Lake Oswego Public Library

The point about Eggers is that he is getting at the distinction between the letter and the spirit of the law. Everyone know that the spirit of the law holds us to a higher standard, which of course why it can be abused, but most of Western Civilization is based on this distinction, and this is part of the reason for our success as a culture. (I was educated during the Eisenhower administration, fyi.) What is interesting about the culture wars starting in the late sixties is that if you analyze them culturally, they generally express a kind of frenzied application of Protestant culture’s privileging* of the spirit over the letter of the law. One of the reasons that public activity was so important to the leftist rebels of the 70s is that Protestant culture has a general tendency of sacralizing the public sphere, by desacralizing the religious sphere. During moments of cultural crisis people will act this out. You can follow this tendency in all predominantly Protestant formed cultures, I think– England in the 17^th century is quite an example. This profoundly affects public social expression. Much of public/​private distinctions have come from scared/​secular distinctions, so a religious aspect is behind a lot of cultural changes. One of the things I’ve seen in my lifetime is the privileging of the spirit of the law to the point of absurdity, so that no standard or distinction really exists regarding behavior or merit, or such distinctions are held to be mostly subjective.
However, when you look at the example Eggers provides… the girl and the kayak… she is not violating the spirit of the law, she is in fact acting in a higher ethical sense than the law prescribes by using the kayak for its intended purpose and returning it. She is going on a little religious journey. And though her ethical behavior is by Christian standards unimpeachable, she is impeached by the literalistic culture of technology. And what does it say that during a moment of ecstatic privacy she had no privacy? And that later the exhilaration she felt was turned into material for criminal confession? Who are the «dishonest» people here? Those who spied on a girl who enjoyed herself to later accuse her, or the girl who broke the letter of the law but filled the spirit of the law? This is the kind of letter of the law attitude that now rules public sentiment, in contrast to the great public freedom we all had as a culture before ⁹⁄₁₁. So the issue per se is not honesty, it’s the spirit vs. the letter of the law. We have all acknowledged that there is a strict letter of the law, but I think as a culture we have been selective about when it is really necessary to enforce that, based on our almost unconscious cultural understanding of this principle. That is changing. And the meanness and pettiness and viciousness arising in the wake of that loss may be correcting previous antinomian cultural oversight, it may be soothing the loneliness of independence, but it is nonetheless creepy to witness.
I have a feeling that this widely prevalent understanding of ethical action has gone into hiding in the past ten years, and will not come out again for a long time. At least it is not longer selectively being applied to activities of the public sphere, where freedom is constantly lessening. (I got a lot of my understanding of this from the critic Northrup Frye… though I last read him almost ten years ago.) One of the things about libraries that is interesting is that, I think at least in American culture, is their connection to a religious ideal, that the public should be given access to intellectually nourishing things without pay, or as the Bible says, «I will give you bread and milk, without price…». It is a direct emanation of the Protestant spirit, which sacralizes the secular. That impulse is what is behind most of liberal culture I think.
However, with the current manifesto of the privatization of public space, there is literally no philosophy of public space left, except obeisance to your master– who is usually a municipal employee.
Let me know if you enjoy what you’ve wrought in one hundred years– if we don’t then miss the place the public library used to be.

A truly proper library with wonderful staff!
It is old-​fashioned but that is part of the charm. I was very pleased with the fiction collection and the periodical department. Did I mention the wonderful staff…

The commemorative plaque says 1983 and is that ever true to form. The Lake Oswego Public Library, probably one of the more important ones in the Clackamas County library system, sits slightly north of this smaller, genteel city’s civic center area. What’s weird is that you actually traverse a few blocks of a residential area before you arrive at the library.
It occupies a 2 story building that is very representative of its vintage and typology but its time stamped styling also makes it woodsy and homey. Truth be told, it approximates the Wilsonville Library in square footage, as I was told, so I’m not sure which one holds the real record, as if that’s even important.
There is everything one might need: circulation is found on the first floor, reference appears to be available on both floors, endless stacks, reference items and resources found only at this system library, all sorts of classes and special interest/​community meetings, and there is a large parking lot. It has quite a few windows affording views out onto the tree studded surroundings. In fact, the length of the roof is defined by serrated skylights that bring a lot of light into the interior, which even has a small, narrow atrium that looks down from floor 2 to floor 1.
One cannot complain about the service at the Lake Oswego Library. It is very courteous yet thankfully informal, as I was able to deduce from seeking assistance on both floors, thus sort of on par with the caliber of Wilsonville’s service.
At any rate, the Lake Oswego Public Library is a nice library and one I’d happily return to. After all, I have to polish my «pedantic» skills and sustain my «Ronald Mcf***ingDonald» modus operandi.
As I pulled out, drove toward A Street, and headed west toward the commercial zone and I-​5, I thought I was motoring through Greenwich, Connecticut, except that the deciduous trees were evergreens. Lake O is sort of that way. But would you have it another other way? What other neighborhood or municipality in the metro area would we be picking on for being an antidote to Hawthorne?

Great library! They even gave my infant a gift bag filled with board books.

L.O. library is a great place to find books, videos and music. They have a large selection of most media and a very helpful and savvy staff. The place is clean, comfortable, well-​lit and safe. Sadly for the metro Portland area this is not as common a feature as it once was. I will not even brave going to the main library in ‘Silly-​town’ anymore because of the filthy and increasingly aggressive vagrants that have taken over there; but I look forward to my visits to this fine example of community support and public monies well spent. The interactive online system is helpful and easy to use. Long live the Lake Oswego Library!

This is the star of the Clackamas County library system.
They have a larger selection of books, movies, etc, than other SW-​SE suburbs, plus extensive public records for when you want to research something.
I love the County LINCC system, which allows you to place things on hold (it’s like having Netflix for free).
Be warned, parking can be a bear, with the library buried deep in the First Addition neighborhood, and an odd-​shaped parking lot.

I highly recommend going online and using their system to reserve a book ahead of time. I used to like going through the library and finding it as part of the experience but with the increased crowds and not so great parking, going online is much easier. I can place a book on hold, park in the 5 minute spaces right out front and have my book in minutes. The lot has tiny spaces and is usually full.

On my last visit it appeared as though they’ve updated their computers. Not nearly as slow and no freezing up!

This little library is the best! The librarians are always helpful. They have a huge selection of audiobooks, movies, as well as books. There are cultural passes, free notary, lots of free thing services on line.

Best DVD collection in Portland area at LO library– especially good for foreign films you can’t find elsewhere, including Netflix. You can suggest films and they might end up ordering it for the collection.
Extremely helpful and accommodating to researchers of academic/​journal articles. Will locate and email PDFs to you. My husband has saved hours of research locating journal articles of interest to him.

This is a lovely library set in the middle of a residential neighborhood. Three floors are filled with books, computers, and media, and the atmosphere is comfortable and quiet.

Great place to spend an hour when in town on business.
Really !!
The sculptures, the magazine selection, the comfy chairs.
After driving down from Seattle the night before, this was a great place to relax less than 5 miles from my meeting.

They’re number 1, they’re number 1!
No really, they are… ranked first in the state for the past FIVE years. And Oregon as a state is ranked third in the nation. Not too shabby.
I’ve been curious to see what all the fuss is about and was surprised that the library isn’t the fanciest around. After all, in the past couple years, Tualatin and Wilsonville built new libraries and West Linn’s looks like a swanky mountain lodge.
But, in Lake O, it is quality over flash. Incredibly warm and welcoming staff. The place is so popular on weekends, it is hard to find a parking spot. Huzzah!

I LOVE this place! I’m a sucker for small local libraries, and this one hits the spot. I’m pretty impressed by it. The library is 3 stories with kids in the basement, fiction on the main floor and nonfiction upstairs. The library has computers on every level and helpful staff located on every floor as well.
The library is well stocked with books of all kinds as well as VHS and DVDs. Documentaries and other «nonfiction» DVDs are going to be located upstairs intermixed with their paperbound counterparts while all other films are on the main level and children’s movies in the basement.
If you can’t find anything in the library, the staff will help you locate materials in one of the other libraries in the county and having it sent over so you can pick it up. They also have a great, easy to use website so that you can control your library account.
This library may be on the small side, but it is well kept, bright and airy and a joy to be in.