Q – Whatever happened to the Montavilla Branch Library?
A – I’ve often been asked this question. If you go looking for Montavilla’s branch library —as I did— you may have trouble finding it. But —believe it or not— the building still exists.
The Montavilla Branch Library closed in November 1981 because of Multnomah County Libraries’ funding problems. There was an attempt to fund the Montavilla and Lombard branch libraries through a levy, but Portland voters turned it down, forcing those two branches to close.
The Oregon State University Extension Service leased the Montavilla building until 2003. In 2005, the Multnomah County Commission voted to sell the site despite a proposal made by the “Save Montavilla Library” group, which offered to run it as volunteers.
Considering the effort it took to establish Montavilla’s branch library, this was a sad moment in Montavilla’s history. The community efforts that eventually resulted in a branch library date back to 1906. That year, the Multnomah County Library (MCL) opened local reading rooms in several communities, including Montavilla. The MCL would provide books and a librarian for each reading room, but the communities had to supply the room. Montavilla’s mothers and teachers jumped on the opportunity and raised enough funds to rent a space on Stark Street. The Montavilla Reading Room opened in 1907.
In 1911, the MCL upgraded all Portland reading rooms to sub-branch status, meaning communities no longer had to pay for the library space. Wanting a purpose-built library, Montavilla and neighboring Mt. Tabor campaigned for a Carnegie library in Montavilla. The campaign failed, but in November 1912, the City Library Association promised Montavilla a new, permanent branch library. That, too, did not happen. Instead, the Montavilla library moved into the brick building at 422 SE 81st Avenue (now the Miyamoto Sushi restaurant). Needing more space, the branch added the building next door in 1913.
A branch library building had to wait until 1935. It was the middle of the Great Depression, but creative thinking and determination made it happen. In 1934, the Montavilla Kiwanis Club kicked off a campaign for a new branch library. The City of Portland donated the site. The Library Association provided cash. SERA (Oregon’s State Emergency Relief Administration) contributed the labor. Portland architect Herman Brookman designed the building. When the building was completed in late 1934, Girl Scouts and Boy Scouts helped to move 5,000 books from the old branch library to the new one at 211 SE 80th Avenue just south of SE Ash Street. With a formal ceremony, the branch library opened on September 3rd, 1935. And the Library Association declared in its 1935 annual report that the Montavilla branch library was the outstanding achievement of the year.
After the Montavilla library closed in 1981, the Oregon State University Extension Service leased it until 2003. Then, the building lay vacant for two years. In 2005, the Multnomah County Commission voted to sell it despite a proposal from the “Save Montavilla Library” group.
The nonprofit Unlimited Choices —a housing rehabilitation service— acquired the property and altered the library building to meet its needs. The library was lifted to make room for a new ground story, and a large dormer was inserted above the entrance door. So, technically, the Montavilla Branch Library building is still there, but the additions make it hidden.
This is part of a new segment at Montavilla News called Montavilla History Questions Answered. If you have questions about Montavilla’s past that you’d like answered, local historian Patricia Sanders will investigate your question. Please email your questions to history@montavilla.net and we may feature it alongside Patricia Sanders’ research in a future post on this page.