Bergen County Cooperative Library System

Bergen County Cooperative Library System
LocationNorthern New Jersey
Established1979
Branches77
Collection
Size5 million[1]
Access and use
Circulation12 million (2018)[2]
Population served1.2 million[2]
Members670,000[2]
Other information
Websitewww.bccls.org Edit this at Wikidata

The Bergen County Cooperative Library System (BCCLS, pronounced "buckles") is a consortium of public libraries in the four northeastern New Jersey Gateway Region counties of Bergen, Hudson, Passaic, and Essex. Founded on October 1, 1979, the organization allows for reciprocal borrowing among its members so that books, audiobooks, CDs, DVDs and other media are shared among the libraries cooperatively.[3] Those with a valid library card from participating towns are permitted to reserve materials online and have them transferred to their local library, where materials can be retrieved.[4]

The Leonia Public Library, as seen in 1980

As of 2019, there are 77 public libraries with a total of 81 branches participating in the consortium.[5] All of Bergen County's public libraries are members of the BCCLS, along with 15 libraries from Essex, Hudson, and Passaic counties.[6] A patron's hometown library card is honored at all participating libraries. The BCCLS had also participated in the Open Borrowing (www.openborrowing.org) program, with participating libraries in Middlesex, Morris, Passaic, Sussex and Warren counties; this participation ended on January 1, 2015.[7]

  1. ^ "FAQ". Retrieved 20 February 2017.
  2. ^ a b c "What Is "Buckles"?". Retrieved 20 February 2017.
  3. ^ "BCCLS: History". www.bccls.org. Retrieved 2018-12-19.
  4. ^ "BCCLS". www.bccls.org.
  5. ^ "libraries.org: search results -- the library is a member of Bergen County Cooperative Library System". www.librarytechnology.org.
  6. ^ "A Funding Dispute Turns Eyes Towards BCCLS". tapinto.net. July 6, 2019.
  7. ^ "BCCLS - News".