Consulting for WCCLS Funding and Governance Evaluation Project

This project is an exciting opportunity to help a long-standing multi-agency library service delivery partnership continue to thrive. Washington County partners with nine cities and three nonprofit agencies, providing funding, infrastructure, and support services to link 16 independently operated library locations into one system for all county residents to access. Washington County Cooperative Library Services (WCCLS, a department of Washington County) is looking to evaluate and establish sustainable service levels, funding models, and distribution formulas for public library service in our county. We are also looking for recommendations for near-term governance improvements to improve mutual accountability, and for recommendations for a long-term governance roadmap. This project will entail facilitating, under the direction of Washington County, representatives from our partner agencies through a process to evaluate the current state of the system and develop mutually agreeable solutions to meet the deliverables. County, cities, and nonprofits all agree that we are stronger together, support the value of public libraries in our communities, and want to work in partnership to deliver library service in a sustainable, effective, and equitable way. In FY21-22, Washington County libraries were the busiest per capita in the state of Oregon. WCCLS libraries are beloved community assets, and we are excited to embark on this project as a cooperative.