History of the Sterling Room

The Sterling Room for Writers was established in 1997 through the generosity of Donald Sterling, Jr. and Sis Hayes in honor of their parents Donald and Adelaide Sterling. Donald Justus Sterling was a newspaperman in Portland for 42 years, and managing editor at the Oregon Journal from 1919-1952. Adelaide Armstrong Sterling, a writer herself, was one of the founding members of the Town Club and active in many charitable organizations. The family's goal for the Sterling Room for Writers is to provide writers with space for convenient access to the holdings of Multnomah County Library.

Here is more information on the Sterling Room for Writers (currently offline while the page and application are being revised -JK, 9/23/24).

Guidelines for Admission

All writers seeking to use the Sterling Room for Writers must complete an application in full.  The application can be filled out online (currently offline while the page and application are being revised -JK, 9/23/24), or using the paper form in the brochure.

Applicants for the Sterling Room must:

• Fill out the application in full
  • Applicants should take care to answer the questions as asked, giving a detailed account of their current project or a sample of their work
  • Staff should ensure that applicants understand the Sterling Room is not a guaranteed quiet space for work, and that the need to access materials from our collection is an important element of the application
  • Applications will be turned down if incomplete. An application is incomplete if:
    • The applicant fails to provide a description of their work; a guideline of approximately 500 words is given, and therefore, the description should go into some detail
    • The applicant states the only library resource they need is quiet space
    • The applicant lists resources not available through the room (for example, editing help, personal assistance in technological issues, etc)
• Have a valid Multnomah County Library account in good standing.
• Renew their approval to access the Room on an annual basis

Incomplete applications or applications from patrons with accounts that are not in good standing will not be approved to use the Sterling Room.

The Sterling Room for Writers Committee approves or denies access to the Sterling Room. Application reviews are done on a weekly basis but may take up to two weeks to process. Once the approval and denial decisions have been made, applicants will be contacted by email, or by mail (if no email address is given) regarding the status of their application.

Responsibilities of Approved Writers

In addition to following all of the rules regarding behavior in the library, writers approved to use the Sterling Room must adhere to the following additional guidelines:

• Ensure to keep your MCL account in good standing
• Ensure your address is up to date at all times
• Respond promptly to emails and postcards for renewal reminders
• Ensure the door is locked at all times to prevent unauthorized access to the room
• Report any strange behavior immediately to the 2nd floor desk

Maintenance of the list of approved writers for the Sterling Room for Writers

Approved writers will have a note in their Symphony account noting their Sterling Writer's room status. A list of approved patrons is maintained by the Sterling Writer's Room committee at Central Library.

A note in the patron account will have the date that they are approved through. Patrons will be sent an annual reminder roughly 30 days before their admission expires.

If the patron does not respond within 30 days from the Approved Through date, they will need to reapply.  If patrons do not respond within the grace period, the note in their account will be changed to indicate their admission has lapsed and will need to reapply.

If a patron comes in wishing to use the Writer's Room, and their admission has lapsed,  It will then be up to the P.I.C. to allow the patron to use the room on that day. The patron may have access once, but must reapply again before being allowed to use the Writer's Room again. This should be noted in the patron account.