Libraries fight funding cut

SANDUSKY — Library officials across Ohio, including the Sandusky Library's director, are trying to avert a possible cut in state funding. Ohio libraries are better funded than the libraries in other states because they don't have to just rely on local funding but get substantial funding from Ohio's state government. But during state budget deliberations, they often find themselves battling to maintain that position. The recent budget approved by the Ohio House proposes to cut the Public Library Fund. Currently, the fund gets 1.7% of the state's general revenue fund. The House budget bill, House Bill 110, cuts that to 1.66%. Lawmakers are working on a new two-year state budget that will go into effect on July 1. The budget is now in the Senate's hands. Molly Carver, Sandusky's library's executive director, submitted testimony Wednesday to the Senate Finance Committee and asked senators to restore funding to the current 1.7%. "As you work through the budget, remember the value of libraries to your goals for quality education and employment opportunity for all Ohioans," Carver told the lawmakers. State Sen.Theresa Gavarone, R-Bowling Green, whose district includes Sandusky, said she supports restoring the Public Library Fund. Tracy Strobel, executive director of the Cuyahoga County Public Library, said the cut in the Public Library Fund may not sound like much, but it would slash library revenues by $22 million statewide. Strobel said the two biggest libraries in the Cleveland area would lose $2.1 million. State Rep. D.J. Swearingen, R-Huron, contends libraries likely are not facing an actual cut. When the Register asked Swearingen about the House budget, he replied, "I looked into this issue at length during the budget process. "There is a cut to the percentage from the last budget, but the projected bottom line number (actual dollars) budgeted for libraries is likely to increase or stay the same from the last budget due to state revenues increasing or remaining stable," Swearingen said. "Obviously, we all support our local libraries and the many ways in which they enrich our communities and will continue to work with them to those ends," he said. Michelle Francis, executive director of the Ohio Library Council, replied that there's a recent history of rosy revenue estimates for libraries that didn't pan out. In six of the last seven years, distributions to libraries from the fund turned out to be less than the official estimate. "Over the last seven years, the actual PLF distributions have been a total of $90.4 million below estimate," Francis said. On average, library funding has been $13 million below the estimate each year, Francis said. Carver told the lawmakers Sandusky library gets half of its funding from the fund, with the rest coming from local property taxes. The library serves a substantial area of Erie County — not just Sandusky, but also Perkins Township, Castalia and Kelleys Island. "Despite the challenges of a pandemic, Sandusky Library continued to provide essential services to the public beyond books, including tax forms and online filing, 2020 Census outreach, voter information and registration, expanded Wi-fi access, E-books and other electronic resources, technology training online, food distribution, LinkedIn Learning and other educational opportunities, virtual story time and book discussions," Carver said. As libraries shifted to digital content during the pandemic, the costs of paying for such items jumped, said Jay Smith, director of Government and Legal Services for the Ohio Library Council. "In 2020, public libraries saw a 33% increase in digital book circulation over 2019," Smith said. "This significantly impacts budgets because of the increased costs associated with e-books." Sandusky Library responded to the pandemic by raising the borrowing limit for Hoopla Digital from 10 checkouts a month to 15. Every time a library patron checks out a book, movie, TV show or music recording from Hoopla, the library is charged a fee. Swearingen noted that Ohio libraries also will be getting federal dollars. That's true, but it won't make up for the proposed state cuts, Smith contends. "Ohio will receive $4.5 million to divide among university academic libraries, K-12 school libraries, prison libraries, and public libraries," Smith told the Senate panel.