The Weber County Library System (WCLS) is a public library system in northern Utah, United States. The WCLS serves a population of approximately 213,000 Weber County residents, with interlocal agreements, extending access to 330,000 residents in surrounding counties. The WCLS consists of a main library in Ogden, and four branches located in Roy, North Ogden, Huntsville, and Washington Terrace.
History
On January 22, 1864, the Legislative Assembly of the Territory of Utah created the first Ogden Library Board. Since there was no provision allowing local governments to levy a specific tax in support of a public library, local businessmen and citizens provided funding for Ogden's first library.
While the library service in Ogden City had its beginnings in the 1860s, it was not until 1903 that the Ogden Carnegie Free Library, the first public library building in Utah, opened its doors. In 1968 the Weber County Main Library was dedicated, and the Carnegie Free Library's historical collection became a core resource of this new flagship of Utah's first county-wide system. This collection has since been systematically enhanced, facilities have been added, and programs have been created and honed to continually improve services to area residents. The WCLS has also evolved into a regional resource center, serving residents of six northern Utah counties.
The Weber County Library System also has an extensive periodical collection. This collection has a continuous run of titles from Pooles Index, and the indices that superseded it, from the mid-nineteenth century to the present. The facility houses an extensive collection of materials on local and state history, and an in-depth selection of fiction works by Utah and regional authors. The Main Library also maintains a non-circulating Special Collection that contains thousands of unique and mostly out-of-print titles on topics of importance to Utah and the West.
The WCLS serves a population of approximately 213,000 Weber County residents, with interlocal agreements, extending access to 330,000 residents in surrounding counties. The WCLS consists of a Main Library and a Public Law Library in Ogden, and four Branch libraries located in surrounding cities.
In 2013, Weber County voters approved a $45 million bond to renovate and upgrade the Ogden Valley Branch, Main Library, and North Branch while also constructing a new Southwest Branch that would double as its headquarters. The final project of this is due to be completed in the summer of 2018, when the North Branch's renovation will be completed.
The library has approximately 100 staff members and an annual operating budget of just over $6,500,000. The WCLS is also supported by an active Friends of the Library organization and Development Foundation, which provides money for capital projects as well as more than 125 volunteers who work with the staff as literacy tutors, library specialists, and maintenance staff.
Libraries in the system
Law Library
The Weber County Law Library is Utah's largest public law library north of Salt Lake City. The Law Library collection, which is almost entirely non-circulating, is primarily used for reference and research. Its holdings include state and federal appellate case reporters, legal encyclopedias, federal and state statutes, and a representative collection of major legal treatises. The Law Library has a unique historical collection of case law reporters that extend back to the 1880s, and also supports access to state-of-the-art online legal databases.
Ogden Branch Main Library
The Ogden Library houses the majority of the reference collection for the system and serves as a branch library for the communities that surround it. Its primary service areas are the cities of Ogden, South Ogden, Washington Terrace, and areas south to the county line, comprising approximately 92,000 people. After being closed for renovations since November 2016, the Main Library reopened on April 4, 2018 and was rededicated on April 7, 2018.