The Forest Grove City Library offers books for all ages, movies, dvds, blu-rays, music, magazines, audiobooks, eBooks, materials in Spanish, and more. The Forest Grove City Library offers books for all ages, movies, dvds, blu-rays, music, magazines, audiobooks, eBooks, materials in Spanish, reference services, programming and more.  Your library card will also allow you to access online resources, checkout Cultural Passes, use the library computers or access free wifi, and to download audiobooks and eBooks.

Library cards are free to all Washington County residents and/or property owners.  For more information about library cards, or for library card options for residents of other counties, please see the library card page.

Operating since 1909, the Forest Grove City Library is a member of Washington County Cooperative Library Services, a consortium of public and special libraries that provides county-wide services in addition to local library service.  Your WCCLS library card can be used at any of the Washington County public libraries.

Mission Statement

The mission of the Forest Grove City Library is to bring people, information and ideas together to enrich lives.

To fulfill our mission, we rely on these vital resources:

    Our staff and volunteers
    Our physical and virtual spaces
    Our collections, programs and services
    Our collaborative relationships.

Our mission's guiding principles are:

    Promote reading, learning and literacy
    Facilitate community
    Support intellectual freedom
    Adapt and innovate.



In 1908, the City of Forest Grove established a tax to support a public library, the first in Washington County. Initially housed in a stationery store at 21st Avenue and College Way, the library became a city department in 1974. In 1976, the City of Forest Grove was awarded a federal grant to construct a Municipal Services Center that would include a new library. The Forest Grove City Library was dedicated in October of 1978 and was 11,000 square feet. In 1998, voters approved a $5 million bond measure to expand the library by 15,000 sq. ft. A remodel of the older space was completed in 2007.