The Gresham Library, also known as the Gresham Regional Library, is a branch of the Multnomah County Library in Gresham in the U.S. state of Oregon.[1] The branch offers the Multnomah County Library catalog of two million books, periodicals and other materials.[1]
| Gresham Library | |
|---|---|
 East and north exterior in 2012 | |
  | |
| General information | |
| Location | Gresham, Oregon |
| Country | United States |
| Coordinates | 45°30′00″N 122°25′59″W / 45.50000°N 122.43306°W |
| Opened | January 9, 1990 |
| Owner | Multnomah County Library |
| Technical details | |
| Floor area | 20,000 square feet (1,900 m2) |
| Design and construction | |
| Architecture firm | SERA Architects |
| Main contractor | Todd Construction |
| Renovating team | |
| Architect(s) | Thomas Hacker and Associates |
| Renovating firm | Andersen Construction Company |
| Website | |
| Gresham Library | |
History
editThe building occupied by the library was constructed in 1989 and opened in January 1990.[2] It replaced a 1913 Tudor style building at 410 N. Main Street, which had been a Carnegie library.[3] The new building was paid for by a $2.1 million fund-raising campaign designed in part by then-Governor Neil Goldschmidt, including $1.7 million serial levy approved by Multnomah County voters in 1987 and a projected $200,000 from the sale of the original building.[2][4] Following the levy, three attempts to buy suitable property that could be developed within the $1.7 million approved had failed by mid-1988, leading to the consideration of several more expensive options.[5]
The new building is 13 times the size of the original library,[2] and was designed as a "superbranch" to "usher in a new era in library services in both Gresham and the entire county system."[4] Upgrades included a computer lab/media center, a community room, a teen study area, a children's room, a conference room, skylights, and a tower to help it blend in with the surrounding shopping center.[4]
With space for 75,000 volumes, the 20,000-square-foot (1,900 m2) library building was designed as the Multnomah County system's second-largest, behind Portland's Central Library.[4] The original library building was purchased by the Gresham Historical Society, which turned it into a museum as well as housing its main headquarters there.[3]
References
edit- ^ a b "Gresham Library". Multnomah County Library. Retrieved August 22, 2012.
- ^ a b c Ruble, Web (January 8, 1990). "Boy, 8, Earns Spotlight at Library Dedication". The Oregonian.
- ^ a b Pickett, Nelson (June 6, 1989). "Historical Society Makes Offer on Gresham Library". The Oregonian.
- ^ a b c d Ruble, Web (September 28, 1989). "Gresham Library Will Be a 'Superbranch'". The Oregonian.
- ^ Pickett, Nelson (June 30, 1988). "Five Locations Considered for New Gresham Library". Oregonian.