Library volunteer outlines services and asks Bellbrook residents to support Greene County levy

A volunteer for the Greene County Public Library described youth and outreach services and asked Bellbrook residents to support a November levy during public comment at the Oct. 13 Bellbrook City Council meeting.

Joanne Michala, who identified herself as a volunteer with the Greene County Library Levy Committee, said the library distributes books to young children through the Dolly Parton Imagination Library program and offers tutoring, story times, baby story time and outreach services to seniors and other residents. "For kids, we were 1 of the first counties in the whole state of Ohio to bring in the Dolly Parton Imagination Library," Michala said, describing distribution of more than 660,000 books to Greene County children.

Michala summarized youth programming, tutoring that she said has helped at least 10,000 children, and services such as free Wi-Fi and tech assistance. She described the levy proposal as "less than $3 a month per $100,000 county auditor appraised house. It's a 1 mill 10 year levy." She asked residents to support the levy so the library can continue services for children, seniors, people in the military and others.

Council did not take action on the levy at the meeting; the remarks were made during the public-comment portion of the agenda.