Feature Stories |
By Cheryl Lubow, Librarian, State Library of Ohio
With the abundance of news releases about cuts to personnel, business hours, materials, programming, and entire branches in Ohio's libraries, positive news is very welcome. Here is a sampling of the excellence that keeps Ohio's loyal library patrons coming through the doors, voting for local support levies, and telling their stories to their elected representatives:
"In spite of declining revenues...For the past several years, the Library has been the #1 public library in Ohio in terms of percent of revenues spent on materials."Lebanon Public Library: An Overview of the Current State of the Library, Fall 2009, page 4.
"Cleveland, Ohio was ranked as the #1 city in the country for library support, holdings, and utilization in a 2008 study conducted by Central Connecticut State University." Cleveland Public Library. Speaking Volumes, Winter 09, page 1.
"The combination of the benefits...yields a total benefit for patrons from CLEVNET of $26,594,035. At a cost of $4,267,763, the return to patrons...equals a return of about 6.2 to 1." Driscoll & Fleeter. Public Libraries Return From Investment for CLEVNET Libraries. May 14, 2009, page 6.
Auditor of State Mary Taylor's office presented Toledo-Lucas County Public Library officials with the "Making Your Tax Dollars Count" award for their fiscal year 2008 audit. Fewer than five percent of all Ohio government agencies are eligible for this award. "I commend the Toledo-Lucas County Public Library for its commitment to fiscal accountability. Congratulations on your hard work and for being trustworthy stewards of taxpayer dollars," Taylor said. Toledo-Lucas County Public Library website. Posted 12/7/09.
If you have a story of excellence to share, we would love to hear it. Send your news to marshams@library.ohio.gov.
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