Reading Local: Portland

I may be preaching to the choir here, but just in case you weren’t aware of the greatness of the Multnomah County Library website, here are the top seven features that can be found:

1. An Event Finder that allows you to sort by date, location, age group, program type, or by keyword.
2. A whole section devoted to adult & teen booklists (calling Rose City Reader…), with categories as diverse as Chick Lit, Sustainability, Graphic Novels, and Prize-Winning fiction to name just a few.
3. A section devoted to Zines featuring links to information on: the library’s zine collection; details about upcoming library events featuring zines or zinesters; other places in Portland to read, buy, or look at zines; and resources available in the libraries to help you learn about or make your own zine.
4. A page entitled “Books We Love” featuring the favorite books of some prominent Multnomah County residents (i.e. M. Ward, Tom Potter, Chloe Eudaly, Emily Powell, Ethan Seltzer, Ursula LeGuin, and many others).
5. RSS feeds of newly available titles in each different genre.
6. A page featuring the most recent posts from the libraries three (An Embarassment of Riches, Furthermore…Where The Headlines Take You, and the MCL Teen Council blog) well-maintained and informative blogs.
7. Informative guides produced by reference staff at the Library on several different topics, including: African American Musicians, Conflict & Terrorism, Green Buildings, and many more.

Of course this is but a fraction of the things available on the site. Kudos to the library staff for coming up with and creating all of this. Which features are your favorites?

Author: Gabe Barber

Founder and publisher of Reading Local. I am an avid reader, primarily of non-fiction, and am ever curious to discover how local literature fits into the increasingly volatile literary landscape.

Gabe Barber has written 1025 articles for us.