Please take action before April 8, 2025: The following information is provided by Kelly Ward, Director of the Putnam County District Library and Robert Carder, President of the Continental Community Library, Inc.:
Below is an email sent to our State Represenative, Roy Klopfenstein and State Senator Jim Hoops by Carder. This information can be accessed on the Putnam County Ohio Library Assn.’s web site: www.mypcdl.org. We need to get our voices heard. One of the best kept secrets is that the Putnam County Library Ass’n does NOT receive any funds from tax levy’s.
Tell the Ohio House: Don’t Cut Ohio Libraries!
Ohio’s libraries are facing an unprecedented challenge in the Ohio House of Representatives, and we need your help. This week, the Ohio House introduced their version of the state budget. The bill introduced in the House Finance Committee eliminates the Public Library Fund (PLF) as it currently exists in state law.
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 mechanism 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. The Putnam County District Library currently receives the same amount of money as it did in the year 2000.
• We are 90% reliant upon state funding as we do NOT have a local tax levy.
• If you value your libraries in Continental, Columbus Grove, Fort Jennings, Kalida, Leipsic, Ottawa, Ottoville, and Pandora please help us by contacting Rep. Roy Klopfenstein and House Speaker Stephen Huffman and tell them:
1. DON’T CUT OHIO’S PUBLIC LIBRARIES!
2. DON’T CUT MY LIBRARY! Share what you love about your library and the impact it has had on your life. Personal stories that resonate with legislators need to be told.
3. The ASK – Restore the PLF to 1.75% as the Governor intended!
Please HELP US before April 8th by calling or emailing:
Representative Klopfenstein
614-644-5091
https://ohiohouse.gov/members/roy-klopfenstein/contact
House Speaker Huffman
614-466-6344
https://www.ohiosenate.gov/members/stephen-a-huffman/contact
Mr. Klopfenstein. My name is Robert Carder, 208 West Rice Street, Continental, OH 45831. I am President of the Continental Community Library, Inc. Our non-profit group owns the building at 301 South Sixth Street, Continental, that houses the Continental branch of the Putnam County Library Assn. In Putnam County, if a community has a branch facility, it is owned and maintained by either the Villages, Township, or groups like ours provide a facility. The county provides the equipment, materials, and personnel. Our group is all volunteers. My point is that in our county the Putnam County Library Association. (PCLA) does not have the burden of the physical facilities and devotes it budget to what libraries are supposed to do: foster an environment that enhances learning and education for all. During the Kasick administration, Ohio Income Tax was lowered, unfortunately on the backs of Counties, Villages and Library’s. We were frugal and survived that, but we cannot survive another cut. A lot the great things that happen in our state started a generation ago by fostering the love of learning. Today’s readers are tomorrow’s leaders. I urge you not to cut any funding, but increase it.
Respectfully, Robert L Carder.
