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Tell the ohio statehouse: don't cut ohio libraries!

Ohio’s libraries are facing an unprecedented challenge in the Ohio legislature, and we need your help.

Many of you have sent messages to Representative Heidi Workman and House Speaker Huffman. Thank you!  Unfortunately, the House did not change their proposal and has passed their version of the budget that eliminated the Public Library Fund. That proposed budget is now being discussed and debated in the Ohio Senate. You can help by telling your state senator to keep library funding in place as Governor DeWine proposed in his budget.

Please contact Senator Kristina D. Roegner and Senate President Rob McColley.  Explain how cuts and changes to library funding will directly impact you and the community. Please share your library story with these legislators to help them understand the critical role public libraries have in our state. 

If you want your tax dollars to come back from Columbus and to support your library, contact Senator Roegner by phone at (614)466-4823 or send a message using her website contact page.  Contact Senate President McColley by phone at (614)466-8150 and at his contact page. Ask that the Senate restore the Public Library Fund as Governor DeWine proposed and that they vote down the House's proposed budget. Explain how important the library is to you and your neighborhood.

For Reed Memorial Library, the Public Library Fund makes 49% of all RML operations possible (another 40% is from local taxes passed by voters like you). Many Ohio libraries lack local funds and rely solely on state funds.

How will the House’s version of the budget impact Ohio?

  • The Ohio House of Representatives’ biennium budget proposal eliminates the Public Library Fund, a mechanism that has funded 251 public library systems for four decades.
  • Ohio House Members want to replace the Public Library Fund with a lump dollar amount for all Ohio libraries, resulting in cuts to libraries across the state.
  • The Public Library Fund has remained flat for 25 years and House Members have put forward a dollar amount that does not account for a quarter of a century of inflation.
  • The line-item change could also result in striking library funding completely from future budgets.

The state budget process will likely last until late June as you can see in the diagram below. We will continue to update you as we receive information. Thank you for advocating for your library. 

chart showing the timeline of the Ohio state budget approval process