Public library service in Washington County is provided by a partnership between Washington County, nine cities, and three nonprofit organizations (together known as the Cooperative). This long-standing partnership has been in place since 1976. WCCLS is a department of Washington County, and provides funding, core infrastructure, and support services to link sixteen library buildings into one countywide system which benefits all County residents. Library buildings are operated by our partner agencies (cities or nonprofits), and partners provide staff, physical collections, programs, and services.

The Board of County Commissioners is the governing board for the Cooperative, and the WCCLS Executive Board is advisory to the Board of Commissioners. The WCCLS Executive Board is composed of executive administrative leadership from city partners, and executive leadership from nonprofit partners. The WCCLS Policy Group is advisory to the WCCLS Executive Board and is composed of the library directors from our partner agencies. 

In FY23-24, WCCLS is funded by a $22.37 million transfer from Washington County’s General Fund and $16.38 million in revenue from a local option levy that expires in June 2026. The General Fund transfer is a legacy of a library serial levy that was rolled into the County’s permanent tax base with Measures 5/50. There is no requirement for this legacy General Fund transfer to continue, and it has been a long-standing practice. In FY23-24, the General Fund transfer to WCCLS was reduced by 7%. This combined revenue of $38.75 million, in addition to $2.03 million being drawn from WCCLS’ funding reserve, allows WCCLS to provide $27.79 million in library funding allocations for partner agencies, and $12.99 million to fund the core infrastructure and support services provided by WCCLS.

For Washington County libraries to continue to provide these critical services to the community into the future, WCCLS and partners must explore crucial questions about funding and governance. There is increasing pressure on County and partner financial resources, and the cost to deliver service is outpacing available revenues. The system and partners would benefit from a rational and sustainable model for funding and delivering library service in our County, which would address the following needs:

• Develop a consistent funding formula with specific criteria that establishes how much County funding each partner agency receives, to equitably serve diverse communities.
• Explore a minimum or matching local funding commitment for partners to receive County funding for libraries.
• Create a countywide base level of library service, including a mechanism to plan and fund library service points based on countywide analysis of community demographic data, future developments, and geography.

These current issues ultimately impact the level of library service available to different communities and impact the overall sustainability of the public library system. These issues are not new for the library cooperative and have come up over the decades. A comprehensive analysis and roadmap were released in 2009 (linked in supplemental information section), but at the time, stakeholders decided to maintain the status quo. Two years ago, WCCLS and partner agencies were discussing funding allocations for the library levy renewal, with no new revenue available. Partners raised concerns about the equity of the funding formula, and WCCLS committed to addressing these issues, capturing that commitment in the Public Library Network Services and Funding Intergovernmental Agreement with city and nonprofit partner agencies (linked in supplemental information section): 

Commencing a multi-year process to analyze cooperative governance and funding structures, including data analysis, community indicators, and community and stakeholder engagement. Evaluating the funding structure and recommending solutions to address inequities with future library funding allocations and services. Planning for the structural and funding investments needed during the next levy. Contracting with firms to support this evaluation and engagement work.