Lake Oswego residents will soon learn what becomes of their 43-year-old downtown library after the City Council chose to build a single replacement facility elsewhere, setting aside a consultant's recommendation to keep two libraries.

The council's direction, established through study sessions and a July 21 business meeting, moved away from the BerryDunn Community Engagement Report's preferred "Model A," which called for renovating the existing First Addition library while adding a full-service branch on the city's west side. Instead, the council is pursuing one larger library on a new 2.5-to-3.5-acre site. Library Director Melissa Kelly has said the new building could be more than twice the current facility's size.

Now a Library Site Reuse Task Force of up to 20 community members will meet roughly six times between August and April 2027 to recommend what happens to the existing property. The group's charge: develop reuse scenarios using council-set criteria, narrow to three options, then deliver a final recommendation. Applications closed July 3, and members were to be notified by the end of July.

The task force must include representatives from the First Addition Forest Hills, Evergreen and Old Town neighborhood associations, the downtown business community, the Library Advisory Board, the Planning Commission and several other city boards.

Why the council moved on

The current library, completed in 1983 at 706 Fourth St., faces seismic deficiencies, water intrusion and failing building systems. At the council's May 19 meeting, Kelly told councilors there was a pressing need for site decisions because the building has reached the end of its useful life. She reminded the council of a video showing rain seeping through the roof.

The building is 43 years old.

Mayor Joe Buck said at that meeting that the city "cannot be financially responsible if we continue down this path of increasingly expensive patches to a facility that is not meeting our community's needs." Councilor Rachel Verdick noted that elevator failures already limit accessibility and that the city might need a bond just to repair the existing space.

Selling the site is on the table

At a July 7 study session, the council weighed whether to sell the current property to help fund the new library, the Lake Oswego Review reported. Buck said he didn't "see a path forward to a new library unless we generate money."

Councilor Massene Mboup pressed the revenue question, while Verdick pushed back, saying value shouldn't be measured only in dollars.

The heir of the family that donated the original site has expressed hope that any sale proceeds go toward the future library, and councilors agreed to honor that wish.

Resident questions single-library path

Not everyone accepts the council's direction. Resident Diane Schweisguth, in a letter published Aug. 10 in the Lake Oswego Review, argued the council should revise the task force's mandate to include evaluating whether the existing site can be reconfigured at reasonable cost. She contended that "reuse" should not mean demolishing the library or selling it for housing.

What's next

Design and construction of a new library could stretch from 2029 to 2031, according to the city's timeline. The task force's first meetings are expected in August. Residents with questions can contact Kelly at [email protected] or 503-697-6584.