In the early nineties, a class of third graders in Whitehouse was learning about what makes a community and immediately realized that they were missing a key place — a library of their own. Organized by their teacher, Mrs. Smigelski, they made their case to Toledo Lucas County Public Library to build a branch. When Library trustees — thoughtful stewards of public dollars — determined they couldn’t take on an additional location, the community took matters into its own hands and launched its own volunteer-run library in the early 2000s.
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Just up the road, TLCPL’s humble Holland Branch has been consistently serving about 8 percent of the county’s entire population since it was built in 1984. We assumed there would be a drop in visits when the King Road branch — just a few miles north — was opened in 2017. Still, business continues to grow, with community leaders and organizations filling the meeting rooms and kids finding whatever corners of the dated library they can to study, read, and socialize.
Further north on West Alexis Road, the densely populated area of more than 14,000 homes is poised to house a new Washington Branch. What has stood for years as an empty parking lot and grocery store will soon become eight acres of park space and a beautiful community asset — teeming with programs and services designed to meet the needs of a vibrant neighborhood.
Heading south to Glanzman, the Heatherdowns Branch should be serving more than 10 percent of our county’s population. Unfortunately, we aren’t serving as many as we could or should, due in large part to a building that hasn’t changed significantly in over 30 years and lacks modern amenities for children and families that our other locations offer.
Closer to downtown Toledo, the Kent Branch was once a model for technological innovation in public libraries after a 2011 federal grant allowed us to renovate the location. Just a dozen years later, the branch still provides access to essential technology, but you would be hard-pressed to describe it as “innovative.”
Traveling even further south to Maumee Branch — home of the original Lucas County public library system — we find inadequate meeting space, a well-worn and too-small children’s area, and a lack of other amenities our communities have come to expect from TLCPL.
I could continue with this virtual trip around the county and detail ALL the areas where our TLCPL facilities are struggling to meet community needs as we work to preserve, protect, and improve our far-reaching library system.
Our facilities master plan lays out opportunities ranging from minor space reconfigurations to major new construction that can greatly improve customer access to services, materials, programs, and technology.
We don’t make decisions like this in a vacuum. In a community survey earlier this year with 5,000 participants, respondents supported the notion that there is plenty of work to do to bring parity to our locations around the county. Respondents also supported the idea that the library system should consider new locations where population growth is steady.
With community support behind us and plan ahead of us, how does the library tackle this work? The public library doesn’t have access to the same capital resources that public schools, higher education, or municipalities have, and the needs are far greater than a traditional fundraising campaign could support.
Still, over the last 30 years, we have built new buildings, performed major renovations or expansions, and implemented countless updates to our facilities. We accomplished all this work by setting aside extra funds when we’ve had a surplus at the end of the year or by borrowing against our guaranteed annual income.
But we’ve reached a point where the needs of our community have outpaced that funding strategy.
So, we are humbly asking our residents to invest in a library system that has served our communities for more than 180 years.
For the first time in nearly 30 years, we are asking you to support a 1-mill bond issue, which would provide the funding needed to care for a system that has cared for us, our neighbors, and hopefully, generations to come.
We don’t take this ask lightly, but we hope our track record as one of Ohio’s first consolidated countywide systems has proven us to be thoughtful, strategic, and efficient stewards of public dollars.
The 1-mill levy will generate $153 million and cost the owner of a $100,000 home less than $3 a month — just over $35 a year.
Less than $3 a month to protect, maintain, and improve world-class facilities from a National Medal Award-winning library system that we all deserve.
Less than $3 a month to update and upgrade cherished community resources that provide safe, welcoming, and engaging spaces for people to come together.
Not insignificant … but a reasonable cost.
Thank you.
JASON KUCSMA
Executive director/fiscal officer
Toledo Lucas County Public Library
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