Multnomah County Library – Sellwood-Moreland

Just moved to the area and I was walking around town when I came across the library.
I decided to walk in and check it out.
It’s small but has a ton of books/​movies/​cds.
I decided I would get a library card which is something I haven’t had since I was in middle school.
I thought it would be a more difficult process but I just filled out a short form, showed some identification and the nice lady at the counter put all my info into the system. Five minutes later I had a brand new shiny library card.
The woman who gave my library card explained I can also download ebooks online for my tablet, order books from other libraries that they may not have, and that they even send email notifications for when your items are due.
After she was done explaining to me all the perks of the library I took a quick walk around.
It was very clean and organized and there were a ton of people there reading away.
They even had computers and printers which is useful because I don’t have a printer at home.
You can check out all your own items at their automated computers or the ladies working at the counter were more than happy to help.
I’m excited that there is a library so close to my house, time to start reading books again!

Been having so much fun at the toddler storytime with my nieces! They are so wonderful with the little ones and I’m always looking forward to storytime days. This is a nice library for kiddos!

Good library. No parking lot.
Self checks are awesome. Cool neighborhood, easy stop while running errands.

This library is very up to date technology wise and is staffed with some helpful people. You can order your books online and when they arrive to this library from another in the system you receive an email stating so. Upon checking out it is a self checkout system making it much faster than waiting for someone to check you out. This is available at all of the Multnomah County Libraries — to my understanding.

Pros: The kids book section is pretty solid and, when my little ones were of age, we were regular attendees of the lively storytimes (Brianne is the best).
Cons: Some of the front desk staffers are, dare I say, not sunny in disposition. Not rude, mind you– just not overtly polite. It isn’t ruin-​your-​day type stuff, but still (and I usually have a pretty thick skin for this type of stuff). Finally, the location is small and not particularly inviting, which got me thinking: why have so many smaller branches? I would rather they the county consolidate branches into larger locations with more resources. While it’s nice having a neighborhood location, I’d drive a couple extra miles for a better library experience (and I often do– to Woodstock).

Every great neighborhood deserves a great neighborhood library. And Sellwood has just that!
It may be small, but it’s got a lot of heart! The people that work there are knowledgable, friendly, accomodating, helpful and welcoming. They offer different activities for different age groups which is great for being able to connect with your neighbors. They have a «tiny tots» story time, including a big pile of toys and bubbles! They also have a toddlers and a preschool story time. Great for moms and dads and kiddos!
Sellwood Library also has a cute kids section with a small table for reading and a great selection of stories for checking out.
For those of you who use your local library for studying, this library has a surprising amount of available computers and often there is one available for use.

I visit the library once a week and for now this is my spot because of working in SE. I love the services offered by Multnomah County Library– tons of events for kids for free, a summer reading program that rewards children & teens for taking an active interest in reading, the resources for adults and teens and most of all I love the app for my phone/​ipad. I am always reserving books and picking them up, the app makes it so easy. I am very fond of the staff members here too, they are very helpful and genuinely nice. This location is smaller however if you order books to be picked up here, the size of the library won’t even phase you.

Cons
— small, cramped central seating with aromatically challenged folks regularly present
— shelvers/​volunteers seem a little unhappy that humans are regularly present in the library
Pros
— friendly librarians at front desk
— sunny kids section, children and families always seem to be in good spirits
— easy to navigate and find something interesting

great library… awesome use of our tax dollars.
My nugget loves the kiddie book selection, and while the adult selection is limited due to the size of this location, anything one would want is easily ordered online and then picked up here, which is what I do.
Very easy checkout and super friendly staff!

The Multnomah County library system itself gets 5 stars: automatic. If you’re looking for a book (or book on tape, or movie, or whatever) and it’s available but not at that specific library, they’ll ship it for you to your nearest library. If it’s not available, put it on hold and you’ll get it when it comes. If there’s a book that you think they should purchase, you can recommend it. Cool.
When rating this library, I consider the following;
Is there enough parking here? It’s all street parking. 3 stars.
The building is clean, offers plenty of lighting, and has a warm inviting feel. 5 stars.
No computer lab, but there are computers to use. Not a lot, though. 3 stars.
Two (maybe three?) self check-​out machines save time. 4 stars. (More machines would give them 5 stars).
Customer service gets 4 stars. I haven’t needed to ask anyone for anything, yet, but if I did they’re easy to find.
The section I frequent wasn’t as large as I would like it to be. 3 stars. (Okay, it’s the graphic novel section. Not everyone goes there, but that’s where I go. I’ll admit it.)
There’s a 20 person meeting room that’s available for community use if you abide by their terms of use. They also host plenty of family events for people with families and time for that sort of thing. So, 5 stars.
Anna B. got it right when she said this is a branch more for the kids. Not a bad thing, I guess.
Overall, I’d say 4 stars for the Sellwood-​Moreland Branch Library. It’s on a route I take, so I don’t mind stopping in from time to time.

Conveniently located, this smaller library fits right in Sellwood, about half a block up from the food cart pod there. I frequently stop in to peruse the CDs and DVDs (why am I paying for Netflix again?). For books, though, check online first and have your items sent there– it’s somewhat of a crapshoot that they will have what you need, only because it is a smaller branch. But the county’s online system is so smooth, you won’t have any problems if you have time to reserve online first.
If computer access is what you need– you might try a larger branch. They also have a couple of rooms you can reserve for groups. Seems like this is a good branch for kiddos– there are usually more kids than adults in this one.

Great library– small and friendly, with WIFI and even a ‘quiet’ work room off to the side. And right in the heart of the hood! Great. They even have little plastic key ring library cards, like you get at the grocery store! Love it. They last time I got a library card, they still mailed them out.