Bridging Communities, Connecting Library Services
| Bridging Communities, Connecting Library Services | |
|---|---|
| Location | Northeastern New Jersey |
| Established | 1979 |
| Branches | 77 |
| Collection | |
| Size | 5 million |
| Access and use | |
| Circulation | 12 million (2018) |
| Population served | 1.2 million |
| Members | 670,000 |
| Other information | |
| Website | bccls |
The Bridging Communities, Connecting Library Services (formerly known as 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. 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.
As of 2025, there are 78 public libraries participating in the consortium. All 62 of Bergen County's public libraries are members of BCCLS, along with 16 library systems from other counties with 11 in Essex, 4 in Hudson, and one in Passaic County. 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.