For more than a century, the Multnomah County Library has
done an admirable job maintaining and preserving three neighborhood libraries
that were built with funds donated by Andrew Carnegie.
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| New lights... |
Forgive me, then, for quibbling about the replacement of old light fixtures on the ground floor with skinny circular LED fixtures suspended by thin bare wires. The new lights detract from the historic qualities of an attractive building designed in the Jacobethan style by architect Joseph Jaccoberger.
...versus the earlier fixtures
A devout Catholic, Jaccoberger designed many churches
including St. Mary’s Cathedral and Assumption Catholic Church, in addition to
many large Portland homes of the early 20th Century. The North Portland Library carries a distinct
religious feel with the main reading room essentially serving as a nave with
magnificent wooden trusses.
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| Dark brick addition is the new community room |
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| Inside the new community room |
Carnegie used wealth from his fortune-making steel company
to build more than 250 public libraries. He funded seven neighborhood libraries in
Multnomah County. Three, North Portland,
Albina and St. Johns, remain as branch libraries. Two others, East Portland and Arleta, were
eventually sold to businesses. The
former Gresham branch now operates as a museum and the South Portland branch
was converted to a Parks Bureau office.
As we look back on Carnegie, it is amazing in this era to think of a fabulously wealthy American entrepreneur who decided he wanted to provide a public benefit with his blessings. His blessings live on.
