Multnomah County Library – Gregory Heights

Nice little neighborhood library.

CUTE, TINY LIBRARY!
I stumbled upon the Multnomah County Library since there was no Starbucks within the area. It’s hard for me to study at libraries because I can’t snack. Sometimes I feel bad sneaking in food and noshing on my granola bar (or whatever I have packed) would be considered blasphemy. So I made sure I ate something in my car prior to going into the library.
Upon walking in, I didn’t realize how small the place was! It’s probably the smallest library I’ve been to!
PERKS
+ several study tables with outlets to charge your laptop/​phone/​tablet/​ipad/​etc.
+ lots of lighting
+ clean bathrooms (but you need to grab the key from the info desk)
+ shelves are well-​organized and clean
+ pieces of artwork are hung on the walls (paintings mostly)
+ they have story time sessions for children (perhaps I came on the wrong day)
+ computers available for internet
+ printing and photocopying options available
DIRTS
— noisy! (due to the kids running around and/​or crying)
— small parking lot (about 10 cars can fit and 2 of those spaces are for handicapped; but there is additional parking by the neighborhood streets)
It is okay to consume a beverage (water/​soda/​juice) while you’re studying in this library. I had my water bottle and wasn’t shunned for drinking my H2O.
This is a cute, neighborhood, library. I can see why it was busy when I went. From old to young, the place had a mixed generation hanging out at the library. If I lived around here, I wouldn’t mind studying here.
Unilocal 2013 100+ Reviews Challenge (going for 200!) — Review #129

I’ve moved away from the Roseway branch, but I still stop there whenever I want to return to library heaven: easy parking, kind librarians, quiet environs, and nice little selection of everything I want to read. If you visit often, the librarians remember you, making you feel like a much-​loved «regular», which adds even more to the Gregory Heights experience.
Gregory Heights, I miss you. But I will be back!

My local library is one of my favorite things about living in my neighborhood. It reminds me SO MUCH of the little place my parents took us to when we were kids. It’s such a great flashback. The selection is small but the new release and hold areas are the perfect size and the interaction of so many peolpe of different cultures is amazing. Just yesterday I counted five different languages being spoken around me whne I was picking up my holds, awesome!

I upped this library one star because every section of books is clearly marked. It’s a better-​than-​average Multnomah County (small) branch library. They have both Vietnamese and Spanish language materials. The «teen» section is clearly marked and there is information about other events outside the library.
Cool things this library does that I’d hate to see lost with the upcoming possible budget cuts:
a) English speakers and Spanish speakers getting together in a group on Monday afternoons. What an interesting way to practice learning a new language.
b) Access to computers and media in an area of town that has few entertainment and educational venues. The Internet terminals and «Chromebooks» at this branch are heavily used.
c) Great reading and studying areas in the branch away from the children that enter the library (see review of Woodstock for reference). The childrens’ area at this branch is pretty large as well and I’m sure includes materials reflective of the different languages spoken and written in this part of the city.
This library is also one of the branches in the system open on Sunday. Right now the street outside (Sandy Blvd.) is under deep reconstruction so you have to find your way into the neighborhood and then route around to 80^th Ave. to access the parking lot. If you overshoot by one block like I did, you can park on the street and there are usually a few spaces available. The bus stop outside is also closed right now, so you’ll need to try an alternate location to catch the #12. Branch appears to be fully accessible to those in wheelchairs.

We’ve been going there for several decades, my boys used to walk there almost everyday, when they were in grade school to bring books to read, specially during school break. My boys went there for activities, and the books we brought home were enough to last a week.
I love it when we went there to vote, I was a member of the election board. My neighbor was doing that, and I asked her how she got in. She told me to fill my name down on a card & handed me one, and the following year, they have a supervisor that retired and I was instant supervisor until Mail-​in Ballots got in my way!
Dh went there to read the newspaper, since we stopped subscribing, and I did a lot of research on the net, while there. .. . can order books for delivery from other branches.
Since it’s so close from home, I sometimes go there to learn new tricks. I learned how to do the fabric Japanese flowers during one of their Asian week, and in return I am now helping raise money for the Japanese Tsunami AND teaching women from my church make them for our bazaar. How cool is that!
We have a lot of Asians now in my neighborhood, so Vietnamese speaking have been added, and other Asian activities.
I have a neighbor who I passed by when I go to the library, who have lived in the neighborhood after we moved in, who HAVE NOT been inside the library, not even once.. .. .only to vote. Well, guess what? She had missed so much. .. but last Monday, dh saw her there! It is not too late to enjoy what’s out there, and we paid for that library’s remodeling. Another improvement they did, was the bathroom. Not just anyone can go in to mess it up or plug the toilets. They are more lighted & can be seen (not hidden like a dark alley like before) who goes in & out so people can hear a child scream if they’re in trouble.
What I hate? I wish they don’t keep updating books! Who cares if they’re old.. .. . The olden days are gone, but books shouldn’t have expiration dates. Go to the Book of Kells, do they replace books there?

This is my local branch of the Multnomah County Library, and while it’s not as large, eco-​friendly, or fancified as my old neighborhood library (the LEED-​Certified Hillsdale branch), I really dig it.
The Gregory Heights Library is definitely one of the best laid out and conveniently located (on 12-​Sandy Blvd TriMet line) of all the MultCo Libraries I’ve been to. It’s a little on the smaller side, but not cramped and there are enough tables to set yourself up with a stack of books for a few hours — providing school’s not out when the place does get a little overrun with kiddos.
If you’re driving, the parking lot is rather small, but there’s street parking along the residential streets isn’t too difficult to find. As with all county libraries, they limit PC and internet usage to 1hr/​day — and charge $ 0.10 page for printing (leave the print settings on default double-​sided printing to save a few dimes).
Where it stands out above some of the other local neighborhood branches I’ve been to: lots of PCs (16? More?), all located centrally in the library, and the printer is nearby with an automatic, coin-​op payment device. I’ve been in some libraries where I literally had to ask to find the printer, and the PCs were spread all over the place.
Also, I totally appreciate the fact this branch was open on EASTER DAY! If only they’d add one (or more) of those self-​checkout devices, this place would be almost perfect!