Ohioans committed to public libraries

Ohioans have historically shown their commitment to lifelong learning in how our state's public libraries are funded. Since 2008, the state's portion of that support has come through the Public Library Fund (PLF). At that time, the PLF received 2.2% of the state's total general tax revenue, or around $450.6 million. In 2009, then-Gov. Ted Strickland proposed reducing funding to the PLF by 30% to balance the state's budget. Patrons of Ohio's public libraries quickly responded, causing the Ohio General Assembly to reject this proposal. Instead, the PLF was reduced to 1.97% of the state's total general tax revenue. It was reduced again to 1.66% in 2014. Through significant advocacy efforts by the Ohio Library Council, Ohio's public libraries and other library advocates, the PLF was increased to 1.7% for the state Fiscal Year 2022-23 biennium. In 2023, Gov. DeWine, the House and the Senate agreed to continue public library funding at 1.7% of the state budget. However, the legislature made significant changes to the state personal income tax for tax year 2023. These changes meant that although the PLF percentage remained at 1.7% from 2023 to 2024, libraries actually received a 5.6% reduction in state support. PLF dollars are distributed by the state to each county in Ohio. At the county level, the Auditor's Office is responsible for distributing those funds to the public libraries that serve that county. Locally, the PLF distribution is shared by seven library systems, each with at least a portion of their service area in our county. These funds are divided by a formula developed by those libraries which considers need, capacity and performance, as measured by statistics reported annually to the State Library of Ohio. The Findlay-Hancock County Public Library is fortunate to also have local support through the 0.5-mill property tax levy first passed in 2010. Before the initial passage of the levy, approximately 92% of the library's funding came from the PLF. In 2024, the PLF was responsible for 65% of the library's funding, with 22% coming from the local levy. "Our community has shown an ongoing commitment to lifelong learning by renewing the library's levy in 2015 and 2020. The library has been grateful for that support. Many of our colleagues also receive support from their communities, with 80% of Ohio's public libraries benefiting from local levy support." The Ohio Library Council and Ohio's public library have already begun advocating for continued support of our state's public libraries in the next biennium budget. With the PLF receiving approximately the same amount of state funding in 2024 as it did in 2000, it is important to remind our state leaders of all libraries do for our state's citizens. We look forward to sharing data and stories showcasing Findlay and Hancock County's library use with legislative leaders as part of that advocacy effort. Together with our colleagues around the state we will ensure the state legislature understands how important lifelong learning and libraries are to Ohio's citizens.