Charles Davis papers about the Library Association of Portland

Charles "Charlie" Davis was born in 1919 in Oklahoma City, Oklahoma. In 1941, he earned a degree in business administration from the University of California. When the United States entered World War II, he declared himself a conscientious objector, and was assigned to a camp near Cascade Locks, Oregon. In 1944, he married Eleanor Ring. After the war, he worked with the American Friends Service Committee in San Francisco, California, before moving to Portland, Oregon, in 1951. In 1957, he joined Electro Scientific Industries in Beaverton, Oregon, as an accountant; he later became the firm's treasurer and comptroller. He became chair of the American Civil Liberties Union of Oregon in 1962. In 1975, Oregon Governor Robert Straub appointed him as a state public utility commissioner, a post he held until 1979. In 1989, he was appointed interim director of the Multnomah County library system. Davis died in July 2002.

Sources: "Charlie Davis, civil libertarian, dies at 83," by Alex Pulaski, Oregonian, July 7, 2002, page B6; "Charles Davis to head library for interim, press levy passage," by Elizabeth Moore, Oregonian, September 27, 1989, page B4.

The Library Association of Portland, Oregon, was founded in 1864. Initially envisioned as a mercantile library for the business community, the association began to shift its mission in 1900, after merchant John Wilson bequeathed it nearly 9,000 books on the condition that the collection be open to all. In February 1901, the Oregon Legislature passed a law, supported by the library association, that permitted incorporated cities to levy taxes to support free libraries. The law also allowed partnerships between cities and private libraries to provide public library services, a provision that was later expanded to include county governments. In 1911, when industrialist Andrew Carnegie granted $105,000 for construction of the Central Library in Portland, the library association formed such a contract with Multnomah County government. Under the terms of the contract, the county would provide library funding, and the funds would be administered by the association.

This relationship came under scrutiny in 1983, when county funding cuts led the association to close Multnomah County libraries for nine days. In 1984, a ballot measure to create a new public library commission failed in a close vote, and in 1989, county commissioners began negotiations with the library association to transfer management responsibilities to the county. During these negotiations, a point of contention was a $6 million endowment fund, over which the library association's directors wished to retain control. In October 1989, the parties agreed to transfer the endowment to the Oregon Community Foundation to be spent on the county's libraries. The Library Association of Portland formally transferred its assets and responsibilities to the Multnomah County Board of Commissioners and dissolved on July 1, 1990.

Sources: "Library Association of Portland," by Cheryl Gunselman, Oregon Encyclopedia, https://www.oregonencyclopedia.org/articles/library_association_of_portland/; "Library board, county wrestle with funding problems," by Scotta Callister, July 10, 1983, page C4; opinion piece by C. Bruce Ward, "Eyes closed to root cause of library problems," Oregonian, February 16, 1984, page C5; "Delay likely on recount," Oregonian, May 22, 1984, page B8; "County discloses library pact," by Elizabeth Moore, Oregonian, May 6, 1989, page D1; "Foundation named for library bequests," by Elizabeth Moore, Oregonian, October 23, 1989, page B2; "Library Association's days draw to a close," by Elizabeth Moore, Oregonian, July 1, 1990, page C6.