North Portland Library

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The North Portland Library has served the community for over a century from its location in the heart of a historically Black neighborhood that remains one of the most diverse in the city. Thanks to Multnomah County voters, this historic Carnegie-era library is being gently renovated and thoughtfully expanded, preserving its legacy as a community hub for generations to come.

LEVER, together with Multnomah County Library and Noll & Tam Architects, lead a responsive design process guided by community input. The rigorous engagement effort encompassed over 75 meetings, including large public events, focus groups, interviews with community leaders, and a youth design cohort. The library's design, reflecting community feedback, features a vibrant new addition that will house the Black Cultural Center, a flexible new addition dedicated to Black culture, history, and creativity. In keeping with community priorities, the historic library’s character is preserved and updated in ways that help it meet contemporary needs including new lounge areas, an expanded children’s area, updated flex spaces with increased seating and work areas, and an accessible outdoor walkway with garden seating.

If the library is the community’s living room, the Black Cultural Center (BCC) is its social heart. The community vision for the BCC imagines an active multipurpose space that honors the Black community's history in the neighborhood and creates a vibrant, flexible venue for highlighting Black storytelling and creativity. Its location and expansive windows provide passersby with a clear view into the library, inviting the neighborhood in and making events visible. This vision is further realized through the inclusion of interior furniture by Black designers Ini Archibong and Mac Collins and an art wall by Oregonian Sade DuBois.

The window is wrapped with wood carvings of legendary afro-futurist artists like Octavia Butler and Sun-Ra.

The deep window bench and window facing Killingsworth creates a space for people to be seen.

To highlight the Black Cultural Center and make sure its physical location reflects the important position it holds in the culture of the Albina community, several moves were made in the design. First, a new portal was created in the wall of the reading room to create a visual connection from the front door to the entry of the BCC. Next, a new accessible path was created outside that allows access to what used to be the side door of the library. This creates a direct path into the Black Cultural Center from the exterior. Lastly, the entry to the BCC is marked with an art piece by Kayin Talton-Davis. The afro-futurist wall mural shows historic images of Albina residents and is highlighted with gold planets + stars that catch the eye. This space was previously thought of as a side entry but has been made prominent to draw people to into the space.

The center of the library has been transformed into an expanded children's area. With books + interactive educational installations, families not only have more room to spend time comfortably in the library, they also have access to the shared reading porch that connects the Black Cultural Center to the Carnegie.