WHO WE ARE
BCCLS
WHAT IS "BUCKLES"?
BCCLS is a consortium of 78 public libraries in northern New Jersey. By county, there are 62 in Bergen, 11 in Essex, 4 in Hudson, and 1 in Passaic.
BCCLS libraries have over 800,000 registered cardholders and over 5,000,000 items held among all member libraries.
OUR MISSION
BCCLS empowers our member libraries by providing a collaborative framework made stronger by the uniqueness of its members. We demonstrate our commitment to collaboration through cost-effective resource sharing, shared professional development, and the fostering of initiatives to facilitate a forward-thinking public library system.
OUR VISION
We will empower our member libraries by fostering opportunities for collaboration, harnessing our collective power to respond to evolving technological needs, prioritizing professional development support, and working with regional and statewide partners to increase community engagement with libraries and nurture new library champions.
OUR GOVERNANCE
2024 Executive Board - Library Representatives
| Adele Puccio, President | Fair Lawn |
| Diane Sweatlock, Vice President | River Vale |
| David Hanson, Secretary | BCCLS |
| Dave Franz, Treasurer | Hillsdale |
| Sara Cassaro | Bogota |
| Julie Kim, Trustee | Cresskill |
| Camille Valentino | Emerson |
| Elysse Fink | Franklin Lakes |
| Monica Smith | Hawthorne |
| Michael Banick | Millburn |
| Amy Varano, Trustee | Montvale |
| Martha Urbiel | Westwood |
OUR COMMITTEES
The organization draws strength from its role as a professional association that provides peer expertise and support. This association function is essential in addressing the divergent needs of the individual members while staying focused on the goals and objectives of the organization as a whole.
HISTORY OF BCCLS
In 1979, a small group of Bergen County library directors came together to come up with ways to seamlessly share resources in order to maximize individual library dollars spent on materials. Initial funding assistance came from the New Jersey State Library and the Bergen County Board of Chosen Freeholders, the latter of which has provided funding annually since 1979. By 1987, library automation had begun within the Bergen County Computer Consortium, technically a separate organization until its merger with BCCLS in 1989. By 1990, almost all existing Bergen County public libraries had joined BCCLS, and BCCLS welcomed its first non-Bergen library (Louis Bay 2nd Library in Hawthorne) in 1992. Now comprised of 78 member libraries, BCCLS has taken on many different responsibilities through the years, including training for library staff, maintenance of library networking infrastructure, and the eBCCLS digital collection, to name just a select few.
Reciprocal Borrowing
BCCLS reciprocal borrowing program was a pioneer in New Jersey resource sharing. The New Jersey State Library and the Bergen County Board of Chosen Freeholders provided the initial 1979 funding. The State Library grants ended in 1982, but the County of Bergen has continued to fund BCCLS without interruption since 1979, with most of the annual grant money allocated to this program. All of the monies for the program was returned to net lenders without overhead charges. The formula for reimbursement was done on a net lender basis with distributions twice yearly. Fees paid by the member libraries – more for non-Bergen members – augmented the County’s $125,000 grant in 2013 for reciprocal borrowing. There were more than 2.3 million reciprocal loans out of close to a 11 million total Circulation total. Beginning in 2005, renewals were no longer counted in reciprocal activity. The reciprocal loan count included close to 1 million electronic loans which were delivered to the patron’s library (or another pick-up location of their choosing).
Integrated Library Management Systems
BCCLS also supports resource sharing with an integrated library circulation and catalog system. Beginning in 2010, to improve local connections and save money, the T1 based local connections to an OC3/T3 WAN were replaced by cable connections. The annual savings in telecommunications is approximately $125K and the project was completed in early 2011.
BCCLS ran DRA Classic library management software since April 1987. On December 15th, 2004, SirsiDynix’s Unicorn library management software replaced it. The Web2 public catalog was introduced on January 1, 2000. BCCLS began running on the Polaris Library system since December 12, 2012. The first networked pc was installed in Teaneck in April 1996; as of December 2013 more than 1400 devices are connected to the BCCLS domain.
Training
BCCLS has provided full time professional training since it installed its first automated system in 1987. In July 1997, BCCLS created a full featured training center with support provided equally by the New Jersey State Library, the Highlands Regional Library Cooperative, and the BCCLS members. This facility was expanded in 1999.
People
BCCLS is organized as a member responsive organization with current staffing levels at 18 full time employees (4 with MLS degrees) headed by the Executive Director who reports to a 12 member Executive Board, and a System Council comprising all members of BCCLS.