Hillsboro Public Library - History

History

The first library in Hillsboro opened on December 9, 1914, when the Carnegie City Library was dedicated. This was one of 2,500 plus libraries built by money donated by Andrew Carnegie around the world, and the only public one in Washington County, Oregon (the Carnegie Library at Pacific University was a private, academic library). The land at Northeast Second and Lincoln Streets where the library was built, was also donated to the city. Designed by architect Ernest Kroner, the $10,000 building was constructed by the firm Book & Engeldinger.

In 1925, the library had a circulation 19,445 and a total of 4,855 volumes. Total fines charged that year were $92.28, while expenses totaled about $250 for the year to maintain the grounds, pay for heating, and pay for water and electricity. The Friends of the Library group was started on February 6, 1968. In May 1971, this group began campaigning for a new library building, including paying some of the early costs for designs, with voters later approving a bond measure to pay for the new facility. On January 21, 1975, a new library opened to replace the Carnegie building, located at Shute Park. The new building was designed by Martin, Soderstrom & Matteson. Circulation at the library totaled about 130,000 in 1975 with around 40,000 books. The year after the Shute Park location opened a library was opened in the Tanasbourne area on the east side of Hillsboro. In 1990, the city took over those operations, moving it in 1996 from the former Tanasbourne Mall location.

In 1998, a Books-by-Rail branch was opened at the Hillsboro Central MAX Light Rail station in a 168-square-foot (15.6 m2) space. Two times in 2002 and again in 2004, the city had property tax levies on the ballot to build a new $25 million library. Plans called for building a 60,000-square-foot (5,600 m2) building on Cornell Road at 206th in the Tanasbourne area to replace the Tanasbourne branch. The levies to build the new library and remodel the Shute Park location failed. The first measure in 2002 received majority support at the voting booth, but lost due to low voter turnout and the state’s double-majority law.

The library closed the Books by Rail branch in 2003 due to a reduced budget. Hillsboro cut their library funding by $350,000 that year. In 2005, the city decided on an alternate plan of buying an existing building and renovating it at a total cost of $13 million, with $1 million of the funds coming from private donations.

The city purchased a two-story, 77,000-square-foot (7,200 m2) office building on Northeast Brookwood Parkway near the Hillsboro Airport for $6.8 million in September 2005. With the opening of the new location in a more central area of Hillsboro, the Tanasbourne location was closed with its inventory moved to the new main library. The new library location opened in May 2007 after the building was renovated. Plans call for opening the second floor of the main library and renovation of the Shute Park branch in 2013 and 2014.