Deschutes County has grown a lot in the last decade — the U.S. Census Bureau estimates it added nearly 40,000 residents between 2010 and 2019. But its libraries haven’t kept pace.

Leaders of the Deschutes Public Library system believe their $195 million bond on the Nov. 3 general election ballot — the county’s first library bond since 1998 — will allow the county’s library system to grow alongside its community by funding two jumbo-sized buildings and modernizing existing spaces.

These new libraries will create more meeting spaces and room for more books, movies and other materials, said Todd Dunkelberg, director of Deschutes Public Library.

“As our county is growing and our libraries are not, we’re trending towards one book per person,” he said. “Our goal is to get that number up.”

The bond’s big-ticket item is a new library in north Bend near Target. At 115,000 square feet, it would dwarf the system’s existing buildings. The county’s largest current library, in downtown Bend, is about 36,000 square feet.

Library leaders opted to build a single library near a highway, rather than several, smaller libraries in Bend neighborhood locations, partly because it would be easier to get to from other parts of Deschutes County. It’s also less expensive to build one large building than it is to build many smaller ones, said library board member Ann Malkin.

Dunkelberg and Malkin said they understood concerns about the new location being difficult to reach by biking or walking. But they pointed out that it was pedestrian-friendly for families living in the O.B. Riley Road corridor, and that there wasn’t space in inner-city Bend for a massive new building.

The new central library will also serve as the library system’s administrative center, freeing up space for patrons in the downtown Bend location, which will remain in use, Malkin said.

The second major bond item is a new Redmond library. The new building would stay in the same downtown Redmond location and be twice the size, at 44,000 square feet.

The existing library, built in 1929, is a bit too cramped and outdated for Redmond’s booming population, Malkin said.

“This really would be a big improvement for the people of Redmond,” she said.

If the bond passes, both of these buildings could be finished within five years, Dunkelberg said.

The other, smaller library branches would receive technology upgrades and more meeting rooms — some specifically equipped for Zoom meetings with cameras and computers, Dunkelberg said.

This year could be a tricky time to ask voters to approve a bond. The COVID-19 pandemic has had a negative impact on the economy and family budgets, and a Bend transportation bond and Redmond school bond are competing for attention.

However, Malkin pointed out that it’s difficult to find a major election date when there isn’t multiple other bonds on ballots in Deschutes County. And she hopes that voters will think of Central Oregon’s future, rather than the grim present, when they vote this year.

“This offers some hope in these hard times,” Malkin said. “This offers (voters) a chance to … show what our community values, and we value lifelong learning, support for our children.”