On July 3, the Deschutes Public Library announced its decision to not renew its lease for the East Bend Library. The library, located on Dean Swift Road near Highway 20, is set to remain open until the lease ends on Dec. 31, 2025.
The decision came after a June meeting, where board members voted unanimously to terminate the lease. DPL plans to accommodate eastside library users with its new Central Library at Stevens Ranch, which is set to open shortly after closure of the East Bend Library.
According to Library Director Todd Dunkelberg, the current East Bend staff will transition to the new library at Stevens Ranch. The 100,000 square-foot Central Library, situated on 8.5 acres at the northeast corner of 27th Street and Wilderness Way, is set to open in April 2026.
“We’re really excited that we were able to find that location – the Central Library – that is so close and serving east Bend,” said Dunkelberg.
The three-story building will offer community meeting rooms, study and co-working spaces, reading areas and creative DIY spaces. It will also have a café, multi-use patio areas and a drive-up window for customers to pick up and drop off materials.
DPL opened its East Bend Library in 2011 as a temporary solution to serve the growing community. Since it leased the property on Dean Swift Road, the library has continually had discussions around its plans to find a more permanent location, Dunkelberg told the Source Weekly.
Ahead of its lease ending in December 2025, DPL was required to give 18 months’ notice on renewing its lease. It was given the option to discuss a two-year or five-year lease extension.
The opening date of the library at Stevens Ranch and considerations about transferring staff played a big role in the library’s decision not to renew its lease.
Monique Lehman lives in Bend and frequents the East Bend Library, as her place of work is close by. She’s disappointed that the eastside library will soon be farther away.
“[This location] is my go-to when I go to the library,” she said. “It makes it a little bit inconvenient because the traffic gets so congested up the road.”
The Bend community will see another shift in operations in 2026, when the library begins its renovation process at the Downtown Bend Library. The downtown library will be temporarily closed for about a year during the renovations. The renovations plan to increase public spaces through the addition of co-working areas, children’s spaces and additional meeting and study rooms.
According to Dunkelberg, Bend will still have continuous services, as the Central Library will serve as the main access point for the community until the downtown library renovations are complete. The library also plans to supplement that loss with its outreach services and moving some of its programming off-site.
“It’s not a complete loss of service, but we really have to modify how we’re serving,” said Dunkelberg.
Deschutes Public Library plans to move some if its downtown library staff to the Central Library, freeing up about 25% of the building to more public space, said Dunkelberg.
Holly Kinrade, who lives on the eastside, is curious to see how the library will function without the downtown location. "That's gonna be hectic, I'm sure, for both the library and just for everybody trying to get their books," she said. Another library visitor, Cedar Edell, usually goes to the downtown library and was surprised to hear that it will be closed for nearly a year in 2026.
"Just in general, I think it's a really bad idea to limit access to libraries. The temporary closure, if you have to do a renovation, sounds like maybe a necessary evil. But you'd hope that there's a better solution than closing it for a year," he said.
“The East Bend Library has really helped us out in serving, especially, people in Bend at a time when we didn’t have any other options, and leasing was the most expedient way for us to expand our services, always knowing that we wanted to get to that future where we could commit to something longer term,” said Dunkelberg.
The decision came after a June meeting, where board members voted unanimously to terminate the lease. DPL plans to accommodate eastside library users with its new Central Library at Stevens Ranch, which is set to open shortly after closure of the East Bend Library.
According to Library Director Todd Dunkelberg, the current East Bend staff will transition to the new library at Stevens Ranch. The 100,000 square-foot Central Library, situated on 8.5 acres at the northeast corner of 27th Street and Wilderness Way, is set to open in April 2026.
“We’re really excited that we were able to find that location – the Central Library – that is so close and serving east Bend,” said Dunkelberg.
The three-story building will offer community meeting rooms, study and co-working spaces, reading areas and creative DIY spaces. It will also have a café, multi-use patio areas and a drive-up window for customers to pick up and drop off materials.
DPL opened its East Bend Library in 2011 as a temporary solution to serve the growing community. Since it leased the property on Dean Swift Road, the library has continually had discussions around its plans to find a more permanent location, Dunkelberg told the Source Weekly.
Ahead of its lease ending in December 2025, DPL was required to give 18 months’ notice on renewing its lease. It was given the option to discuss a two-year or five-year lease extension.
The opening date of the library at Stevens Ranch and considerations about transferring staff played a big role in the library’s decision not to renew its lease.
Monique Lehman lives in Bend and frequents the East Bend Library, as her place of work is close by. She’s disappointed that the eastside library will soon be farther away.
“[This location] is my go-to when I go to the library,” she said. “It makes it a little bit inconvenient because the traffic gets so congested up the road.”
The Bend community will see another shift in operations in 2026, when the library begins its renovation process at the Downtown Bend Library. The downtown library will be temporarily closed for about a year during the renovations. The renovations plan to increase public spaces through the addition of co-working areas, children’s spaces and additional meeting and study rooms.
According to Dunkelberg, Bend will still have continuous services, as the Central Library will serve as the main access point for the community until the downtown library renovations are complete. The library also plans to supplement that loss with its outreach services and moving some of its programming off-site.
“It’s not a complete loss of service, but we really have to modify how we’re serving,” said Dunkelberg.
Deschutes Public Library plans to move some if its downtown library staff to the Central Library, freeing up about 25% of the building to more public space, said Dunkelberg.
Holly Kinrade, who lives on the eastside, is curious to see how the library will function without the downtown location. "That's gonna be hectic, I'm sure, for both the library and just for everybody trying to get their books," she said. Another library visitor, Cedar Edell, usually goes to the downtown library and was surprised to hear that it will be closed for nearly a year in 2026.
"Just in general, I think it's a really bad idea to limit access to libraries. The temporary closure, if you have to do a renovation, sounds like maybe a necessary evil. But you'd hope that there's a better solution than closing it for a year," he said.
“The East Bend Library has really helped us out in serving, especially, people in Bend at a time when we didn’t have any other options, and leasing was the most expedient way for us to expand our services, always knowing that we wanted to get to that future where we could commit to something longer term,” said Dunkelberg.
