Community members were offered a sneak peak of the Kenton Library, Multnomah County's newest library location on Wednesday morning.
Peg Solonika (pictured at right) neighborhood library manager, celebrated the pre-opening of the Kenton location. The Kenton Library will officially open 9 a.m. on Monday, March 8. The new library will feature the "Lucky Day" collection of books – high value popular fiction and non-fiction that typically requires a long waiting period because many other library patrons are also seeking them.
"The idea is that folks can come in and find popular works on the shelf," Solonika said.
The new library is located at 8226 N. Denver Ave. in North Portland. County Commissioner Jeff Cogen, who helped spearhead the effort to locate the library, said residents in between St. Johns and Northeast Portland had always wanted a library to call their own. Now they have it.
The 6,000 square foot space will hold about 20,000 books and other materials, as well as technologically advanced self check out stations, security buzzers, computer stations, laptops to check out and a 32 seat community room.
The official grand opening celebration will be held from 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. on Saturday, March 13 and will feature jazz performances in the morning, a dedication ceremony at 2 p.m.; cupcakes and lemonade at 2:30 p.m.; a bilingual Dr. Seuss celebration at 2:30 and 3:15 p.m.; a truffula trees craft hour at 4 p.m. and a Cat in the Hat character greeting that same hour.