Ohioana Library was great bargain

How embarrassingly shortsighted of our state legislators to completely cut funding for the Ohioana Library (Dispatch article, Saturday). Gov. John Kasich had recommended a modest increase in Ohioana’s funding (a modest increase in what is a miniscule portion of the state budget), yet the Ohio House eliminated funding completely.

Ohioana Library’s current annual budget serves all Ohioans at the whopping cost of approximately 1 penny per person. Gracious mercy me. Such excess! It not only curates the library collection of Ohio authors (or books about Ohioans), it also catalogs sheet music, produces events such as the Ohioana Book Festival, publishes a quarterly magazine and provides grants that encourage young writers.

Ohio has a rich literary heritage, including authors such as Toni Morrison, Nikki Giovanni, James Thurber, Sherwood Anderson, Louis Bromfield, Zane Grey, Harriet Beecher Stowe, Rita Dove, Paul Laurence Dunbar and Mary Oliver. Children and young adults have been delighted by the works of Mildred Wirt Benson (Carolyn Keene), R.L. Stine, Lois Lenski, Robert McCloskey, J. Patrick Lewis and many more. Students are attracted to our state to study some of these literary giants. Tourists come to visit Malabar Farm, Thurber House, The Zane Grey Museum and other literary landmarks. Ohioana Library’s mission is “collecting, preserving and celebrating Ohio literature. It’s a vital part of who we are as Ohioans.”

We should be promoting Ohio’s connection to the arts. I find it difficult to credit the logic of prioritizing funding for education and fighting opioid addiction by defunding a library. Where does one go for education? For inspiration? For the hope and certain knowledge that you can achieve a better life?

I hope the legislators remember these words from Toni Morrison and revisit funding for Ohioana Library: “As you enter positions of trust and power, dream a little before you think.”

Candy Canzoneri Westerville