Lucas County voters said yes to the library on the same night they said no to the city’s public-safety income tax — and starting in January, your branch hours are coming back.

Voters approved Issue 8, the Toledo Lucas County Public Library’s five-year, 3.0-mill operating levy. The levy is expected to raise about $34.3 million a year and will cost a homeowner about $105 a year for every $100,000 of property value — roughly 29 cents a day, according to the Lucas County Auditor’s estimate. The new 3.0-mill levy replaces the library’s current 3.7-mill levy, and it will not be on the ballot again for five years.

What it means for your branch: the levy restores hours that were cut after the library lost nearly $2 million in state funding. Full hours — including Saturdays — return to the King Road and Waterville branches on January 2, 2027. Sunday hours are being added at the Sylvania, Heatherdowns, and Oregon branches on the same date. Hours at the Main Library downtown and the Mobile services are set to be restored by early summer 2027, and Holland branch hours will return once that branch reopens.

The split decision tells the story of election night in Lucas County. Voters rejected the city’s proposed income-tax increase for public safety — a defeat that could put as many as 73 city jobs at risk — but backed the library’s ask. Read our earlier report on the public-safety tax fallout here: Toledo’s Public-Safety Tax Failed by 6,000 Votes — Now 73 City Jobs Could Vanish

For the library, the vote is a reset after a tough budget year. Library officials said the restored hours are the first step toward rebuilding services that were scaled back when state funding was cut.

Sources: The Blade | Toledo Lucas County Public Library | Friends of the Toledo Lucas County Public Library

Photo: Carol M. Highsmith, Library of Congress (public domain), via Wikimedia Commons.