Book Lover Locations in Portland, Oregon Only Locals Know

Did you know Portland, Oregon has a pub that’s also a second-hand bookstore? And did you know there’s a hotel that used to be a school and the bedrooms still have chalkboards in them? These are just a couple of the delightfully bookish locations I visited in the city during a day out on the town with a local bookish bestie. It turns out Portland, Oregon has a number of seemingly hidden spots for book lovers that you can visit if you know where to look!

Portland is of course home to the famous Powell’s Books, the largest new and used independent bookstore in the country, and lovers of Beverly Cleary’s children’s books can spend an entire day walking in Cleary’s footsteps through Portland. Knowing this, I did spend a day visiting Powell’s and locations associated with Beverly Cleary. You can virtually join me for that day here:

A Book Lovers Day in Portland Following Beverly Cleary

I had the good fortune to make friends with a lovely Kindred Spirit during the Enchanted Book Club Inaugural England trip last September, so when I decided upon attending this year’s TravelCon and it happened to be in her hometown of Portland, Oregon, I immediately contacted her and made plans to get together. Unbeknownst to me when she picked me up outside my hotel, she had pulled together an entire itinerary of literary locations in Portland that I’d failed to find in my own research before touching down in the city! Lucky for you, she doesn’t mind me sharing these Portland gems with you! And I may have even heard her say that she’s willing to play tour guide for you as well if you turn up in Portland. Just tell her I sent you! 😉

The Knowledge Mural of Portland State University

Just a few blocks from the Heathman Hotel where I was staying, on the east exterior wall of the 5th Avenue Cinema, is a block-long mural called “The Knowledge.” It’s an image of a series of stacked library books. For a couple of book lovers, it was the perfect place to take a photo to commemorate our outing together!

Multnomah County Library Central Branch Beverly Cleary Room

Beverly Cleary, author of the Henry Huggins and Ramona books that made up a large part of my childhood, lived and wrote her books in Portland. There’s a sculpture garden in the city’s Grant Park dedicated to Cleary and her characters. And I even filmed an entire vlog following Cleary’s footsteps from the sculpture garden through her former Portland neighborhood. Yet, somehow I had not come across the fact that the large Multnomah County Library Central Branch in the middle of the downtown has a children’s room named after Beverly Cleary! And there’s even a likeness of her on the wall outside the room.

My bookish bestie had not, however, brought me to the library just to stare at a room with Beverly Cleary written over the doorway. Inside is a surprisingly tall sculpture of a tree whose trunk is made up of elements from a number of famous children’s stories! If you look closely you can find The Little Engine That Could and Dorthy’s house being lifted by a tornado.

A sculpture in the Multnomah County Library Central Branch Beverly Cleary Room of a tree with a trunk made up of story elements.

Sculpture detail of Dorthy’s house from the Wizard of Oz being lifted by a tornado.

Sculpture detail of The Little Engine that Could

And on the way out I noticed a carving on the wall of Alice and other characters from Wonderland. (Having just finished re-watching Warehouse 13, I found this incredibly unsettling. If you know, you know.)

Shakespeare Garden at the Portland Rose Test Garden

Portland is known as “The City of Roses” or “The Rose City” so one of the must-see attractions is the Portland Rose Test Garden. While the garden is probably beautiful at the right time of year when the roses are in bloom, it’s still worth visiting out of rose season. Strolling through the garden paths gives you a nice break from the busy city streets. And if you know just where to stroll (we had to ask directions from one of the gardeners, but the garden website links to a brochure with a map), you’ll find yourself in a small section of the garden dedicated to Shakespeare! The Shakespeare Garden contains plants which are found mentioned throughout Shakespeare’s plays.

Pittock Mansion

The Pittock Mansion is the former home of Henry Pittock, who rose to fame in Portland as a newspaper publisher among other accomplishments that netted him enough funds to build his own mansion with panoramic views of the city. Today the mansion is a historic house museum and I’ve been told it has an amazing Library room. Unfortunately the museum was closed on the day we tried to visit, but not all was lost. I’ve confirmed that the library does look worth visiting based on the video and 3D tour available on the website, and the mansion still has a lovely view of the Portland skyline that makes the drive to the mansion worth it even if you don’t get inside!

Green Bean Books

Next on our itinerary was a very cute independent children’s bookstore called Green Bean Books. My bestie previously lived in the Alberta neighborhood where this shop is located and still loves visiting. It’s located in a little red building that looks like it was previously a small house but now sits on a street full of kitschy shops and eateries. When we visited, the bookstore was celebrating its 15th birthday! And the man behind the counter was more than helpful in suggesting books off the shelves. One such book was Ways to Make Sunshine by Renee Watson, a book by a local author who’s written a book that takes place in the Alberta neighborhood and, we were told, “this character would get along very well with Beverly Cleary’s Ramona!”

Kennedy School Hotel

Have you ever wanted to sleep in an abandoned school? I can’t say I have, but how about a former school that has been turned into a hotel? The Kennedy School Hotel is a former abandoned school building which still has room signs for classrooms, the gym, and the auditorium, but today behind these doors you’ll find classrooms transformed into bedrooms, pubs and restaurants (like the Detention Bar!), and even an independent film theater, as well as a courtyard soaking pool! Just walking the halls of this hotel/community center/perfect place for a retreat you’ll feel like you’ve gone back to high school. While you’re wandering the halls, check out the paintings, because in one of them you’ll find Bilbo Baggins celebrating a birthday party!

Rose City Book Pub

Although our original plan had been to have afternoon tea, as the bookishly inclined often do, I was not at all upset when we instead ended our day at the Rose City Book Pub. The pub is a cozy little place that’s got one wall full of used books available for purchase, and sometimes they even make the specials board! The tables and chairs in the pub are an eclectic mix perfect for studying or drinking with friends and over on the other side of the pub, hidden behind bookshelves is a reading nook with a couch! We grabbed drinks and an appetizer and sat at the bar while we listened to the jazz band performing.

Over drinks I learned from my bestie that Portland also has Treebeard Taphouse, named of course out of Tolkien’s Lord of the Rings, and Pip’s Doughnuts, named out of Charles Dickens’ Great Expectations. I did not have time to visit these during this trip, however, so I guess I’ll just have to revisit Portland again!

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