The Capitol Hill Library is a branch of the

Multnomah County Library Multnomah County Library is the public library system serving Portland and Multnomah County, Oregon, United States. A continuation of the Library Association of Portland, established in 1864, the system now has 19 branches offering books, magaz ...

, in the West Portland Park neighborhood of

Portland Portland most commonly refers to: * Portland, Oregon, the largest city in the state of Oregon, in the Pacific Northwest region of the United States * Portland, Maine, the largest city in the state of Maine, in the New England region of the northeas ...

in the U.S. state of

Oregon Oregon () is a U.S. state, state in the Pacific Northwest region of the Western United States. The Columbia River delineates much of Oregon's northern boundary with Washington (state), Washington, while the Snake River delineates much of it ...

. The branch offers the Multnomah County Library catalog of two million books, periodicals and other materials. Capitol Hill and the Holgate branch are of a similar design.

History

Until the 1960s, Portland's system of public libraries relied heavily on the downtown Central Library supplemented by small collections at many locations in outlying neighborhoods . As population densities changed, the library board responded by establishing larger collections in fewer locations and creating new branch libraries. From 1967 through 1969, the board worked to establish a new branch near Capitol Hill in the West Portland Park neighborhood. The architectural plan was the same as that of the Holgate Library. Although the library opened part-time for a month in early 1972, it did not open officially until December 5, 1972, aided by federal

revenue sharing Revenue sharing is the distribution of revenue, the total amount of income generated by the sale of goods and services among the stakeholders or contributors. It should not be confused with profit shares, in which scheme only the profit is share ...

funds. Budget crises affected the library through the 1970s and early 1980s, and Capitol Hill sometimes operated on reduced hours and book budgets through 1984. In that year, voters approved a three-year serial levy (tax) to help fund the library system. Subsequent temporary levies supported the system through November 2012, when voters approved a permanent levy. In 1996, Multnomah County voters passed a bond measure to renovate some branches and to upgrade technology across the system. Closed for renovation in mid-1998, Capitol Hill reopened on February 16, 1999. The architect on the original building was Allen, McMath and Hawkins, and the renovation architect was Thomas Hacker and Associates. Capitol Hill has a floor area of with a capacity of 20,000 volumes.

References

{{Authority control 1972 establishments in Oregon Libraries in Portland, Oregon Library buildings completed in 1972 Multnomah County Library Libraries established in 1972 Southwest Portland, Oregon

History

See also

References