The Jefferson County Library Cooperative (JCLC) is a 501(c)(3) tax-exempt

Tax exemption

Various tax systems grant a tax exemption to certain organizations, persons, income, property or other items taxable under the system. Tax exemption may also refer to a personal allowance or specific monetary exemption which may be claimed by an individual to reduce taxable income under some...

 education

Education

Education in its broadest, general sense is the means through which the aims and habits of a group of people lives on from one generation to the next. Generally, it occurs through any experience that has a formative effect on the way one thinks, feels, or acts...

al consortium

Consortium

A consortium is an association of two or more individuals, companies, organizations or governments with the objective of participating in a common activity or pooling their resources for achieving a common goal....

 of public libraries

Library

In a traditional sense, a library is a large collection of books, and can refer to the place in which the collection is housed. Today, the term can refer to any collection, including digital sources, resources, and services...

 in Jefferson County, Alabama

Jefferson County, Alabama

Jefferson County is the most populous county in the U.S. state of Alabama, with its county seat being located in Birmingham.As of the 2010 U.S. Census, the population of Jefferson County was 658,466...

. The JCLC administrative office is located at the Birmingham Public Central Library

Birmingham Public Library

For the main library in Birmingham, England see, Birmingham Central Library.The Birmingham Public Library, a well-respected and one of the largest library systems in the southeastern United States, consists of 19 branches and a main or central library located in downtown Birmingham, Alabama...

. The member libraries within the cooperative

Cooperative

A cooperative is a business organization owned and operated by a group of individuals for their mutual benefit...

 are autonomous, with each one maintaining its own board

Board of directors

A board of directors is a body of elected or appointed members who jointly oversee the activities of a company or organization. Other names include board of governors, board of managers, board of regents, board of trustees, and board of visitors...

, director

Executive director

Executive director is a term sometimes applied to the chief executive officer or managing director of an organization, company, or corporation. It is widely used in North American non-profit organizations, though in recent decades many U.S. nonprofits have adopted the title "President/CEO"...

 and budget

Budget

A budget is a financial plan and a list of all planned expenses and revenues. It is a plan for saving, borrowing and spending. A budget is an important concept in microeconomics, which uses a budget line to illustrate the trade-offs between two or more goods...

.

History

Jefferson County has had a countywide public library service since 1924, however, no-fee service for Jefferson County citizens began in 1978. In 1985, it was reorganized as Birmingham Area Library Services under the framework issued by the Alabama Public Library Service. In 1997, it was renamed the Jefferson County Library Cooperative and continues to operate as a not-for-profit

Non-profit organization

Nonprofit organization is neither a legal nor technical definition but generally refers to an organization that uses surplus revenues to achieve its goals, rather than distributing them as profit or dividends...

 educational organization.

Member libraries

• Adamsville Library
• Avondale Regional Branch Library
• Bessemer Library
• Birmingham Botanical Gardens Library
• Central Library
  Birmingham Public Library
  For the main library in Birmingham, England see, Birmingham Central Library.The Birmingham Public Library, a well-respected and one of the largest library systems in the southeastern United States, consists of 19 branches and a main or central library located in downtown Birmingham, Alabama...
  
  
• East Ensley Branch Library
• East Lake Branch Library
• Eastwood Branch Library
• Emmet O'Neal Library
• Ensley Branch Library
• Five Points West Regional Library
• Fultondale Library
• Gardendale-Martha Moore Library
• Graysville Public Library
• Homewood Library
• Hoover Public Library
• Hueytown Public Library
• Inglenook Branch Library
• Irondale Public Library
• Leeds-Jane Culbreth Public Library
• Midfield Public Library
• North Avondale Branch Library
• North Birmingham Regional Branch Library
• Pleasant Grove Public Library
• Powderly Branch Library
• Pratt City Branch Library
• Slossfield Branch Library
• Smithfield Branch Library
• Southside Branch Library
• Springville Road Regional Branch Library
• Tarrant Public Library
• Titusville Branch Library
• Trussville Public Library
• Vestavia Hills Public Library
• Walter J. Hanna Library
• Warrior-Evelyn Thornton Public Library
• West End Branch Library
• Woodlawn Branch Library
• Wylam Branch Library

External links

• Jefferson County Library Cooperative
• Jefferson County Library Cooperative Catalog
• Map of the Jefferson County Library Cooperative's Libraries