Tell the Ohio House: Don’t Cut Ohio Libraries!
To the Wonderful Community We Serve:
This message is a departure from our usual communications to you, our valued customers, and supporters. Ohio’s libraries are facing an unprecedented challenge in the Ohio House of Representatives, and we need your help. On April 1st, the Ohio House of Representatives released its proposed state budget. In it, they recommend eliminating the Public Library Fund, a fund protected by law and responsible for the majority of Ohio’s public library funding. Ohio's public libraries have had a partnership with the state to deliver services at the local level for almost 100 years. This proposal wants to remove the protection of law and make library funding a lump-sum dollar amount in the State’s overall budget, making it much easier for legislators to cut funding for libraries in the future.
If this proposal passes, it means $100 million LESS for Ohio public Libraries over the next two years and NO GUARANTEE OF FUNDING after 2027.
The Logan-Hocking County District Library (LHCDL) needs your help!
Please use the information at the end of this message to call or email Hocking County House Member Johnson and House Speaker Huffman TODAY,
urging them to restore the Public Library Fund to the amount
designated in the Governor’s proposed budget.
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 tool that has funded 251 public library systems for four decades.
Ohio House Members plan to replace the Public Library Fund with a lump dollar amount for all Ohio libraries, which will result 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.
Here in Hocking County, the Public Library Fund makes 90% of all our library operations possible. We are one of the few public library systems in Ohio that does not have a tax levy for financial support, therefore, this budget cut would be devastating to our ability to provide the services you have loved and expect from us. If you want your tax dollars to come back from Columbus to support public libraries across Ohio, please send a message to Hocking County House Member Mark Johnson (district 92) and House Speaker Matt Huffman.
Take action now!
Call or email your State Representatives and tell them:
NO Cuts to Ohio Libraries!
YOUR Library Story
RESTORE the PLF (Public Library Fund) to 1.75%
Representative Mark Johnson:
Phone: (614) 644-7928
Email: rep92@ohiohouse.gov
House Speaker Matt Huffman:
Phone: (614) 466-6344
Email: rep78@ohiohouse.gov