Library feature: Multnomah Main Library, Portland

Portland is a really fun city to visit. Public transit is easy, the city's very walkable, gardens are everywhere.  There's Powell's City of Books, the weirdest and most wonderful warehouse of words there is.  And there's the Multnomah Public Library, the oldest library system west of the Mississippi.

The main branch is in the Pearl district.  The day I visited, I didn't have my camera with me, which is unfortunate because the architecture of this old building is wonderful to look at.  It was built in 1913, I'm told, and has always housed the library.  The main floor features Scagliola faux marble columns, original to the building.  Although Scagliola columns developed as a cheaper alternative to marble inlays, they were still expensive enough in 1913 that only the first floor had them.  In the 1990s renovation of the library, artist Phillip Emmerling carefully handpainted the Scagliola pattern on columns on the second and third floors to match the original columns on the ground floor.  Original pendant light fixtures have been retained in some areas.

The library is punctuated with wonderful art.  Two striking pieces in the children's room are a bronze tree whose trunk is a tangled tapestry of Pacific Northwest nature and Dewey Decimal subjects; and a wood bas relief of Alice in Wonderland that was a WPA project in 1930.

I love that this library houses one of the largest collections of sheet music.  The rare book room is open to the public.  Inside you'll find such things as an original Audubon and illuminated Bibles.

Amazing.

Today's young readers love Junie B Jones or Heloise, but the eccentric kindergartner of my childhood was Ramona Quimby.  And this is what makes the Multnomah Main Branch really cool--Ramona's creator, Beverly Cleary, did an internship here!  The library's children's section is named for her, and the collection includes translations of her books in many languages--even Finnish! Better yet--Ramona's actual neighborhood is nearby.  The library gives out walking-tour maps, so you can walk over and explore all the areas featured in the Ramona The Pest books. How fun is that? You can see where Ramona's galoshes got stuck in the mud or see Westminster Church, where she played a sheep in the Christmas program.  And the Hollywood Branch of the Multnomah County Library is the stand-in for the Glenwood Library, where Beezus checked out _Big Steve_ (and Ramona colored all over it!)

It's been years since I went on an adventure with Ramona.  I might pick up one of her books next time I'm at my own local library!  Meanwhile, I tucked a few postcards into various books in the Multnomah Main Library Beverly Cleary Children's Room as well as the Popular Library Young Adult collection.