‘I would miss it’: East Bend Library faces uncertain future, remodel put on pause

(Update: Adding video, comments from library director, user)

BEND, Ore. (KTVZ) – The fate of the East Bend Library is yet to be determined, but should be known by later this year.

One of the recent budget models does not include operational costs to maintain the library past 2025, when the current five-year lease expires for the location at Highway 20 and Dean Sift Road.

The library director said Monday that a board discussion about the East Bend Library is expected in late spring. They'll be looking at a number of factors.

Earlier discussed plans for a remodel at the East Bend Library are on pause. It has been marked as TBD (to be determined) in the library's February report -- for construction starting, finishing and the building reopening.

The library system said back in 2020 that it had recently made a number of updates to the East Bend Library space, improving the layout and flow of various areas, including the staff area and materials handling sections. 

"We shifted where the location of our new central facility, the Stevens Branch Library, will be," Todd Dunkelberg, library director said Monday. "That raised the question of, 'Is that so close to east Bend that we should continue operating it, or not?'" 

The East Bend Library first opened in 2011 and is located near the Forum Shopping Center.

For Bend resident Mildred Curley, visiting the spot is part of her routine.

"Oh, yeah, I would miss it," she said. "I really enjoyed it when they moved this annex part from downtown out here, because I live on the east side here. It's very convenient." 

Curley said she visits the East Bend Library every two weeks. 

"I come and get the audio books," Curley said. "They help me go to sleep, and when I can't sleep, I just really enjoy listening to them."

In determining whether to keep the East Bend Library open, the board will have several considerations.

"What I expect is we'll start really starting to dig into numbers, like how usage goals for what we want to do as a library going forward in the future, and then trying to figure out how East Bend fits into that," Dunkelberg said.

The library is in a rented storefront and takes $800,000 a year to operate. The only location in the lLibrary system that is not owned by the Library itself, the East Bend Library is housed in a rented 8,000-square-foot storefront designed by Jim Landin and BRLB/GGL Architects of Bend.

If the library closes, the money would be reallocated.

"if we weren't using it for that, we would use it for other services," he said, "whether that's doing outreach services or opening up a new facility somewhere else. So really it's kind of up to the board as to what they would like to be doing with that."

Back in 2020, Dunkelberg said, “The East Bend Library is beloved by both the community and our staff. We’re grateful that the building owner, Columbia Heritage LLC, sees the library as an important community partner and was willing to extend our lease for another five years. Being able to renew the lease on this location further cements our commitment to serving the needs of all residents of Deschutes County.”

The library system is now in the midst of several upgrades, renovation and new construction projects around the county, having broken ground Saturday on the replacement Redmond library, the day after it released renderings for the major new Central Library planned for Stevens Ranch in Bend's southeast corner and held a public meeting Wednesday evening to discuss those plans and get feedback.

The board has until the end of December 2025 under the current lease, says input is welcome from the public. People can contact the board at board@deschuteslibrary.org.