Rodman Public Library will have an issue on the November 8 ballot.
Voters in the Alliance City Schools and Marlington Local Schools will decide Issue 3, which is a 1.5-mill, 10-year renewal levy. There are no new taxes associated with the levy, which accounts for 35 percent of Rodman Public Library’s overall funding.
More than 80 percent of Ohio’s 251 public libraries have local tax levies to supplement funding from the state of Ohio’s Public Library Fund.
Rodman Public Library’s levy was first approved by area voters in 2010 and was renewed in 2015. The levy was passed to offset a 37.6% reduction in funding from the State of Ohio’s Public Library Fund.
The estimated cost to the owner of a home with an appraised value of $100,000 is $31.63 per year, which is approximately $2.64 per month.
Passage of the levy will generate an estimated $944,474 per year for the library, which will go a long way, especially considering that for every $1 spent by Rodman Public Library, Alliance-area residents receive an average of $5.22 in economic value.
The levy is for operating expenses at Rodman’s Main Library, Branch Library, and Bookmobile. Renewal of the levy will help maintain the current hours of operation; expanded purchasing of print, audiovisual, and digital resources; continued growth of outreach to the homebound, nursing homes, schools, and day care centers; and expanded programming for all ages.
Over the past year, Rodman Library has served the greater Alliance community well as evidenced by the following snapshot of how the library was used during those 12 months:
- 123,564 visitors
- 361,752 physical materials borrowed
- 50,344 digital materials borrowed
- 34,494 internet/wi-fi sessions
- 480 wi-fi hotspots borrowed
- 9,080 program attendees
- 1,805 Summer Reading Program participants
- 478 programs offered
- 11,422 materials delivered to 756 homebound patrons
- 332 bookmobile visits