In 1972, the
Oregon State Library awarded a $12,000
Library Services and Technology Act grant to the Mid-Willamette Valley Council of Governments to fund a study of the library needs of citizens in the tri-county area surrounding Salem, Oregon. At that time, statistics showed that of the 240,500 residents of the area, 100,000 did not have local library service. The plan that developed as a result of this study recommended implementation of five basic services: • a
bookmobile, • courier service between libraries, • a district-wide
library card, • provision of reference and information service for smaller libraries, and • a film circuit service. A bookmobile could not be funded in the first year of operation, so a books-by-mail service was implemented instead. Initial funding for this was provided by a 1973
Library Services and Construction Act grant. At that time, the Chemeketa Community College administration was designated the
fiscal agent for the grant money to fund the new Library Service. The Cooperative began operating in 1974, and in its first two years provided library service to 41,800 previously unserved, rural users. In 1975, special legislation (Oregon Senate Bill 160) authorized community college districts to establish public libraries, clearing the way for CCRLS to operate as a department of Chemeketa Community College. During its first decade of existence, CCRLS was funded through a series of levies. CCRLS was highly visible to the public because in order to keep the service running, CCRLS needed to approach the voters every few years for funding. Services changed in a minor way, with books-by-mail eventually being phased out as a less cost-effective service. In 1985, the Chemeketa District voters approved a tax base for the college, a portion of which was dedicated to CCRLS. This created (before the years of property tax limitations), the first stable funding for a public library multi-jurisdictional system in the State of Oregon. This funding allowed CCRLS to pursue library
automation, and for the first time, the CCRLS member libraries were linked by a computer network and
integrated library system that allowed library users to search all 18 libraries' catalogs at one time, and request material from any of those locations to be delivered to their home library within days. ==CCRLS today==