The Middletown Library system has been serving the City of Middletown since 1913. In addition to Middletown, the Library also serves Monroe, Trenton, Seven Mile and the townships of West Chester, Madison, Liberty, Wayne and Lemon.
Libraries in Ohio are funded by the Public Library Fund which for Middletown comprises over 93% of our resources in which to operate. The State's financial crisis has had a significant impact upon all libraries across our state since library funding is derived from the state's general revenue fund. The trickle down effect has impacted the Middletown Library system in the following ways:
- Drop in revenue of 18.5% in 2009
- The State projected a drop of another 10% for 2010.
- Reduction of operating hours from 72 per week to 47
- Layoff of 21 employees plus 26 employees not replaced through attrition since 2005 for a total of 47
- Reduction of materials purchased
Ohio's economy has had a major impact on the services we provide. Despite the reduction of hours, our business has increased indicating that our services are needed more than ever in this troubled economy. The library system provides many community services in addition to lending books and other materials; they are:
- Homebound book delivery and service to senior agencies and individuals
- Free internet access
- Reading readiness programs for children and adult literacy programs
- Community Room space for meetings/activities
- Bi-lingual early literacy computers
- Talking books programs for citizens with sight and physical disabilities
Our Board of Trustees has been grappling with a decline in funding since 2005 when the revenues started to decrease. At that time, our board began a proactive approach by cutting back through attrition and continuing to serve more citizens with less money. The latest drop coupled with the drop projected for 2010 has forced our board to look at alternate funding sources.
After careful consideration, our board has decided to place a 0.75 mil levy on the May ballot. This levy would generate approximately 3.2 million dollars for the library system and last 5 years. Because the district is large, a 0.75 mil levy would cost the $100,000 homeowner about $23 per year, less than the cost of a single book.
We understand that these tough economic times are challenging and also understand that other governmental entities in our service area could possibly be asking for passage of a levy. It is never a good time to go on the ballot, however, our board has come to a crossroads and is asking the citizens to decide what kind of library they want in their community.
Since the City of Middletown is the taxing authority for the library system, the city executes an ordinance which is forwarded to the board of elections with our resolution. This allows the levy to be placed on the ballot in our service district.
For more information please visit www.librariesenrichlives.org
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