write. When Black people wrote, read and published their own newspapers, it was an act of vital resistance against oppression.

Thanks to the support of Multnomah County voters in 2020, Multnomah County Library is making history with major transformations. Learn more about the library’s building projects and explore the library’s history in more detail through the Oregon Encyclopedia’s entry for the Library Association of Portland.

Located in North Portland in a historically Black neighborhood, Albina Library has been a beloved part of the community.

The 6,000 square foot Troutdale Library building is located in the Cherry Park Market Center. The library opened in 2010 and was constructed with Forest Stewardship Council-certified Douglas fir ceiling and wall panels. It has eco-friendly paint, carpet and furniture, and other sustainable features.

Portland’s historic Central Library in downtown first opened in September 1913. The original architects were Doyle, Patterson & Beach. Notable features throughout the library include; the bronze tree in the Children’s Library by Dana Lynn Louis and Barbara Eisworth, the black granite grand staircase and the massive light fixture in the second floor by Larry Kirkland, and the John Wilson room.

Belmont Library has served its Southeast Portland neighborhood since 1924, when community leaders raised funds by public subscription. This was the first time in Portland that a community had built its own neighborhood library and presented it to the association debt-free. The original architect was Jamieson Parker Architects.