East County is about to get a serious upgrade. Gresham’s new East County Library, the largest in the city to date, is scheduled to open to the public on May 16, 2026. The nearly 95,000-square-foot building sits next to City Hall and the Gresham MAX stop, and it arrives with a rooftop terrace and a flexible 200-seat auditorium. The project replaces the much smaller downtown Gresham branch and promises more studios, more meeting rooms and a much larger circulating collection for East County residents. Multnomah County has lined up two days of community events to celebrate the opening.
What’s inside the new library
Inside, the new East County Library is built for more than quiet reading. The branch will feature a 200-seat auditorium, an audiovisual studio, a creative learning room, a large teen room and two sensory rooms to support patrons with different needs. Library materials are expected to total nearly 200,000 books, CDs and DVDs, and the building will include multiple community rooms for classes, events and performances. Outside, designers added an Ikanum plaza along with a rooftop terrace, both intended for public programs and casual hangouts. According to Multnomah County Library, the combination of indoor and outdoor spaces is meant to turn the branch into a regional civic destination.
Price tag and who paid for it
The county estimates the East County project will cost about $163 million, a figure the library’s spokesperson Liz Sauer shared with The Oregonian/OregonLive. That spending is part of a larger capital program funded by a voter-approved $387 million bond that passed in November 2020, according to Multnomah County. The bond has bankrolled a series of rebuilds and renovations across the library system.
Where it sits in the county rebuild
The East County flagship is the most visible piece of a multi-year construction push. The new Holgate Library reopened in July 2024 and drew big neighborhood crowds, as reported by OPB, and the Northwest Library celebrated its grand opening in January 2026, according to KPTV. County and library leaders say the slate of projects is intended to modernize aging buildings and add programming space across Multnomah County. For East County residents, the new flagship is meant to bring events, studios and meeting rooms closer to home.
What it means for East County
To introduce the building, Multnomah County plans two full days of community programming on Saturday and Sunday, May 16–17, 2026, with performances, tours and family activities that spotlight the new studios and meeting spaces. The library will also showcase public art commissioned through the Regional Arts & Culture Council, including rooftop and interior works by local artists, and the adjacent Ikanum plaza will be programmed by the City of Gresham. Library leaders are pitching the site as a civic hub that can host lectures, concerts and festivals that smaller branches could never handle. According to Multnomah County Library, the expanded spaces are designed to serve a wide range of neighbors and community groups.
