Simple in language, deep in meaning, those four words uttered by Holmes County District Public Library Director Arlene Radden started a silent bobbing of heads, all nodding in agreement. She was surrounded by members of her staff, board and supporters of the library, many of whom wore their support by way of red, white and blue attire.

The observation followed posting of results for Tuesday’s special election at the Holmes County Board of Elections. A 0.8 mill, five-year levy to support operations of the library failed at the polls, with 1,542 (43 percent) of voters casting ballots in favor of the levy and 2,031 (57 percent) voting against the issue.

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Voters passed the levy by a margin of more than two to one, with 773 residents voting in favor, compared to 312 voting against the measure.

The levy passage comes on the heels of voter approval of a school levy in May, something which backers of the library levy felt might negatively impact its chances of passage.

But supporters of library clearly felt that its standing as one of the top-ranked libraries in the U.S. for a town its size was too important to put in jeopardy.

“This takes some of the burden off the board’s shoulders and gives us a little flexibility,” said Troyer, who has watched as heavy-handed state budget cuts increasingly forced the library to cut back hours, personnel and services, and was nearing jeopardizing its core mission.

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Eric Taggart, director of the Coshocton Public Library, said it plans to continue reduced operations that started in 2009, when its budget was cut by more than $400,000 from the state.

All the employees — about 20 full time and 12 part time — are working shorter hours. In addition, four exempt, or salary, employees took pay reductions.

As a result the main and branch libraries are open fewer hours.

“The thing we all see as a problem here is we’re not as available to the public as we would like to be,” Taggart said.

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“We’ve been monitoring our income all year to see whether or not we could do something this fall,” said executive director Mary Pat Essman.

Starting Sept. 7, the library will add an additional 12 hours a week:

Expanded hours of operation will be:

• 10 a.m. to 8 p.m. Monday through Thursday.

• 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. Friday and Saturday.

• 1 to 5 p.m. Sunday.

The expansion of hours will be supported for the long term by funds from the levy beginning in 2011.
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While the library has worked hard at cutting its costs the past few years, Picot said she is adamant she and the staff do not want to face dismantling “the heart of who we are in the community.”

Picot said the library is averaging 3,096 patrons per week, more than one-thirds of whom are there to use the computers. Moreover, since the economy went into a nosedive, the library has seen a sharp upward trend in the use of computers as residents began intensive job hunting.

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Help kick off the levy campaign. Bring family and friends–spread the word about this event.
The kick off is planned for 10 am when WCDPL would normally open, on the first day of furlough to help underscore what’s at stake for the library this November.

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The cuts in library operating funds have forced the Holmes County District Public Library to reduce its number of service hours by 30%, lay off nearly a third of its workforce and eliminate and reduce critical services to patrons. Bookmobile service has been reduced by nearly 40%. All library programming, including preschool story time is suspended system-wide.

Without the passage of the proposed tax levy, the Holmes County District Public Library will be forced to permanently close library branches, further reduce bookmobile service and further reduce programs and services available to Holmes Countians.

THE LEVY:

In its 82 year history, the Holmes County District Public Library has never had an operating levy
Over the past several months, the library has worked hard to tighten its financial belt and find cost savings before seeking this tax levy
The library is proposing to voters an (eight-tenths) .8 mil, five year renewable operating levy that will appear on the August 3 2010 ballot. Passage of this levy will restore financial stability to the Holmes County District Public Library system, save library branches, restore bookmobile service and maintain quality services
For the cost of one hardcover book per year, you can continue to use and enjoy all of the materials, services and programs offered by the Holmes County District Public Library for all Holmes Countians.

“Government entities need to make due with what they have,” said Jo Ellen Myers.

This was part of the recent debate between South-Western City Schools board members over the levy request from Southwest Public Libraries.

The library board voted to place a 1-mill operating levy on the November ballot. This would cost the owner of a $100,000 home about $30 per year or $2.55 a month.

Because the school board is the library’s taxing agent, they must vote on the issue as well.

All board members voted in favor of the levy, except Myers.

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The Toledo-Lucas County Public Library held a Candidate Information Day Wednesday. The goal is to convince lawmakers and those running for office that library funding should be a top priority.

Budget numbers are down, but the number of people using Toledo-Lucas County libraries is up, including checking out books, using computers, and even movies and video games. Linda Murray of the Ohio Library Council says, “it used to be just books. We do a lot of programming. We do a lot of help in early literacy and helping people find jobs online. Not everybody has a computer at home, not everybody has high speed internet.”

Ohio legislators cut public library funds 31-percent this year forcing cuts in both staff and operating hours. Next year could be just as bad. Murray says, “Well, we know that we’ve got a probably even larger budget gap. I think it’s a little early to tell the size of it and how things are going to go.”

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