Ohio public libraries are in danger of losing over $100M due to proposed cuts to the Public Library Fund in House Bill 96.
Many organizations across the state have recognized the devastating effects this would have on the community, such as Every Library, the nation’s political action committee for libraries.
“There’s a big conversation and a big fight that needs to be had right now on federal funding, to stabilize it, to make sure that the obligations that the federal government has through the law… are fulfilled,” said John Chrastka, executive director of Every Library.
Libraries lost $27 million in state funding last year, and Trump signed an executive order in March stating the Institute of Museum and Library Services must be reduced to its statutory functions and eliminate “non-statutory components and functions… to the maximum extent.”
Along with this, Chrastka said the first page of Project 2025 names authors and librarians as “folks who should be criminalized.”
With challenges at national and state levels, libraries are in danger. Local libraries are working to prove they are vital to the community.
Dana Setting, marketing and communications director for Akron-Summit County Public Library, grew up attending the Akron Library and started working there as a shelver in 2007. She attributes all of her passion and success to having access to the items at the library.
“I grew up with very little resources but my mom valued learning, so I came here to get access to all of the things that we weren’t able to have access to at home,” Setting said. “It ended up paying off for me, I graduated two years early and I have several degrees now.”
She said most people just think of books when they think of libraries, but they are a lot bigger than that. Their librarians are trained to run programs and offer community partnerships to help out those who are less privileged.
“There’s a certain privilege that comes with thinking that libraries are not important,” she said. “If you had all the resources that you needed to buy every book, every movie, every CD, every digital media that you wanted, you don't know that the library offers those for free and that is the only way some people access certain things.”
After working in retail for 25 years, Ben Faulkner wanted to use his customer service and public service skills to give back to his community, so he became a culture/audiovisual librarian at Akron Library. He loves working with people and said it brings him joy when he can help them find what they need.
“We do everything from getting you signed up for a passport, to helping you get your GED, to helping you with your family history; every level of education, we can help you with,” Faulkner said. “There’s so much to the library that I think people don’t know about and it’s fun to teach people as they come in.”
Along with physical resources, the library and reading in general is a place that supports the community and fosters an understanding environment.
“It makes sense why they are going after libraries and reading because reading builds empathy,” Chrastka said. “Reading builds understanding and reading allows individuals from minority populations to have their stories told.”
One library visitor, Reeya Khanal, a research student at Sanders-Brown Center on Aging, first moved to the United States from Nepal in 2014 and she said the library was her way to connect with other people and cultures.
“That is how I dealt with the culture shock by exploring and learning and connecting to other people,” she said. “It’s kind of my safe place to learn and embrace, learn things about myself and others, just learning about other humans and being a better human.”
If House Bill 96 passes the Senate, Setting said it would take effect starting July of this year and “would affect every public library in Ohio.”
All branches of the Akron-Summit County Public Library did a letter writing drive calling for the community to stop by and share a personal experience to urge Ohio House members not to cut public library funding.
Even though House Bill 96 passed the House, leadership at Akron Library hand-delivered more than 500 handwritten letters and photos drawn by children directly to the hands of representatives.
“We had a lot of support, unbelievable support from everyone across the state and it did have an impact,” Setting said. “We heard directly from representatives that phone lines were jammed and emails were blowing up and we know that they were not prepared for the response that they got.”
The issues facing libraries do not stop at funding, as other libraries across the country are being affected based on materials they provide.
Florida’s government argued that schools have a right to remove LGBTQ+ books or any other books under the First Amendment. Along with Floridia, the State Library of Alabamba cut off public funding for a library called Fairhope after they refused to remove LGBTQ+ books.
Anti-library and anti-reader attitudes are used to criminalize institutions and people because it is easier to go after books about certain groups of people than the groups themselves, Chrastka said.
“It’s still hard in a lot of places in America to go after LGBTQ people directly or Black and Brown folks directly, it’s much easier to go after the book and label the content of the book as obscene,” he said. “It’s a technique for politicians to weaponize censorship against those populations.”
As material-based issues become more common, the Akron Library is concerned about issues of censorship and if they will be able to continue operating as they do.
Faulkner said they work to keep their resources diverse, not ban or censor anything and protect their current collection of books and resources.
“We want our resources to be as diverse as possible so that it reflects everybody that comes into our building,” Faulkner said. “Making sure that everyone has access to those books whether someone thinks they are right or wrong, we don't really get to make that decision, that’s for someone to decide themselves, we don’t want to ban or censor anything.”
While Setting is not as worried about the funding for the Akron Library, she is concerned about the effects on smaller libraries because they get a larger portion of their overall funding from the state.
“Ohio is a very pro library state, but even that is being chipped away,” she said. “My fear is that some smaller libraries will have to shut their doors.”
Those who have seen the importance of the library in communities are fighting for that to be recognized by all.
“If we can’t do art and we can't remember what the truth was we’re in real trouble as a country,” Chrastka said.
