Barbara Swanson Sanders spent decades putting books into the hands of Washington County children.

Now a bronze sculpture she commissioned 36 years ago is doing the same thing, permanently, outside the Hillsboro Brookwood Library.

Today, the City of Hillsboro announced "Inner Journey," a 42-inch-tall bronze depicting a seated figure reading a book, has been installed near the library entrance at 2850 N.E. Brookwood Parkway. It is the first bronze sculpture in Hillsboro's public art collection, according to the city's announcement.

Sanders's career in local education stretches back to 1971, when she taught kindergarten at the opening of W.V. McKinney Elementary School.

In 1979 she became the first librarian at Minter Bridge Elementary School, building that library's collection from scratch in the same WCCLS system that serves Cedar Mill and Bethany cardholders.

Newberg sculptor Bill Bane made "Inner Journey" back in 1990. Bane is also known for the Vera Katz statue on Portland's Eastbank Esplanade. Swanson Sanders commissioned the piece for her Catalyst Book Store, a children's literature shop she opened in 1988 on Northwest 23rd Avenue in Portland. The sculpture greeted customers at the store's entrance for more than a decade.

Customers rubbed its foot for good luck so often they polished the bronze smooth. Swanson Sanders continued the tradition each evening, calling the sculpture "a symbol of hope for tomorrow and more readers to visit the store," according to the city's announcement.

After Catalyst closed in 2002, the sculpture sat in Swanson Sanders' backyard for more than two decades. Plans to donate it began in 2025, when she expressed interest in placing it at one of Hillsboro's libraries. The city selected the Brookwood branch because it had no exterior public art.

The city described the donation as "a personal full-circle moment" for Swanson Sanders, whose career also included teaching children's literature at Concordia University and speaking nationally on using books in classrooms.

How to see it

The sculpture is visible to anyone visiting the Brookwood Library at 2850 N.E. Brookwood Parkway, Hillsboro. The library is part of the WCCLS system, which serves Bethany, Cedar Mill, Oak Hills, and West Haven-Sylvan cardholders.