OHIO LIBRARIES Opportunity Awaits! Ohio has many resources available to its residents that are easily accessed, relevant to students, families, and their communities, and, best of all, are FREE to use! This presentation will acquaint you with these free resources; it will show you how to access, explore, and utilize them to their fullest advantage.

@your library The Campaign for America’s Libraries A public website for the American Library Association’s public awareness campaign – The Campaign for America’s Libraries. Provides information and recommended resources that can be found at your local public library. There is a wealth of information, resources, articles, library links, and blogs to peruse and ponder.

Who library? The following statement gives credit library’s funding resource: “This new venture would not have happened without seed money from Carnegie Corporation of New York and without the leadership of its president Vartan Gregorian, a true friend of libraries (“About Us,” 2009).”

The State Library of Ohio The State Library of Ohio serves the state government and all other libraries in Ohio. It leads and collaborates with many innovative programs that support our increasingly global economy. It also oversees the federal Library Services and Technology Act (LSTA) grant program. Resources:

The State Library of Ohio: Budget Development Budget Proposal Office of Budget and Management Governor; Executive Budget Ohio General Assembly; HB1 House & Senate Hearings; Final Budget Adopted

Libraries Connect Ohio A partnership of libraries and organizations working together to help build the Ohio Web Library core collection of information resources. Principal partners include INFOhio, OhioLINK, OPLIN, and The State Library of Ohio. Other organizations involved include ALAO, OELMA, and OLC.

Ohio Web Library The Ohio Web Library is a virtual library that is being developed through the collaborative efforts of Libraries Connect Ohio. According to its website, these are the resources available: – Ohio Students -- Get help with your homework, find research sources for term papers, or explore topics of personal interest. – Teachers and Professors -- Use resources to support your teaching, engage students and enhance your professional development. – Employees and Business Owners -- Find reliable business information, access trade journals and keep current on industry trends. – All Ohio residents -- Stay current with world events, professional news and topics of personal interest (“About Ohio Web Library,” 2008).

Funding Ohio Web Library Libraries Connect Ohio is taxpayer-funded through a combination of state and federal taxes. Ohio Web Library is funded by the federal Library Services and Technology Act (LSTA) grant through the State Library of Ohio. – Approximately $1.5 million per year INFOhio, OhioLINK, and OPLIN – Approximately $3 million per year from their budgets (“About Ohio Web Library,” 2008).

Ohio’s Online Reference Service Receive 24x7 reference services from a real reference librarian – Homeworknow and Readthisnow are also available through this portal. Service provided by the State Library of Ohio and libraries throughout the state. – See for a list of participating libraries.

Funding for KnowItNow24x7 Funding is through a LSTA grant from the federal Institute of Museum and Library Services (IMCS) awarded by the State Library of Ohio. KnowItNow24x7 is available to all Ohio residents free of charge. Questions? Refer to

INFOhio INFOhio (Information Network for Ohio Schools) is Ohio’s virtual K-12 library. It provides: – Electronic resources – Instructional development for teachers – School library automation INFOhio’s resources are available, free of charge, to K-12 students, educators, and parents either through school or with a school-provided username and password (for home access).

Sample Resources from INFOhio Students: – Contains a listing of all of INFOhio’s available electronic resources. A username/password is required to access these from home. Parents and educators: – Contains various supplies and resources to ensure academic success. Educators: – Aligns curriculum resources to Ohio Standards for more effective classroom instruction.

INFOhio Funding INFOhio is a state-funded resource. The budget has recently been approved and is for the same amount as the budget. The budget, $1.6 million, is a $400,000+ reduction from the budget, due to state-mandated funding cuts. Due to budget constraints, some services may be limited or cut. INFOhio promises to do its best with what it has. See html for more detailed information html

OhioLINK This is a site that might be especially interesting to 11 th and 12 th -graders and their parents. OhioLINK is a consortium of 88 Ohio college and university libraries and the State Library of Ohio. It serves over 600,000 students, faculty, and staff at 89 institutions of higher learning (“About the Ohio Library and Information Network,” 2009).

Funding for OhioLINK The state of Ohio provides funding for OhioLINK. The operating budget for 2008 was $7.39 million; the total capital budget for was $8.9 million. See the 2008 Snapshot report for an explanation of why OhioLINK remains an important investment even in difficult economic times:

OPLIN The Ohio Public Information Network (OPLIN) provides the following: – Broadband Internet connections and related information services to Ohio Public Libraries – Free Internet access through 251 independent local public library systems – Access to high-quality research databases not freely available on the world wide web (“About OPLIN,” )

OPLIN: Explore Ohio This is a collection of Ohio-specific websites and links provided by OPLIN. It is searchable by category or county. Links are organized to make browsing fast and easy. Site of the Month (February, 2010): The Teen Buckeye Book Award,

OPLIN Funding and Logistical Support Administrative Costs: 10% of Budget Purchase of Services Provided to Public Libraries: 90% of Budget

Public Library of Cincinnati and Hamilton County Cincinnati’s public library system recorded the highest circulation in the country in It’s resources include an easily-searched online public access catalog (OPAC), book reviews, book lists, research databases, ask-a-librarian chat, information about adult, child, and teen programming, and much more! A current library card is required for access (Hamilton and limited surrounding counties).

Funding: The Public Library of Cincinnati and Hamilton County Libraries in Ohio are in trouble. The state made drastic cuts to the Public Library Fund in 2009 and will continue this trend in 2010 (“Library Funding,” 2010). The Public Library of Cincinnati and Hamilton County successfully ran a tax levy in November, 2009, which will generate $20 million in annual revenue beginning in 2010; this should help to offset the declining state revenue due to state budget cuts (“Library Funding,” 2010).

References Libraries connect ohio. (n.d.). Retrieved from Knowitnow24x7. (2010, January). Retrieved from The Public library of cincinnati and hamilton county. (2010). Retrieved from Infohio: the information network for ohio schools. (2010, January 31). Retrieved from Ohiolink. (2010). Retrieved from Ohio public library information network. ( ). Retrieved from State Library of ohio. (2010). Retrieved from library: the campaign for america's libraries. (2009). Retrieved from Ohio web library. (2010). Retrieved from Web_Library_ Web_Library_

Final Thoughts Option #4 was the selected option for this project. – Target Audience: Ohio K-12 students and parents. – Purpose: To increase awareness of free resources, available to students and their families, that support student achievement and learning, both for academic and personal interest. Surprising Insights: – The sheer number and complexity of free resources available to Ohioans. – Realization that these resources are sorely underused due to competition from the Internet and lack of awareness on the part of users. – Advertising and education concerning the use of these sites is imperative for teaching 21 st Century Literacy skills.