Dear North Canton Community,
Since February, the North Canton Public Library has been advocating to state legislators to maintain Ohio’s public library funding model. Despite your outreach to preserve strong library funding – the type of unwavering support for which we will be eternally grateful! – the new and reduced model is all but finalized and will be enacted on July 1 of this year.
However, we have one final opportunity to advocate against a restrictive library policy in the state budget.
This provision in HB 96 would place restrictions on how library materials related to sexual orientation and gender are displayed or accessed by anyone under 18 — even when those materials are written specifically for children and teens.
Books like My Moms Love Me or It’s Okay to Be Different, which reflect diverse families and experiences, could be subject to unnecessary limitations, hidden from view, or made harder for families to find and read together.
Why Is the Provision Concerning to Us?
- It threatens our mission. The provision is dangerously vague, overly broad, and ultimately unworkable. It opens the door to unconstitutional censorship and undermines the core mission of libraries: to provide free and open access to information.
- It’s unnecessary. The Library has a clearly defined Code of Conduct in place regarding appropriate behaviors in the building and an extensive, Board-approved Collection Development Policy in place for purchasing materials and reviewing requests for reconsideration from our community. We also have library cards created specifically for children that require a parent or guardian’s signature. With these policies comes a process for input and feedback so that concerns and suggestions can always be heard and considered.
- It overreaches parents’ and guardians’ roles. Parents have always had the right to guide their children’s reading and they should be the ones closely involved in their child’s browsing habits. That role belongs to them – not to their public library and not to their state.
Bottom line? Public libraries must remain places of curiosity, inclusion, and intellectual freedom.
We encourage patrons who share these values to respectfully ask Governor Mike DeWine to veto this specific provision in HB 96 by Monday, June 30.
📬 Contact the Governor:
Governor Mike DeWine
Phone: 614-466-3555
Online Contact Form: https://governor.ohio.gov/contact
📢 Suggested Message:
“As a library supporter, I respectfully urge you to veto the provision in HB 96 that would restrict public access to LGBTQ-themed materials. Parents should make decisions about what their children read — not the state. Please protect Ohio’s tradition of free, open access to information.”
We understand this is a sensitive topic. Our goal is always to provide a welcoming environment where all families can find the books, resources, and support that are right for them.
Thank you for being part of our library community.
With kindness,
Andrea Legg
Director
North Canton Public Library
