For 4,500 years, libraries contained items, including documents, to be preserved and studied. Not open to the public, most of whom couldn’t read, they were repositories for ruling classes. Libraries as we know them today, in which items can be borrowed and taken from the premises by patrons, were created by Benjamin Franklin, along with some friends, in 1731.
One can only imagine what Franklin would think of Ohio’s library systems, which are the envy of other states. While this is a blessing, it is neither a coincidence nor an accident. Ohio’s citizens time and again have supported robust library systems for our communities. Today our libraries, both local and statewide, need citizen support.
Of the 251 library systems in Ohio, 203 receive a mix of state and local funding, while 48 depend entirely on state funding. For four decades, Ohio has allocated 1.7 % of the state’s general revenue fund to libraries. In his 2026 biennial budget proposal, Gov. Mike DeWine wanted to increase the percentage to 1.75 %. House Republicans rejected DeWine’s increase, and instead sought to reduce current library funding. But they were met with robust, bipartisan pushback and quickly reinstated the 1.7% funding formula. For now
Rather than a non-negotiable percentage of the general revenue fund, Republican legislators have proposed a line-item appropriation for libraries in future budgets. If this were to pass, library funding would be up for negotiation every budget cycle, something that should concern everyone who wants Ohio’s libraries to remain the invaluable community resources they are.
Nationwide, the lack of affordable childcare has made libraries located near schools de facto childcare centers. Akron-Summit County Public Library (ASCPL) librarians have taken this non-mandated, unfunded responsibility seriously. When my second son, Hugo, was a student at Miller South, he spent afternoons at the neighboring Vernon Odom branch. As he did not have a phone, I entered the library each day to let Hugo know I was there and witnessed the planned weekly activities for students, including crafts. On Mother’s Day one year, Hugo gave me lavender soap he had made at the library.Need a break?
My fourth son attends Akron Early College High School in the Polsky Building. After dismissal, he heads to the main branch’s teen center. For two years, he has participated in their after-school Dungeons and Dragons campaigns. The dungeon master has been Kelly, a librarian who will soon move to another department. Several teens have shared with me their distraught over the loss of their dungeon master/librarian/friend.
But ASCPL’s programming isn’t catered strictly to children. At our libraries I have attended free jazz concerts, cultural events, author talks, the annual MLK lecture, movies and more. Unfortunately, many of these events are not widely publicized. The best way to find the many ASCPL offerings is to sign up for their email newsletter.
When public institutions ask voters for funding, B is for “bond” and “building” as bonds fund the improvement of structures. L is for “levies” and “learning” as levies fund what goes on inside an institution. Issue 18 on the May 6 ballot is a bond issue for Summit County’s library system. While the passage of Issue 18 will benefit all of ASCPL’s branches, it is most needed by 19 branches, including the main branch downtown, that were built around the turn of the century and in need of repairs.
Also, the way libraries are used has changed in the past quarter century. In 2000, devices such as smartphones and tablets did not exist, making library desktop computers a technology lifeline for many. Now almost everyone carries a supercomputer in their pocket and rather than rows of desktops at long tables, patrons regularly request workspaces with access to outlets so as to work on their own devices, a change the bond issue, if passed, would help fund.
Issue 18 would be funded through property taxes. For each $100,000 dollars of a home’s value, homeowners will be charged $35 a year. For a home worth $500,000, that comes to just a $14.58 per month increase.
I encourage readers to do three things. First, vote yes for Issue 18. Secondly, sign up for ASCPL’s newsletter and when it arrives in your email inbox, open and read it. (That is where I learned about the Dungeons and Dragons campaigns my son emphatically loves.) Finally, contact your state congressperson and senator and tell them to keep Ohio’s funding of its public libraries at 1.7% of the general revenue fund. The final budget vote is not anticipated before June.
Like many things taken for granted, it is easy to overlook when it is necessary to sustain something so as not to lose it. The time to sustain our libraries is now.
This column was first published in the Akron Beacon Journal on Sunday, April 27, 2025.
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