This message is a departure from our usual communications to you, our valued customers and supporters. Ohio’s libraries are facing an unprecedented challenge in the Ohio House of Representatives, and we need your help. Use the form on this page to email Ashtabula County House Members and House Speaker Huffman TODAY urging them to restore the Public Library Fund to the amount designated in the Governor’s proposed budget.

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 and House Members have put forward a dollar amount that does not account for a quarter of a century of inflation.
• ACDL alone stands to lose tens of thousands  annually from this proposal.

Here in Ashtabula County, the Public Library Fund makes 53% of all ACDL operations possible (the remaining 47% is from local property taxes passed by voters like you). If you want your tax dollars to come back from Columbus to support public libraries across the Buckeye State, use the form below to send a message to Ashtabula County's House members: Sarah Fowler Arthur (district 99) & David Thomas (district 65), as well as House Speaker Matt Huffman.

The Ohio House of Representatives will vote next Wednesday, April 9. Use the form to tell your representatives your library story! They need to hear WHY we matter to YOU.