Washington County Libraries: Writing Our Future Together

How libraries serve our communities

As a resident of Washington County, you know it is a special and unique place to live. What you may not know is that in Washington County, we run our public libraries in a unique way, too.

Many library systems across the country are centrally managed, where one agency operates all branch locations. Here in Washington County, we have done things a little differently. Since 1976, public library services have been delivered to the community in a cooperative partnership between Washington County, nine cities, and three non-profit agencies. This is unique, and we may be the only library system in the country that is administered and funded in this way. Washington County Cooperative Library Services, or WCCLS, is a department of Washington County; WCCLS provides much of the funding to run locally owned libraries, which are managed by a city or a non-profit agency.

Cities and non-profit agencies receive more than $27 million in operational funding annually from WCCLS, supported by the county's general fund and voter-approved five-year operating levy. In addition, WCCLS provides e-books and audiobooks, central services, and internet to link local libraries into one system that anyone can use, whether you live in North Plains or Beaverton, Garden Home or Sherwood.

Cities own their library buildings, hire staff, purchase physical collections, and host local programs and events. Cities also provide funding to their libraries, which comes from their city’s tax base. Non-profit agencies run libraries in unincorporated areas of Washington County, like Aloha, Bethany, Cedar Mill, and Garden Home. These non-profit libraries lease their buildings, and contribute some operational funding to their libraries, which comes from local fundraising efforts.

Challenges and opportunities

This way of providing library service in our county creates efficiencies by centralizing some core services, such as e-books and audiobooks, internet access, catalog and the sorting and delivery of library materials between buildings. This model also allows local cities and non-profits to maintain a strong connection to the surrounding community, helping them serve local needs.

Washington County libraries are well used and enthusiastically supported in our communities. However, this model of providing library services in Washington County also brings challenges. As a local resident, you have seen how quickly our communities have grown in recent years, and the increase in social challenges, especially coming out of the pandemic. Like so many public agencies in Oregon, public libraries serve an increasing community need, yet the cost of delivering services outpaces our revenue.

WCCLS and our partners recognize that the historical method used to distribute funding to libraries does not fulfill our commitment to ensure that libraries are accessible for all county residents. We also want to ensure that library funding is sustainable and that we are providing services that best meet the current needs of residents.

Making Washington County libraries even better

You know that our libraries are an important and well loved community resource. Libraries support student success and lifelong learning. In addition to this traditional role, libraries provide essential internet and technology access, and connect community members to social services.

WCCLS and our partners are committed to ensuring that public dollars for library services are used effectively and distributed fairly; our goal is to provide services that are relevant and responsive to the current needs of our growing and diverse communities.

As we look to the future, WCCLS is working with a local consulting firm. Merina+Co is leading a data-driven and collaborative process with our partners to determine the best way to continue to provide relevant, reliable, and accessible library services to everyone in the County, now and well into the future. This process will help inform the recommendations for the next library levy that WCCLS will bring to the Board of County Commissioners in early 2025.

Learn more about the process

We appreciate the leadership of our Board of County Commissioners in supporting this data-driven evaluation process, where Washington County libraries are writing our future, together with our partners and community members. We will continue to post documents and updates about the process on this page, as Washington County libraries write our future together.