Northwest Library: A transformed space in Slabtown

Northwest Library has moved to a brand new location, going from a small, leased space at 2300 NW Thurman to 2030 NW Pettygrove Street. This new location is approximately 11,000 square feet, more than twice the size of the former library at 4,700 square feet.

Multnomah County Library is growing library spaces as part of a November 2020 capital bond. As part of this work, in 2021, the library purchased the new Northwest Library building, which sits on NW Overton Street to the south and on NW Pettygrove Street to the north. The library and its partners renovated and transformed this building into a brand new space for the community as part of the library’s goal to reduce costs and uncertainty related to leased spaces.

Northwest Library has long been a small but beloved location for Northwest Portland, and its expansion means more space for the community. That’s why insights from community members have guided the vision and purpose for the space, with the design team gathering feedback from senior citizens, families, teens, people experiencing homelessness and the neighborhood association. Gifts to The Library Foundation supported an interactive early learning space, a mobile creative learning lab, and a study space for teens at Northwest Library.

New features include:

• A large early learning and play space for children and their families.
• A teen area with space for technology, homework and creative expression.
• A larger, more diverse collection of books.
• Five small community rooms for study, homework and small group meetings; one medium and one large room for group meetings, library programs and presentations.
• Updated wi-fi and technology, including more laptops, iPads and creative software for patron use.
• New Automated Materials Handling system, ensuring materials get to patrons much faster.
• Modern self checkout stations to provide a better patron experience.
• New art that represents the community in partnership with the Regional Arts and Culture Council including:
  • A suspended artwork by artist Christine Clark
• Artwork from the Portland Street Art Alliance including:
  • A room-spanning mural that covers the adult seating area, teen area and kids’ area by artist Kyler Martz
  • Mural in the gallery seating area by artist Nia Musiba

Centering the community 

Northwest Library has been a vital center of the community for decades. To amplify the community’s ideas, the library worked with the design team to table at existing community events and host focus groups, public meetings and public surveys. We engaged over 1,700 people during more than 19 activities. Community members cast 1,189 votes for Northwest’s color palette, with the winning theme being beautiful blues inspired by the Vaux’s Swift migration. The color palette reflects the sky and sunset as the birds would funnel into the chimney at Chapman Elementary School.

Project teams held paid affinity focus groups with neighborhood elders, families, teens and social service providers and clients. The local neighborhood association was also engaged in the design process.

Learning and playing in the kids area

Northwest Library is continuing the commitment to early learning and development with a 919 square foot kids area. This includes an interactive learning and play installation developed by the Burgeon Group, the premier firm designing, building, and installing creative early learning spaces in public libraries. With an engaging nest theme that evokes the Vaux’s Swift migration, kids can let their imagination soar. The updated kids area will also have technology and seating for youth and their caregivers to learn and play side-by-side.

A new teen area

Northwest Library’s new 275 square foot teen area is a special addition. Guided by teen input, teens will have access to an area where they can study, play games using state-of-the-art video equipment on a 75” screen and just be in community with other teens. Teens have an opportunity to plug-in (or unplug!) in a new area complete with artwork from artist Kyler Martz, which was inspired by an art workshop held with local teens. Participants shared a desire for artwork that is tranquil with a connection to nature.

Places for connection

With multiple community rooms available for patron use, people can connect much easier than before at Northwest Library. Going from one meeting room at the old location to seven new community rooms for a total of about 1,300 square feet after construction in the new building, the library is excited to expand these places for connection. Overall, the community rooms consist of one large, one medium and five small community rooms. Whether attending a library event, a community meeting, or just needing a quiet room for a one-on-one conversation, these spaces are for the public.

To increase connection, all community rooms in Northwest boast audio/visual-equipped spaces (A/V-equipped) to accommodate advanced meeting needs and collaboration. Need to connect remotely for a job interview or host a presentation? Northwest has you covered! All of the meeting rooms support state-of-the-art presentation and video conferencing when connected to a library-supplied laptop.

Additionally, these community rooms are even more accessible thanks to assistive listening systems (ALS) which amplify sounds from lectures, presentations, storytimes, and events, allowing hard-of-hearing patrons to fully engage with library programs and resources. Northwest offers assistive listening systems via two different methods: a wireless system that allows patrons to use library provided receivers or their own smartphones and a portable offering which includes a microphone for the speaker and a listening device for the audience.

Northwest is yet another library location to introduce Multnomah County’s new fiber network, providing increased internet speeds and bandwidth. The building boasts a strong wi-fi signal throughout.

Diversity in building

A wide range of tradespeople, experts and construction workers with diverse backgrounds built Northwest Library. Over the life of the project, 320 trades workers from the local area built this library with great pride.

• Apprentice utilization: 21.4%
• Apprentice-level woman: 38.9%
• Apprentice-level minority: 64.8%
• Journey-level minority: 35.4%
• Journey-level woman:12.4%

Not only was there a diverse workforce building the new Northwest, the companies who employed these workers also represented a wide range of communities.

• Women Business Enterprise (WBE): 21.3%
• Veteran Business Enterprise (VBE): 6.7%
• Minority-owned Business Enterprise (MBE): 1.5%
• Emerging Small Business (ESB): 0.3%

Artwork for all

As part of these building projects, each major location gains engaging new artwork. One of these exciting art pieces is thanks to the Multnomah County Percent for Art Program which is led by the Regional Arts & Culture Council (RACC). RACC advocates for equity, inclusion and access within the arts and connects artists and creatives to opportunities throughout the region.

Portland-based sculptor and installation artist Christine Clark has created a multi-piece suspended artwork throughout the library’s clerestory area. Inspired by the rich history of Slabtown and the Vaux’s Swifts, Christine’s powder-coated and mild steel artwork celebrates the people, waterways, and traditions that shaped the neighborhood and the larger Northwest area. Her suspended basket-like forms honor the Native weaving traditions of creating and selling baskets. The green leaves that accompany the multiple elements of the artworks symbolize the crops that were grown by Chinese immigrants in the late 1800s, cultivating vegetables and other produce that were sold locally. The interwoven blue strands that sinew their way throughout the clerestory area and around the baskets evoke the creeks that once flowed throughout Slabtown as well as the flight patterns of the Vaux’s Swifts as they descend into Chapman School. Christine’s hope is that this suspended artwork will allow the library users to look up, reflect, and connect to the past while being present in many of the library’s gathering spaces.

Throughout the room-spanning Bound for Slabtown mural, which covers the adult seating area, teen area and kids area, artist Kyler Martz explores the transformative power of reading and nature through the migratory journey of the Vaux’s Swift. By observing the surreal transformation of trees into books, books into birds, the viewer is encouraged to reflect on their relationship with nature and the ability to grow and change.

In the gallery seating area, artist Nia Musiba created this mural, drawing inspiration from Oregon’s natural landscape and its vibrant flora and fauna. The piece takes a colorful, abstract approach to depicting elements of the natural world, abstracted views of irises, ferns, Oregon swallowtails, Vaux’s swifts, oxalis, and more. It serves as a reminder to enjoy the beauty and balance of the environments that surround us.

A resilient building

Hennebery Eddy Architects led the design for Northwest. Howard S. Wright, A Balfour Beatty Company, is the General Contractor. Northwest Library is on track to be LEED Silver certified. Northwest reduced its impact on the environment by reusing much of the existing building structure and facades. The building also boasts a seismic upgrade, highly efficient new mechanical and plumbing systems, all LED lighting, as well as low-emitting materials which contribute to improved indoor air quality.

Multnomah County Library is excited to present this larger, transformed Northwest Library to the community.