Editorial: Lusting After Ohio's Libraries
State funding sets the bar higher for all public libraries
By Francine Fialkoff, Editor-in-Chief, fialkoff@reedbusiness.com -- Library Journal, 6/1/2007
It's difficult not to be awestruck by Ohio's libraries, particularly those I visited recently at Cuyahoga County PL (CCPL) and Cleveland PL (CPL). These two systems are the “giants” in the county, but even the seven smaller libraries are among the state's largest.
There's an ethos of public support for libraries in Ohio, noticeable in Cuyahoga County, that contrasts sharply with the antitax sentiment out west, where 59 percent of Jackson County, OR, voters opposed a levy that would have kept their libraries open. Although Cleveland has experienced urban flight for decades, its library system has deep connections to residents and to the local business community and nonprofits.
I toured CPL's central library—dubbed “The People's University” on all its print materials and its web site—and several CCPL branches during an Urban Libraries Council conference in early May. I wasn't the only one overwhelmed by—and jealous of—the Cuyahoga County facilities' size, airiness, openness, and abundance of books and media.
Libraries in Ohio have had five years of frozen state funding, but looking at these institutions, it's hard to see the impact in places like Cuhayoga County, where local property taxes provide additional revenues beyond the state allocation. Seventy-five percent of Ohio's libraries, many in small towns, get their funds solely from the state. Now the Ohio General Assembly is planning to shift funding from the state income tax to a guaranteed 2.2 percent of all state revenue, a change that librarians believe ensures steadier growth.
A culture of high expectations is apparent in these libraries. Many branches in both CPL and CCPL have seven-day-a-week service. The CCPL buildings are open 9 a.m.–9 p.m., Monday through Thursday. At CPL, the branch web sites display statistics for visits and circulation—facts one LJ colleague says some libraries would be loath to advertise.
In Brecksville, the first CCPL branch we visited, a flood in June 2006 opened the way for an interior retrofit of the 15,250 square foot space. The renovation provided more room for banks of computers, bookstore-like displays that intermix all media, and warm colors that merge into the natural setting and welcome daylight inside. Ohioans view their libraries as a key component in community development, places that residents, realtors, and businesses cite with pride.
The next library on the tour was Strongsville, with a population of 43,800, a burgeoning circulation of nearly one million, and an impressive 35,000 square feet. It opened in 2003. Situated on a “community campus” along with city hall, a senior center, a recreation center, police and fire departments, and a park, the library logged 408,000 visits in 2006. It has the highest turnover rate (perhaps a more accurate measure of use than circulation) in all of CCPL. Tucked away in a corner of this busy place is a circular, soundproofed, glass-enclosed study area.
We dallied so long at the first two branches that we had to skip Berea, another 35,000-plus square footer, which was built with geothermal heating and cooling. CCPL deputy director Tracy Strobel said wireless at Berea has been extended to the library “campus,” so people can even go out on the lake with a laptop and be connected. “It hasn't taken much of our bandwidth,” she said.
For outsiders, this is library heaven. Cuyahoga librarians and their elected officials work hard to keep it that way. They don't always succeed, but they've made libraries central to the quality-of-life agenda.
