Library Operations Center Wins Slot in 2024 Library Design Showcase

Multnomah County Library’s Operations Center has been named one of the featured locations in American Libraries’ 2024 Library Design Showcase. As the annual celebration of new and renovated library buildings throughout North America, the design showcase is an opportunity to show how recently opened library facilities are constantly progressing and growing to meet the needs of the community. 

Nowhere is that community focus more evident than the brand new operations center which opened in January 2024.

As the first real estate acquisition and first project to break ground, the operations center is a vital part of Multnomah County Library’s work. It’s where new books and materials come into the library system, where many items placed on hold are sorted and transferred and where specialized materials and services for outreach to new immigrant communities, schools, retirement communities, shelters and other settings are centered.

Designed for outreach

Automated Materials Handling (AMH) at the new Operations Center. Photo courtesy of Bob Kerns Photography
With space to house 500,000 library materials and over 60,000 linear feet of shelving space for community outreach materials, the center houses the largest shared collection for Multnomah County Library. These items are easy to find and place on hold through the library’s catalog for quick delivery to your favorite library location. Additionally, the centralized location provides an opportunity to better serve the community through the library’s outreach programs in schools, child care centers, shelter and transitional housing and other settings.

The building also houses a large, 65-bin Automated Materials Handling system, which uses RFID technology to identify, sort and route individual items. Staff are able to check in returns by the crate rather than by individual item, which means patrons receive their materials much faster at their preferred library location. 

While most of the Operations Center is not open to the public, Friends of the Library runs a public store called Rose City Reads. This new location carries items that were previously sold at the annual Friends of the Library spring and fall book sales along with retired library books (similar to those found at the former Title Wave Used Bookstore) set in a new, expanded space.

The Operations Center will be LEED Gold certified, one of the highest levels of energy efficiency awarded to buildings and a county standard.