Timberland Regional Library

Timberland (TRL) was created in 1968 as an Intercounty Rural Library District by a vote of the residents of the unincorporated areas of the five counties (Grays Harbor, Lewis, Mason, Pacific and Thurston) after a Demonstration Project (1964-1968) funded by federal, state and local grants.

The service area covers nearly 7,000 square miles and now (2010) serves a population of 464,420 residents through 27 community libraries with a collection of nearly 1.7 million items. The District is governed by a seven-member Board of Trustees appointed by county commissioners, with a trustee from each county and two additional trustees filling at-large positions.

Before TRL was created, Lewis County had no library service in the rural areas. In the rural areas of the other counties, service was provided by the South Puget Sound Regional Library, the Grays Harbor County Rural Library District and the Pacific County Rural Library District. During the 1964-68 Demonstration Project, grant funds enabled new library service through rented buildings in Tumwater and Lacey and bookmobiles in previously un-served rural areas.

Many cities within TRL provided their citizens with library service for years prior to the creation of the rural county library districts. Seven of these cities owned original Andrew Carnegie funded buildings or other gifted facilities. Others provided service from space in city halls or other city buildings. After TRL was created, most of these cities began contracting with TRL for library service to take advantage of economies of scale and more services and resources. By 1975, seventeen cities with independent municipal libraries had contracted with TRL. The last city to bring its library into TRL was Shelton in 1988.

All eighteen cities continue to contract with TRL for service or have annexed to the District. Through the branches in these cities, TRL serves most of the population of the District-both city residents and rural residents. A key part of TRL's model of service is to combine the revenue from both the rural areas and the cities and use it to provide enhanced services and resources through the city branches. In more remote rural areas far from cities, TRL has replaced bookmobiles with buildings using grant funds and timber revenue. Better library service has been established in the far corners of the District. Also in rural areas, TRL has created partnerships with schools and tribes to create service points called cooperative library centers which provide library services to the general public a few hours a week.

Besides the books, magazines, newspapers, tapes, videos, CDs, programs and other services available in community libraries and cooperative library centers, TRL also provides outreach services to groups and individuals District wide. In recent years, TRL added access to information services via toll free telephone 7 days a week as well as access to the library's computer catalog and many other computerized resources 24 hours a day 7 days a week. Most customers use and enjoy the library as a physical place, but an increasing number of customers use the library as a virtual library. TRL continually seeks creative ways to meet the needs of the residents of the District.

Timberland Regional Library provides:
Information, Resources, Services, and Places Where all people are free to: Read, Learn, Connect, and Grow

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