Greenburgh Public Library Blog

What is The Westchester Library System?

Have you ever gone to our library website to see if a book is available and upon entering the title or author into the search bar found yourself transported to the Westchester Library System webpage?  This often prompts the questions, “What is the Westchester Library System?” and “What does WLS have to do with GPL?”

Greenburgh Public Library is one of 38 public libraries in Westchester County.  Each of those libraries is independently funded by their Town or School District or by means of a special district tax levy, but all of them share certain resources through the Westchester Library System (WLS).  For example, the technology that keeps track of library materials and lets you know if an item is on the shelf or tells you the date it is due is run by WLS. They also facilitate internet access in most libraries and coordinate the purchase of electronic resources such as eBooks, eAudio, databases and various streaming services.  WLS is also responsible for the courier service that moves material from one library in the county to another in order to fulfill a patron request for an item that wasn’t available in their home library. 

The Westchester Library System receives most of its funding from the state to provide this technology and the staff to support services to its member libraries.  In addition the system coordinates state and federal grant coordination, professional development opportunities for staff, and consultants to help librarians, administrators and library trustees in their work. 

There are twenty-three public library systems in the State of New York and virtually all of the 755 public libraries in the state are members of one of these systems which were established in the 1950’s to facilitate the sharing of resources and consolidate purchase power.

While the system links the libraries of Westchester through technology and professional support, each library is governed independently by its own board of trustees and receives funding from its own source.  In a way Westchester Library System can be viewed as a cooperative in which each library is funded by and responsible to its own community while WLS provides an infrastructure that optimizes the common operations.

So, the next time you find your search takes you from greenburghlibrary.org to westchesterlibraries.org you are benefiting from the centralized service provided by the Westchester Library System.