By Jessica Hermiller
Bluffton Public Library director
By now, you’ve noticed our signs about town.  Each one exclaims, “Vote for your library,” and with this article, we’re here to explain why. 
 
Bluffton Public Library currently has a 1-mil tax levy in place, which supports everyday operations.  This came at a time when our library so desperately needed the support. 

Like many other organizations in Ohio, the library received a severe cut in State funding in the early 2000s, and State funding was further reduced in 2012 - remaining frozen at reduced levels into 2015. 

Library administration and staff continue to work diligently to avoid reducing weekly service hours while operating with combined cuts that exceed 20 percent per year.  

To put this into a frame of reference, the library currently operates on funding levels from the 1990s.  Many businesses would not be able to sustain the level of service they provide in 2016 with funding from 1999. 
 
The library's 1-mil, 10-year levy (passed by voters in 2006) now provides nearly 30 percent of the library's annual revenue.  Library services would have been drastically cut if the levy had not been in place when the economy declined in 2009 and would continue to be drastically cut today.
 
How have we avoided cutting hours and services thus far? 

We identified numerous opportunities to reduce expenses, streamline processes, re-negotiate contracts, and otherwise operate more efficiently. 

We expanded our volunteer program and became a host agency with Experience Works, a senior job training program. 

In addition, both the library and its Friends group increased fundraising efforts to avoid further cuts in new materials.  Local businesses and community members continue to provide priceless support - both financially and by volunteering time and/or talent.  The library also closes additional days before and after some holidays to save on energy and staffing.
 
Even with these efforts, the library levy is still essential to keeping the library’s doors open to its community.  Due to the community’s generosity during the last levy, the library has sustained a collection of over 42,600 in-house materials, and provided access to 80 databases and an Ohio eBook collection which currently houses 233,588 materials. 

In the year 2015, the library hosted 400 programs and events, ranging from school visits to storytime, early literacy and summer programming, basic technology assistance and adult book discussions, community-fostered events, local music, and much more.  Over 7,000 children, students, adults, and seniors walk through the doors every month. 
 
Our community impact continues to flourish.  
The library is one of only a small number of community spots to offer free WiFi,  and we had 5,860 logins to our public computers last year alone. 

In addition to our in-house collection, we also fulfilled 19,064 requests for materials in 2015, by borrowing materials from other libraries within the state consortium.  Servicing our community outside of the building, we also provide outreach and delivery services to four nursing homes and multiple homebound residents within the school district. 

As a staff and volunteer base, we put in extra hours, continuously seek to educate ourselves and insure community relevancy, and seek to pour back into our community the support we’ve experienced over the years.  We are proud to nurture an atmosphere of continued learning and equality.  No matter your identity, age, education, or interests-- the library serves as a means of bettering yourself and your community.
 
When you vote to support your library, you are voting for your community.  You allow your neighbor to continue their college degree, the kid down the street to finish his or her school report, and your co-worker to learn a second language. 

Your vote allows a family of five the ability to share a movie night that would have been out of their budget otherwise; it gives the teenagers in town a safe place to do their homework and learn about the world around them. 

Young families may utilize library materials, programs, and services to support early literacy in their children, homebound community members still feel connected, and the small businesses who can’t afford an office will continue to operate and grow their business.  A vote for the library is a vote for Bluffton.
 
The Bluffton village boasts a community that supports education and the arts, diversity, and fairness.   We are proud to share in that tradition and in your stories.
 
Our library, our community.  Together, we are Bluffton Public Library.