The new library, a green building designed to minimize environmental impacts, has 12,000 square feet (1,100 m2) of floor space and a storage capacity of 75,000 volumes.

Later in the same year, a South Portland sub-branch of the library, larger than the deposit station, opened at First and Hooker streets.

After large highways were built through the neighborhood, the South Portland branch served a declining population, and its open days were reduced to three a week in 1940.

At the same time, a reading room in Multnomah, another southwest Portland neighborhood, was enlarged to accommodate a growing population.

[3][7][8] Features of the new building include items such as a 20-foot (6.1 m) high ceiling in the reading room,[3] a tubular steel roof,[9] and 10-square-foot (0.93 m2) skylights.