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From the Director's Desk
 Hello!
A few weeks ago I had the opportunity to head down to Columbus for the Ohio Library Council’s Legislative Day, the first since before COVID. This day is always a highlight of our year. It offers us the chance to connect with other library staff from around the state, and to tell our stories to those who hold the purse strings. We make appointments ahead of time to meet with our legislators during the day, along with library staff from the same districts. This year finds us in the middle of a two-year budget cycle, so there was no funding “ask.” Instead, OLC staff had asked us to prepare talking points that reminded leadership of several key points: The tremendous return-for-investment the taxpayer gets from library funding (statewide, $5 return for every $1 invested); how libraries pivoted during the pandemic to continue to offer traditional and new services (and even test kits); and how libraries level the playing field with technology access (I was able to talk about our popular tech classes and our amazing trainer!) Plus, to make sure they know we appreciate them. MPL Fiscal Officer Amie Lynn and I represented our library along with other Stark directors, but we needed to split up and attend different meetings. (Ohio congressional districts are shaped so oddly that our Belloni Branch’s Brewster community members have a different state representative and senator than Navarre or Massillon, so I hung out with the Summit County library folks in those talks.)
A key take-away for me is how keenly our policy-makers understand the importance of libraries. They were engaged and intrigued by what we shared. One congressional aide even asked for a hands-on training of how to use his library card to download e-books! I really think they already “get it,” but this day is so valuable for getting face time and staying on their radar.
A cool highlight was Ohio First Lady Fran DeWine's visit to accept an award for her advocacy of early childhood literacy (Yes!) and push for the Dolly Parton Imagination Library program to be state supported. North Canton Public Library Director Andrea Legg, Amie, and I got a photo op with Mrs. DeWine, and a little recipe book—she told us that people always throw out handouts, but not those with a recipe! Shrewd thinking!
I hope you enjoyed a little behind-the-scenes peek into library advocacy. I also hope you will enjoy my latest book recommendations: Thrity Umrigar’s Honor, a look at women’s lives in India (justly compared to Hosseini’s A Thousand Splendid Suns) by an Ohio author, and Matt Haig’s The Midnight Library, which I just started yesterday and can’t put down. What if, between life and death, you made a stop at a “library” whose books walk you through alternative endings for your lifetime if you had chosen different paths? I want lonely and depressed Nora to pick a different ending! And then I’ll read everything else Haig ever wrote!
Happy Spring,
Sherie Brown
Director
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