The Fort Vancouver Regional Libraries system has 15 branches and two bookmobiles that serve an area of 4,200 square miles (11,000 km2) across four counties in Southwest Washington.

[3] As of 2023[update], FVRL has over 147,000 active patrons and an annual circulation of 5.4 million for its 705,000 items, which include physical and digital materials.

Records indicate that the library was located in Fort Vancouver, and provided service to officers of the Hudson's Bay Company.

[5] The Vancouver Catholic Library Association was established between the years of 1865 and 1870, and in 1872 was reported to maintain a collection of 1,000 volumes.

An initial collection of 27 books was gathered and housed in the same building as the Vancouver Independent, the local newspaper of the period.

In December 1878, the Vancouver Library Association moved its small collection of books from the offices of the Independent to the newly established Free Reading Room.

A petition was put before the city council to establish a tax-supported public library, and on April 4 of that year the request was granted.

[10] Over the next 30 years, the Vancouver Public Library, headed by Mrs. Marion Pirkey, grew to nearly 20,000 volumes.

The popularity of the library grew over the next decade as Camas experienced rapid industrial growth.

[13] When the United States entered into World War II in 1942, Vancouver was heavily impacted due to the heavy population growth as workers flocked to the area to work at the Kaiser Shipyards.

[19] Over the next 5 years, the idea of unifying the County and the City Library systems was continuously discussed, without agreement being reached.

During this time, the library opened up a new location in the Vancouver Mall and expanded its area of service to include Klickitat County.

Nancy Tessman, formerly of Salt Lake City Public library, was selected as the new director in 2012, and served through 2015.