By Krystal Smalley
ksmalley@wbcowqel.com
The Bucyrus Public Library may be feeling like it needs to loosen its belt after the Thanksgiving holiday. After a long wait, it finally received confirmation on Nov. 15 to expand its boundaries into most of the central and western parts of the county; the library obtained the resolution on Nov. 24.
Currently, Crawford County is served by three libraries: Bucyrus, Galion, and Crestline.
As a municipal library, the Bucyrus Public Library is governed by the Bucyrus City Council, which appoints the library’s board members. When viewed on the map below, the Bucyrus Public Library’s previous boundary is shaded in orange.
The Galion Public Library is an association library, which means its service area is limited to the City of Galion. When viewed on the map, the Galion Library’s boundaries are shaded in green.
The Crestline Public Library serves the Crestline School District and, with a branch in New Washington, it also serves the Buckeye Central School District and the residents of that village. When viewed on the map, the Crestline Public Library’s boundaries are shaded in pink.
Before November, Bucyrus Public Library’s boundaries were confined to the City of Bucyrus, though it reached students in the Wynford, Colonel Crawford, and – at one time – Buckeye Central school districts as part of a consortium. That consortium has been in effect for nearly 20 years. Buckeye Central left due to the high cost of using dial-up internet to access the Bucyrus library’s system at that time. By pairing with the Crestline library, the school district was able to cut costs by avoiding long distance phone fees.
“It helps us to service those areas where there really isn’t any library close by or available,” explained Bucyrus Public Library Director Brenda Crider. “We utilize the school libraries and we all share a card catalog so when you come to the Bucyrus Public Library, you not only see the books that we own but you see what books Wynford has, what books Colonel Crawford has.”
Despite the ability to share books, the Bucyrus Public Library has been extremely careful with its budget since the State drastically cut library funding in 2007. This year, the library had a budget of under $500,000 – the same budget it once had in 1987 – though that is supplemented with grants at every available opportunity.
In 2012, the library’s board of directors decided to put a levy on the ballot to boost the funds.
“There was a lot of confusion as to who could vote on the library levy,” Crider explained. “A lot of the folks who live in the outlying area outside the city could not understand why they could not have a say in whether the library levy passed or not.”
Though someone outside the city could be a patron of the library, they could not vote on the levy because of the boundary restrictions.
The levy failed by roughly 100 votes.
“It was a tough fight. After a lot of discussion – after that levy failed – the board decided that we need to include the people who actually come into the library as well,” Crider said.
The board petitioned the State Library of Ohio to include the Wynford and Colonel Crawford school districts into its boundaries. Crider said they asked for all of the Wynford School District in Crawford County – minus the small portion that is served by the Mohawk Public Library in the very northwest corner of the county – and part of the Eagles’ district.
“We would have liked to take all of the Colonel Crawford School District but we also understand those folks that live closer to Crestline and Galion may not use us. They’d be more interested in going to Galion or going to Crestline; it’s more convenient for them,” Crider said.
As a compromise, the Colonel Crawford School District was divvied up along Ohio 602. Those on the west side of 602 and within the North Robinson municipality are now a part of the Bucyrus Public Library while those on the east side remain unclaimed by any library boundaries. The only exception for the boundary lines comes on the campus of the Colonel Crawford schools. Though the current high school stands within the North Robinson limits and, thus, became a part of the Bucyrus library’s expansion, the William and Hannah Crawford building lies just outside of North Robinson. The block from Ohio 602, Boyer/Crestline Road, Beck Road, and Lower Leesville Road are also now included in the Bucyrus library’s boundary.
All of Liberty Township is a part of the expansion while only a portion of Whetstone Township is added: the southern boundary runs along Monnett Chapel Road and skims near Winchester West Road before running along Crawford-Marion Line Road.
Small portions of the west end of the county are excluded from the expansion as they lay within the Mohawk, Upper Sandusky, and Ridgedale school district limits.
“Now these areas are specifically listed as the service areas of the Bucyrus Public Library so that we’re the only library that could ask for a levy from them, nobody else can,” Crider explained.
What does this mean for patrons?
Those that live within the new Bucyrus Public Library boundaries can now vote on any levies put forth by the library. Currently, there are no levies on the books that would be assessed for those within the extended borders, though Crider said that could change in the future as the library’s board discusses possibilities.
“Nobody will really see a change in anything because we already service these areas through the schools,” Crider added. “It’s just official now. The State Library board made it official. The only change they’ll see is if we decide to put a levy up.”
One of the biggest benefits Crider sees from this expansion is the ability for the library to ask for less millage if it ever puts a levy on the ballot.
“There’s so many more people to spread it out over,” Crider said.
Areas outside of municipalities typically see a higher rate of home ownership, one of the factors that lead many institutions to ask for a property levy.
“In the past we asked for one mill,” Crider explained. “It could be that we only ask for half a mill (in the future) and end up getting even possibly more money than we would have gotten with a mill with just the city. That’s one big advantage: it won’t cost the taxpayers as much to maintain the library.”
The 2012 levy, which asked for one mill, would have required property owners to pay $32 a year.
Crider added that it was great to be able to say who they service.
“It’s really exciting for me,” said Jillian Frost, who took over as Assistant Director when Crider became the Director. “It’s nice just to have people come in who wanted to vote on the last levy and now they can.”
Crider agreed. “When the county folks would come in and say, ‘we want to vote for the levy’ or they’d ask for a levy sign for their yard, it’s like: I’d love to give you one but it’s not going to do us any good out there,” Crider remembered. “We told them that it was equivalent to a hardback book or $32 and we did get checks from several people in the outlying areas for $32 to say if they would’ve voted on the levy this is what you would have gotten. Now, they’ll have a voice and be able to say if they want that levy to pass or not.”
Patrons will be able to see the color-coded expansion borders on a map at the library as well as the resolution. The information will be posted by the front desk for patrons to review.