2026 Honored Citizen, Vailey Oehlke

Celebrating Vailey Oehlke

As the Portland Metropolitan region celebrates the completion of the last three library projects in the 2020 library bond, it is time to tip our hats to Vailey Oehlke, the leader whose vision and tenacity ensured that our libraries were shaped by innovative thinking, inclusive processes, and community-centric and sustainable design.

Vailey Oehlke, this year’s Honored Citizen, was the transformative Executive Director of Multnomah County Library (MCL) from 2009-2024. As the oldest public library on the west coast, Central Library and eighteen other neighborhood libraries are the second busiest library system among its peers in the country. In 2024, visits to all the libraries exceeded two million patrons. For fifteen years, Vailey was totally committed to ensuring Multnomah County Library remained valued, relevant, and responsive to the community.

During Vailey’s tenure, MCL became a national leader in providing innovative programs, services, and facilities to meet the emerging needs of the community. Her energy and leadership have shaped Multnomah County Library in profound ways. One of her first initiatives was to open long-promised branch libraries in the underserved communities of Kenton and Troutdale and she pushed for a new type of library – with increased access to technology, community-centered spaces, and award-winning design.

Vailey also set the goal to serve people who need us the most – the people furthest from opportunity. With community-centered staff she built culturally relevant services for those once excluded or marginalized because they were Black, Indigenous, and people of color.

Perhaps her greatest legacy stems from her vision for the successful $387 million capital bond campaign of 2020 to rebalance, expand, and modernize the entire library system to better serve the county’s growing and diverse population. It is the most comprehensive rethinking of the library system in its 162-year history. Her goal of an innovative and hyper-inclusive public outreach process that gave voice to historically marginalized communities was foundational to the bond’s success. Between all the library projects, there were hundreds of in-person and online opportunities to participate – from programming spaces to voting on finish materials and color schemes.

Finally, Vailey’s aspirations for architectural excellence are evident with the inspiring architectural designs created in combination with robust sustainable measures. All buildings, new and renovations, significantly reduce embodied and operational carbon and are Fossil Fuel free. LEED certifications include 1 LEED Platinum, 7 LEED Gold, and 1 LEED Silver. Six libraries are constructed using mass timber structural systems. These libraries were designed, engineered and constructed by an impressive array of firms in our local AEC community.

Vailey was born in Portland, where her father taught at Jefferson High School. After growing up mainly in the Midwest and teaching high school English, she returned to Portland and was working as a copy editor at Stoel Rives law firm when the law librarian urged her to consider library studies. Vailey joined Multnomah County Library’s School Corps program as a youth librarian in 1997, became the Director of Central Library, then was promoted to Deputy Director in 2008, and appointed Executive Director of Multnomah County Library District in 2009.

Join us on Thursday, October 8 to celebrate this story of growth, collaboration, and fierce commitment to our community.

2026 Honored Citizen

Thursday, October 8
5pm Reception  |  6:30pm Dinner
Hyatt Regency Portland
at the Oregon Convention Center

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