Multnomah County Library is one of the busiest libraries in the world

(JANUARY 26, 2020) Residents of Portland use the Multnomah County Library a lot. Books are popular, but so are digital materials such as e-books.

According to the Willamette Week newspaper, Portland residents checked out about 3 million audio books and e-books from Multnomah County Library in 2019. The library uses an app called Libby. According to the makers of the app, Portland's public library has the sixth largest digital circulation in the country. And it has the seventh largest digital circulation in the world.

What was the most popular e-book of 2019? It was Michelle Obama's book titled Becoming.

According to the library's website, the Multnomah County Library is the oldest public library west of the Mississippi River. It started in 1864. Today, it has a Central Library in downtown Portland and 18 other neighborhood libraries. It offers more than 2 million books and other library materials. It is Oregon's largest public library.

In 2018-2019, Multnomah County Library patrons checked out or renewed 18.3 million items. That's an average of 22.6 items per person. Checkouts of books, e-books, media and other library materials have increased 5% over the past 10 years. The library was visited online and in person 7.3 million times — that's more than 21,000 visits each day. Volunteers donated 67,000 hours of their time to the library, the equivalent of more than 8,400 eight-hour days.