The Public Library of Cincinnati and Hamilton County extends a thank you to the voters of Hamilton County for the passage of Issue Three. The approval of this levy allows the Library to address substantial facility needs and fund award winning services and programs customers have come to expect. The Library will also have enough money for high-demand circulation items like eBooks, DVDs, CDs, print books, and more.
Nearly 63 percent of Hamilton County voters approved Issue Three, signaling their clear support of the Library’s mission to provide free and open access to all residents in the county. The library’s circulation increased 60 percent since 2000. Over that same time period, state funding to the Library was cut 26 percent and local funding remained the lowest of any major library system in the state.
“Eighty percent of all households in Hamilton County have at least one library cardholder,” points out Kimber L. Fender, the Eva Jane Romaine Coombe Director of the Library. “They send their children to their local branch for help with their homework. They come to us when they need to find a job, use the MakerSpace, research their family history, or simply get lost in a good book. Now we can purchase enough new materials for circulation and start much-needed repairs and renovations to library branches. We are grateful to the taxpayers, who clearly want us to make these improvements.”
For more reaction on the passage of the Library levy, please call Chris Rice at 513-369-7817 or email Chris.Rice@chpl.org.
