Lisa Standley of Gresham reads more than 200 books a year: historical fiction, romance, crime and more.

Naturally, she’s come to rely on her local library to fill that demand and remembers just how cramped library space used to be in her city.

Standley was one of several hundred people gathered in Gresham on Saturday to see the opening of the brand new East County Library, located across the street from Gresham City Hall.

It’s perhaps the most ambitious building funded by Multnomah County’s Library Capital Bond Project, which has touched every library in the area with new or renovated buildings. The East County location has an imposing 95,000 square feet of space, with beautiful wood decorating the ceiling and much of the walls. Standley was impressed.

“This wood is gorgeous,” she said. “It’s light and rich and textured, and the honeycomb piece of the ceiling is just amazing.”

Director of Libraries Annie Lewis said that while Multnomah County had one of the busiest library systems in the country, most locations were very small for the amount of foot traffic.

Story time for children and meeting rooms filled up quickly.

“Our libraries were really not responsive to how our community really wanted to use the building,” Lewis said.

Renovations began after county residents voted to approve the library bond project in 2020.

In the years since, the county has rebuilt or refurbished every library location to the tune of more than $400 million. Some were simple remodels, while other buildings were gutted and redesigned completely.

East County Library, for example, sits on a former parking lot used for a nearby MAX stop. It comes complete with a 200-person auditorium and an audiovisual studio for residents to use.

Lewis said a key tenet of the bond project was providing more library space to parts of the county that have historically been underserved. While 40% of county residents live east of I-205, the area previously had a small fraction of the county’s total library space.

“We know that libraries, especially larger ones, are drivers of economic development, and they result in increased foot traffic,” Lewis said. “They improve liability in the neighborhood.”

That wasn’t lost on those visiting the location on Saturday. Kyle Blair of Gresham visited the library with his son, Richie.

His family has always used the library, but he was impressed with the scale of the building and the amenities inside.

“This place seems like it’s going to be like a third place environment for us to hang out, socialize and have fun,” Blair said.

That’s exactly what library officials have been wanting.

Director Lewis said that — with so much information available quickly online — libraries have had to consider what needs their buildings can meet in the future.

Rather than just a place for reading and research, libraries in the future will become a gathering place for the surrounding community, she said.

“I just want to emphasize to our community, especially people who may not have been to a library in a long time, that these facilities are not only about books, but so much more,” Lewis said.

Two more renovated libraries — St. John’s and Belmont in Portland — are scheduled to open this summer.

News Source : https://www.opb.org/article/2026/05/18/gresham-east-county-library-opens/