Ohio’s libraries could face hard choices next year after 2025 budget cuts; Cleveland.com, December 27, 2025

Mary Frances McGowan, cleveland.com; Ohio’s libraries could face hard choices next year after 2025 budget cuts

"“They’re going to continue to do that to the best of their ability, but it is going to make providing these services more difficult, especially in a time when the demand for services is growing, and the expectation of local citizens is growing and expanding.”

The state budget Gov. Mike DeWine signed into law in June removed the longstanding funding formula that gave libraries a percentage of the state’s revenue fund, replacing it with discretionary line-item appropriations.

While funding was never inherently guaranteed -- library advocates had to testify in Columbus every two years to explain how they were using taxpayer funds -- but as a percentage of the state revenue, it was a solid funding source. 

The comparative instability of the new formula is worrying for libraries. Future legislatures or gubernatorial administrations could reduce funding without warning — a big shift for institutions that have long relied on stability."

Ohio libraries celebrate veto of budget measure censoring materials; Ohio Capital Journal, July 1, 2025

SUSAN TEBBEN , Ohio Capital Journal; Ohio libraries celebrate veto of budget measure censoring materials

"The General Assembly still has the chance to override the veto with a three-fifths vote, but it would do so after libraries and advocates across the state stood staunchly against the measure.

The Columbus Metropolitan Library posted a statement to their social media applauding DeWine’s veto, calling it “a significant win for intellectual freedom and the right of every Ohioan to freely access information at their library.”

Jade Braden, a circulation assistant for Worthington Libraries, said the veto “helps ensure that library professionals, not statehouse politicians, continue to make choices about how we serve our entire community, what materials we provide and how we display those materials in our libraries.”

“Protecting intellectual freedom is an ongoing battle in which we will always need to be vigilant,” Braden told the OCJ. “The fight for our community and their right to read is one we continually dedicate ourselves to.”"

DeWine vetoes library material restriction in Ohio budget; WFMJ, July 1, 2025

 

WFMJ; DeWine vetoes library material restriction in Ohio budget

"Ohio Governor Mike DeWine on Monday vetoed a controversial provision in the state's new budget that would have imposed restrictions on public libraries regarding the placement of materials related to sexual orientation or gender identity.

The veto came as DeWine signed the state budget bill. In his statement, the Republican governor expressed concerns about what he described as the "vague restrictions" proposed for libraries.

"No child should have access to inappropriate materials or to materials that their parents or guardians deem inappropriate," DeWine said. "In Ohio, we have strong laws on obscenity and material harmful to juveniles, and the DeWine-Tressel Administration expects those laws to be enforced. Therefore, a veto of this item is in the public interest."

The provision, which had drawn strong opposition from library systems across the state, including the Public Library of Youngstown & Mahoning County, would have required libraries to segregate such materials so they were not visible to patrons under 18.

Library advocates, including the Ohio Library Council (OLC), argued that the language was "overly vague and broad" and "ultimately unworkable." Aimee Fifarek, CEO and director of the Public Library of Youngstown & Mahoning County, previously warned that complying with the mandate could force libraries to "close down" to review and re-code materials, potentially leading to "unconstitutional censorship."