By Kimberly Gasuras
CCN Reporter
From programs and activities to computers and Wi-Fi devices to use at home, the Bucyrus Public Library has evolved into much more than a place to borrow a good book to read.
Director Brenda Crider said library staff wants to extend services provided by the library but it is surviving on the same amount of funding per year as it received in 1998.
“The state made cuts to the funding for public libraries in 2002 and again in 2009. At that time, we were just finishing up the addition to the library and the economy went into a tailspin. The state was proposing to cut libraries by 50 percent, but it ended up being 35 percent over a few years,” Crider said.
Crider said the library receives most of its funding from the public library fund that suffered the cuts with a small amount of funding coming from donations, bequeaths, fines for overdue books and other items.
“We have gained a little bit of funding back from the state, but not what we lost, which is why our current budget is the same as it was in 1998,” Crider said.
The Bucyrus Public Library Board of Trustees requested a resolution from the Bucyrus City Council to place an additional .5-mill tax levy on the May 8 ballot. The council approved the resolution in January and early voting already is underway.
Crider said council is the taxing authority agent for the library since it is located in the city of Bucyrus.
“Voters from the portion of Wynford School District that is located in Crawford County as well as voters from certain areas of the Colonel Crawford School District will also be voting on the levy since they are part of our service area,” Crider said.
Crider said the funding is needed for operational and programming expenses at the library.
Crider said short-term goals, if the levy passes, will include mobile hot-spot lending.
“It is a device that people living in areas in which they cannot receive Internet service or people that cannot afford Internet service can borrow for 30 days at a time, so they can have the service at their homes for their children’s homework, to search for jobs or to work online,” Crider said.
Other short-term goals include extending the current Wi-Fi service at the library, more tablets and laptops for use at the library, increasing staff, hours of operation and programming and activities, an improved phone system, a business incubator, the addition of homework centers and blizzard bag workstations, 3-D printing for the public, tool and toy lending and much more.
The .5-mill levy will bring in approximately $165,595 per year in additional funding for the library. For a home valued at $100,000, the annual cost of the levy is $17.50 per year or approximately $1.50 per month.
For more information, visit the library at 200 E. Mansfield St., or online at http://www.youseemore.com/bucyrus or on Facebook at https://www.facebook.com/VoteYesBPL.