Tualatin library director: Washington County funding changes and planned centralized collections risk local service and staff

Jeriann Thompson, Tualatin Library Director and Equity and Inclusion Officer, updated the City Council on June 23 about proposed funding and governance changes in the Washington County Cooperative Library Services (WCCLS) system, including a draft funding allocation methodology and a plan to centralize collection management.

Thompson told the council the proposal under consideration would use service population and a calculated number of full-time-equivalent positions to determine each library’s share of county funding. Based on the draft methodology, Washington County would fund roughly 15 FTE for the Tualatin Library while the city currently staffs 20.5 FTE, Thompson said. She cautioned that the county’s plan to centralize collection management — an administrative consolidation of book selection, purchasing and cataloging — could yield net savings but would risk losing local collection focus and some staff roles.

“We must ensure that we have ways to maintain this high-quality customer service that familiarity generates,” Thompson said, describing collection selection as an important way local librarians tailor holdings to community needs.

Key figures and timelines Thompson provided: WCCLS has divided the county into library service areas; Tualatin’s proposed service population is about 31,000 people. The current WCCLS local option levy provides roughly 45% of the cooperative’s budget and is set to expire June 2026; the county is considering a draft levy increase described in materials as a 37¢ local option levy (current rate cited in the presentation as 22¢ per $1,000 of assessed value). County materials shown to the council projected that, under the draft funding and revenue model, the funding mix could shift to approximately two-thirds from the local option levy and one-third from the Washington County General Fund.

Thompson said WCCLS staff and the county are aiming to avoid abrupt cuts: at a June 10 Board of Commissioners work session, commissioners directed staff to “do no harm” in implementing any methodology changes. Councilors repeatedly asked for clarifications about what “do no harm” means; Thompson described it as board direction to avoid driving any library into a financial deficit and to temper large proposed increases or decreases so changes could be implemented more gradually.

Multiple council members asked about operational impacts. Thompson said centralized collections would likely be implemented through a contract and that WCCLS plans to issue an RFP later this year to hire a consultant to manage the transition; county documents cited a start for centralized collection management of July 2027. She said the projected savings cited by the consultant would come primarily from eliminating duplicate local staff positions who currently select, order and catalog materials at each branch.

Councilors raised questions about equity, usage measures, indirect costs and service hours. Thompson noted the draft methodology currently emphasizes service population rather than usage metrics such as checkouts or program attendance; she said usage was a factor in past allocations and could be added but had been omitted in the current draft. Thompson also said that the base service level discussion includes a 45-hours-per-week minimum but that Tualatin intends to maintain 54 open hours per week. She said indirect costs (for example, legal advice and facilities maintenance departments supplied by the city) are being estimated for apples-to-apples comparisons across jurisdictions.

Council members expressed concern about potential loss of local expertise and the human services role libraries play. Councilor Brooks asked about county funding volatility and service impacts for residents who rely on local human-touch services. Thompson acknowledged those concerns and said Tualatin’s staff would seek collaborative, deliberative planning with WCCLS to preserve local input on collections and services.

Next steps: WCCLS and county staff plan further meetings with city managers and library leaders this summer. Thompson said a decision point on funding allocation, governance and service boundaries is planned for late September; centralized collection management is listed in county materials as beginning in July 2027, contingent on decisions about funding and implementation processes.