In Ohio, one in four libraries has passed a tax levy to add additional funding, according to the Ohio Library Council.
The only library in the two counties to not pass a levy — the fledgling Monroe library system — charges a small membership fee for patrons wishing to join.
The levy money has been used to restore previously cut services, including hours, manpower and purchasing of materials, but has also been used to help the libraries keep pace with the changing needs of their members by adding computers, electronic research databases and branching into the vast terrain of e-books.
Jason Greenwald said the more than $2 million in levy monies given annually to Lane Library from residents represents a promise for the library to uphold the highest standards.
“We had three main goals following the levy’s passage,” said Greenwald, who is director of the Lane Library System. “Increase hours of operation, increase the budget for new materials and enhance technology throughout the system. I feel we’ve been able to do those things and more thanks to the levy.”
In the case of the Lane Libraries, which serve Hamilton, Fairfield and Oxford, the system has added 22 hours of operation, increased the material budget by 340 percent, added early literacy stations at each of the library’s three locations and increased their offering of downloadable materials.
“It is evident that the resources and services offered by the library are still essential to our community as we continue to see increases in circulation and computer usage,’ Greenward said.
Anita Carroll said she cannot imagine what the Midpointe Library System would be like if it not for the property tax levy passed in 2010.
“We would have been stripped to the bare bones,” Carroll said. “I honestly don’t know if we could have provided the services we need to provide to the community to consider ourselves a functioning library.”
In 2011, the Midpointe Library System received almost $2.7 million in money from its levy according to the Butler County Auditor’s Office.
“You can’t underestimate how important it is to keep bringing new materials into the library to get people to come,” said Carroll.
The number of kids using library services in Midpointe’s geographic area, which includes Middletown, Trenton and West Chester, rose 190 percent between 2010 and 2011, Carroll said.
The Midpointe libraries brought back 12 part time positions for cataloguing and public services, tripled the number of public computers available and upgraded material security at all three of its location.
“Some of the money was used for basic stuff we weren’t doing to maintain the building — resealing parking lots, cleaning the carpets,” Carroll said. “Items that may not be noticeable but were still vital. Our focus remains making sure that the needs of the public are being met and that the buildings remain in top notch condition.”
Lebanon librarian Julie Florence said she spent many sleepless nights in the fall of 2009 composing lists in her mind.
“I would lie awake thinking of all the things I wanted to do with the library and for the community,” Florence said. “And then I would think of all the programs that we would have to cut if we couldn’t get more funding.”
Florence said the Lebanon Library was saving some of its funds in the hopes of creating a new children’s room in its basement. Carroll said Midpointe Library was looking into adding a new branch, but that plan was still in its infancy stages.
The availability of public computer terminals has also become an important service the libraries provide, the librarians said. Each library has subscribed to several research databases. But their usage stretches beyond that.
“More and more people on depending on libraries to access the internet,” Florence said. “And for a lot of places like your Walmarts and Targets, you can only apply for a job with them through the internet, which believe or not, not everybody had. So the library is providing that service as well.”
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