History Repeats!

Nothing better can happen to a well-maintained, gracious historic building than returning to its original use.

We should stage a huge celebration, then, for reopening of the Albina Branch of the Multnomah County Library, scheduled to occur on July 1.  This magnificent Spanish-Renaissance style building with stucco walls and red tile roof at 216 N.E. Knott St. served as the Albina branch from its completion in 1912 until 1960, when library officials felt it necessary to move to a more densely-populated neighborhood.

Most recently, the 1912 building has served as the Title Wave Bookstore where the library sells unneeded or donated books.  Unlike many public buildings, this one has been nicely maintained, right down to its original interior oak woodwork and decorative plaster ceiling ornaments. Perhaps the hiatus from “active service” saved it from the egregious attempts at remodeling that afflict so many public buildings.

 

"Timely"  interior design

(We must take exception to the boringly pedestrian fluorescent lighting tubes that replaced the original fixtures  That is a relatively cheap “fix” should someone be so inspired.)

The history of the building is just as interesting as its timeless architecture.  The branch was the second of seven in Multnomah County funded by grants from Andrew Carnegie between 1911 and 1922.  Carnegie’s deal was that he would pay for construction of free public libraries if the recipients provided the land, books and staffing.

Carnegie declined to help pay for the Main Library downtown.  He wanted his libraries in neighborhoods, where young people could improve their lives by free access to information, and where immigrants could learn English and how to manage life in America. (Carnegie's family had come from Scotland when he was a teenager.)  In all, he built some 1400 libraries in the United States.  Some communities rejected his offer, based largely on a 1892 Homestead strike-breaking effort that led to 10 fatalities near the Pittsburgh steel mill. 

 

The original reading room (Multnomah County Library photo)

The unschooled Carnegie had built his fortune in the steel industry, where his profits were generated by cutting costs to be a price leader and by ruthless employment practices.  By the late 1800s, he had amassed an estate hundreds of millions of dollars.  In 1889 he published “The Gospel of Wealth,” in which he said super-wealthy people should distribute their assets while they were alive to improve the public good.

Carnegie kept his word.

He knew he and his staff could not supervise all the building projects, so local architects were given the jobs.  However, Carnegie did provide suggested floor plans and two key requirements: The buildings had to have stairways to the main entrances, so visitors would feel they were being “elevated,” and there had to be prominent exterior light fixtures so visitors would feel “enlightened.”

Carnegie's donations had a major impact on the nation's library systems.  Many libraries, including Portland in the early years, were funded by subscriptions paid by library users.  Carnegie insisted that his libraries be open to the public without cost.  His libraries also pioneered the "self service" concept in which library users could make their own selections from shelves and check them out at a central desk.  This system reduced employee costs and let readers choose their own books without having to ask a librarian to select them from behind counters. 

"Elevated and enlightened" 

A young Portland architect on his way to greater prominence, Ellis F. Lawrence, designed the Albina branch.  It was one of some 500 projects he helped design during a busy career that included almost 42 years as the founder and dean of the University of Oregon’s School of Architecture and Allied Arts.  Lawrence lived in Portland and commuted to Eugene by train a few days per week until his death in 1946.

Two significant changes have occurred at the Albina branch over the years.  The library system built an addition at the rear of the building to create space for book-binding.  Carnegie's insistence on the entry stairway decades later led to the addition of an entry ramp for people with disabilities.  Neither the rear addition nor the ramp impair the original elegant architectural presence. 

Restoration of the Albina building to library use means that three of the seven Carnegie-funded buildings are still functioning as libraries.  The others are North Portland and St. Johns, both nicely restored in recent years.  Two others, East Portland and Arleta, were sold by the county and still exist but have been converted to other purposes. The Gresham library is now operated as a museum by the Gresham Historical Society and last one, South Portland, erected in 1922 well after Carnegie's death, is a neighborhood office staffed by Portland Parks and Recreation.

The county based its decision to  return to the Knott Street building in part on cost savings.  It no longer will be paying for leased space for a small branch in a shopping mall at N.E. 15th Ave. and Fremont St.  The real value, however, is returning a beautiful and historic building to a higher and better public use.

FURTHERMORE:

Time is slowly running out to comment on the Park Bureau's tentative master plan for the South Park Blocks.  If you prefer to see the blocks left uncluttered, please review this website and click on the survey box.  This is our only chance to speak out before a final plan goes tot he City 
Council.

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