Whatcom County Library System (WCLS) provides public library services for residents of

Whatcom County Whatcom County is a county located in the northwestern corner of the U.S. state of Washington, bordered by the Canadian Lower Mainland (the Metro Vancouver and Fraser Valley Regional Districts of British Columbia) to the north, Okanogan ...

Washington Washington commonly refers to: * Washington (state), United States * Washington, D.C., the capital of the United States ** A metonym for the federal government of the United States ** Washington metropolitan area, the metropolitan area centered o ...

through 10

library A library is a collection of materials, books or media that are accessible for use and not just for display purposes. A library provides physical (hard copies) or digital access (soft copies) materials, and may be a physical location or a vir ...

branches, a

bookmobile A bookmobile or mobile library is a vehicle designed for use as a library. They have been known by many names throughout history, including traveling library, library wagon, book wagon, book truck, library-on-wheels, and book auto service. Bookm ...

, and on the web at http://www.wcls.org. Christine Perkins is the current WCLS Executive Director. Map of Washington highlighting Whatcom County

History

The first libraries in

were begun by women's clubs and organizations, and included facilities in Lynden, Ferndale, Blaine, and

Sumas Sumas () is a city in Whatcom County, Washington, United States. It had a population of 1,307 as of the 2010 census. Sumas is located adjacent to the Canada–U.S. border and borders the city of Abbotsford, British Columbia. The Sumas-Huntingd ...

. The origination of a county-wide library system dates to the 1940s, when the County Grange proposed the idea of consolidating existing services and extending outreach to other communities. In 1944, voters in unincorporated Whatcom County passed a measure initiating a tax for library services and forming the Rural Library District. In 1947 Sumas became the first city in Whatcom County to join WCLS.

Bookmobile A bookmobile or mobile library is a vehicle designed for use as a library. They have been known by many names throughout history, including traveling library, library wagon, book wagon, book truck, library-on-wheels, and book auto service. Bookm ...

services began that same year and continue to be maintained as an outreach function of WCLS, along with services to senior communities and to correctional facilities. Over the next several decades, other communities voted to join the library system, and through fundraising efforts by the various "Friends of the Library" groups, were able to update and maintain their individual branch facilities.

Whatcom County Library Foundation

In 2004, through a $25,000 grant received from the Pen Foundation for the

PEN/Newman's Own First Amendment Award Awards presented by the PEN American Center (today PEN America) that are no longer active. The awards are among many PEN awards sponsored by International PEN in over 145 PEN centres around the world. The PEN American Center awards have been ch ...

, WCLS instituted the Whatcom County Library Foundation. The Foundation is a nonprofit organization that assists in supporting the libraries of Whatcom County, and states that their focus is "to foster intellectual freedom and First Amendment rights and to encourage life-long learning." Among the endeavors supported by the Foundation are grants to WCLS libraries for special projects, support for building fundraising efforts, and the "Raise a Reader" program, which donates books to families of newborn infants at St Joseph's Hospital in Bellingham.

Services

WCLS offers library services to multiple communities throughout Whatcom County. At the system's branches and Bookmobile, the library hosts a wide variety of events, including storytime, author appearances, youth and family events, game nights, literacy programs and community-building events. The Outreach Program offers delivery of items to care centers, assisted living facilities and correctional institutions, as well as homebound patrons. WCLS also maintains an active

inter-library loan Interlibrary loan (abbreviated ILL, and sometimes called interloan, interlending, document delivery, document supply, or interlibrary services, abbreviated ILS) is a service where patrons of one library can borrow materials and receive photocopies ...

program for patrons. In 2010, WCLS became part of the Ask-WA online service, offered in conjunction with the Washington State Library. This program provides residents of

Washington state Washington (), officially the State of Washington, is a state in the Pacific Northwest region of the Western United States. Named for George Washington—the first U.S. president—the state was formed from the western part of the Washington ...

access to a

reference librarian The reference desk or information desk of a library is a public service counter where professional librarians provide library users with direction to library materials, advice on library collections and services, and expertise on multiple kinds ...

24 hours a day, 7 days a week. Patrons can submit their questions via the internet and conduct a live chat with a librarian. WCLS also maintains an online presence through social networks such as

Facebook Facebook is an online social media and social networking service owned by American company Meta Platforms. Founded in 2004 by Mark Zuckerberg with fellow Harvard College students and roommates Eduardo Saverin, Andrew McCollum, Dustin M ...

and

Twitter Twitter is an online social media and social networking service owned and operated by American company Twitter, Inc., on which users post and interact with 280-character-long messages known as "tweets". Registered users can post, like, and ...

, as well as the WCLS online catalog.

Collaboration

Although it is a separate library system, WCLS has maintained a reciprocal borrowing agreement with Bellingham Public Library since 1944. In 2010, WCLS became a member of "Whatcom Libraries Collaborate", a consortium of all academic and public libraries in

. Through this program, any cardholder from any member library can borrow materials from and return materials to any other member library. Whatcom County Library sponsors the
Whatcom READS! One Book Together
program in conjunction with the Whatcom County Library Foundation, Bellingham Public Library,

Whatcom Community College Whatcom Community College (WCC or Whatcom) is a public community college in Bellingham, Washington, in Whatcom County. Established in 1967, Whatcom has been accredited by the Northwest Commission on Colleges and Universities since 1976. Academi ...

Library,

Western Washington University Western Washington University (WWU or Western) is a public university in Bellingham, Washington. The northernmost university in the contiguous United States, WWU was founded in 1893 as the state-funded New Whatcom Normal School, succeeding a pri ...

Library,

Northwest Indian College Northwest Indian College (Xwlemi Elh>Tal>Nexw Squl) is a Public college, public Tribal colleges and universities, tribal Land-grant university, land-grant community college in Bellingham, Washington. It was established by the Lummi Nation and is ...

, the

Bellingham School District Bellingham School District No. 501 (referred to as Bellingham Public Schools) is a public school district in Whatcom County, Washington, United States, that serves the city of Bellingham. As of the 2019–2020 school year, the district had an ...

and their community partner
Village Books
Each year one book is selected as the central theme for the event, and a series of community discussion groups, author appearances, contests, and other activities are hosted throughout

."Whatcom Reads! One Book Together"
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WCLS Branch Locations

* Blaine Public Library * Deming Library * Everson McBeath Community Library * Ferndale Public Library *Island Library on

Lummi Island Lummi Island lies at the southwest corner of Whatcom County, Washington, United States, between the mainland part of the county and offshore San Juan County. The Lummi Indian Reservation is situated on a peninsula east of the island, but it d ...

* Lynden Library *North Fork Community Library in Kendall *

Point Roberts Point or points may refer to: Places * Point, Lewis, a peninsula in the Outer Hebrides, Scotland * Point, Texas, a city in Rains County, Texas, United States * Point, the NE tip and a ferry terminal of Lismore, Inner Hebrides, Scotland * Points ...

Library *South Whatcom Library in Sudden Valley *

Public Library

Bookmobile Stops

Lake Samish Lake Samish ( ) is a lake south of Bellingham, Washington, United States. Visible to the west of Interstate 5 when travelling between Alger and Bellingham, Lake Samish is heavily used for recreation in the summer months by local residents. ...

* Birch Bay *South Lake Whatcom *Wickersham

Notes

External links

Whatcom County Library System
{{Authority control Bellingham, Washington County library systems in Washington (state) Lynden, Washington Education in Whatcom County, Washington