Douglas County's first library was established in 1912 to serve
Myrtle Creek. The Myrtle Creek library was followed by other local systems in
Roseburg,
Reedsport,
Glendale,
Drain,
Yoncalla, and
Sutherlin in the 1920s and 1930s. The Douglas County Library System was established in 1953, based in Roseburg and operating eight branches across the county. Two new libraries were built for
Winston and
Riddle in the 1960s, and in 1994, a new main branch was opened in Roseburg. forcing the system to run on grants from the
Ford Family Foundation until a public vote on funding could be held in 2016. The Douglas County Board of Commissioners voted in June 2016 to place a
ballot measure asking to create a public library district and fund it using a
property tax of 44 cents per $1,000 in assessed value. During the November 2016 election, the library ballot measure was rejected by 55 percent of Douglas County voters. After the failure of the ballot measure, the county government sought other funding solutions, opting to run through the end of June with funds from the county's general fund. The ten branch locations of the library system closed on April 1, 2017. The Roseburg main branch closed on May 31, 2017, and library supporters held a
wake during its final evening in service. The Douglas County system became the third county library system in Oregon to be closed, after
Jackson and
Josephine counties closed their systems in 2007. Both systems later re-opened under non-government management in limited capacity. ==Branches==