New polling shows Ohio voters see library services as “everyday necessities,” among the highest rated services offered at the local level.
Polling conducted by Public Opinion Strategies on behalf of the Ohio Library Council and the Ohio Township Association showed 90% of participating voters found public libraries “important to the community.”
Voters praised the access to programs for Ohioans of all kinds, along with low-income resident assistance, learning, technology, and engagement. This time of year in particular, libraries also serve as resources for tax services.
“Ohioans don’t just appreciate their libraries, they rely on them on a daily basis,” said Michelle Francis, executive director of the Ohio Library Council, in a statement on the study. “They are locally supported, widely used, and deeply embedded in their communities.”
Of those interviewed for the survey, 44% said they or a family member have utilized public library services in the past month, and nearly 70% said they received help from the public library. This number included a majority of Republican, Democrat, and independent voters, according to the report.
“Nearly 9 out of 10 Ohio voters believe they get their money’s worth in services from their local libraries for the taxes they pay, including 83% of Republicans, 85% of independents, and 93% of Democrats,” researchers stated
Data from the Ohio Library Council said Ohioans visit state libraries more than 48 million times per year, and more than 7 million Ohioans have library cards.
Ohio libraries receive much of their funding from the state’s Public Library Fund, which comes out of the General Revenue Fund. In the most recent state budget, lawmakers changed the funding mechanism from a percentage of the General Revenue Fund’s tax revenue to a lump sum. For fiscal year 2026, that amounted to $490 million in state funding, and $500 million in 2027. Library advocates including the council opposed the move to a lump sum, expressing concern that the line-item could be more at risk for total elimination at any time now that it’s not a percentage of the budget.
The State Library of Ohio also took a cut in the state budget, according to State Librarian Mandy Knapp. The SLO isn’t a public library, but works as a resource-sharing partner with other libraries in the state, along with providing grant funding. The fate of that grant funding was unclear last year as the Trump administration attempted to slash funding for the Institute of Museum and Library Services, through which the State Library of Ohio receives the funding for local grants.
Knapp previously told the Capital Journal that the grant funds are used for summer reading programs, cultural conservation efforts, and implementation of the Science of Reading in library programs.
In November, a federal court blocked the dismantling to the institute, averting a funding cut that Knapp said would “totally and utterly devastate” the library.
The polling also analyzed public opinion of township services across the state, and found that less than half of participants knew the funding model for townships, which is primarily funded through property taxes. They also receive some state funding through the Local Government Fund, though that fund has dwindled over the years.
“Township governments exist to provide the services residents count on most,” said Heidi M. Fought, executive director of the Ohio Township Association, in a statement. “Local funding allows communities to decide what works best for them.”
According to the County Commissioners Association of Ohio, after the Local Government Fund was frozen from 2001 to 2008, it was returned to the state budget, set to receive 3.68% of the tax revenue from the General Revenue Fund. The fund took a major hit during the Great Recession because of lower tax revenue, and lawmakers reduced the fund by 50% in the 2012-2013 budget.
In the 2014-2015 fiscal year, the fund saw 1.66% of tax revenue, far below the 3.68% of 2008. The fund saw marginal increases in the years that followed, and eventually went up to 1.7% starting in 2023.
The most recent budget boosted that fund to 1.75% of the GRF, despite advocates like the County Commissioners Association of Ohio requesting that the legislature return the fund to past levels with a boost to 3.68%.
A vast majority of voters polled in the recent study said local voters “should be responsible for deciding how to allocate township services.”
Voters said first responder services like the fire department and ambulances were among the top priorities for funding, along with maintenance of roads and bridges, and police departments.
In both the library and township services, more than half of voters said the two areas “provide many of the basic services people rely on today,” according to the study.