From the Library Director on February 20, 2026

Dear JCPL patrons,

Late yesterday afternoon, we learned from the Indiana Library Federation's Advocacy Committee that language from Senate Bill 8 - Library Budgets has been inserted into Senate Bill 4 - Various Fiscal Matters... and will be voted on by the House of Representatives on Monday at 11 a.m. It is very important that your Indiana State Representatives hear from you by telephone on Friday. Or, if you cannot reach them via telephone, please email before Monday morning.

Please visit the Indiana Library Federation’s advocacy page to learn what is happening, how to take action and links to share the information in your social media networks.

In short, if this bill passes as written, public libraries will be unable to grow their annual budgets to equal those of all other government units or be subject to binding review. SB4, with the added language, provides no protections for libraries under binding review -- and their entire budgets could be reduced by 100%.

At this point, ILF is hoping for an amendment that will delay implementation of this section of the bill until 2029. If that happens, the next hope is to work towards having the bill revised or amended to have a lesser impact on public libraries before 2029.

Thank you for supporting JCPL -- and all Indiana public libraries.

~Lisa

Lisa Lintner
Director | Johnson County Public Library
llintner@jcplin.org 

Call to Action
Senate Bill 4 From the Indiana Library Foundation

Senate Bill 4: Various Fiscal Matters will fundamentally destabilize and harm every Indiana public library. This bill will receive a vote on Monday, February 23, 2026. If Senate Bill 4 passes, libraries can be easily defunded by their county or city. This is not how library governance has worked in Indiana for generations.

Take Action Now - Your Voice Matters More Than Ever

• Your legislators need to hear from you NOW!
• Identify your Representative
• Call your Representative today: 317-232-9600
• Tell your Representative to support an amendment to SB4 that delays implementation of the public library language until 2029, in alignment with SEA 1.

Share this alert with others in your community who love libraries! 

Talking Points for SB4 with Legislators
Our approach to SB4 is layered. Here are the points that we would like to share with legislators:

• ILF is opposed to the bill's language in regards to libraries in SB4 as currently written because it contains no guardrails on the budget reduction. If a library grows its budget at or above 50% of the Maximum Levy Growth Quotient (MLGQ), it could result in libraries being significantly defunded and would not prevent the possibility of library budgets from being zeroed out entirely.
  
  
• Ask them to support amendment(s):
  
• Restoring the guardrails that limited budget reduction to 10%.
• Delaying implementation until January 1, 2029.
• Limiting the focus of the binding review to fiscal concerns. 

Sample language for calls or emails:

We encourage you to customize the message below to make it unique to you and what you care about most.

Representative ________
I am deeply troubled by Senate Bill 4: Various Fiscal Matters. Senate Bill 4 will defund public libraries and threaten core services that Hoosiers rely on every day across Indiana. Libraries serve all, and this bill fundamentally weakens their ability to do so. I ask you to stand up for your constituents and support an amendment that delays implementation of the public library language in the bill until 2029, in alignment with SEA 1.

Sincerely,
Insert Name 

February 6, 2026
Here’s your chance to learn what’s at stake for all Indiana libraries from JCPL's Library Director. Watch this video from Friday, February 6, to learn how library budgets work and what funding could be lost if Indiana Senate Bill 8 moves forward. 

Indiana libraries need your voice. Contact your Indiana State Representative and ask them to oppose SB 8 and stand up for public libraries.

Sign up to be a Johnson County Public Library advocate
__________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________

July 22, 2025
Watch Lisa's "Funding and the Future of the Library" presentation at the Franklin Branch on Tuesday, July 22.

View the Recording

___________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________

May 8, 2025

Dear Johnson County Public Library patrons,

Some recent government changes may significantly affect your library services:

• Indiana state legislation (SEA1) puts many Indiana libraries in jeopardy of losing funding. At JCPL, we risk losing 40% of our funding. The Greenwood Public Library and Edinburgh Wright-Hageman Public Library are in similar situations. Beginning in 2028, JCPL will no longer automatically receive 40% of our budget. We will need approval from the County Council for local income tax funding for our budget. If they choose not to fund us, our ability to serve you will drastically change. Our funding through property taxes will also be reduced beginning in 2026, but by an amount that JCPL can manage for the next few years.
• The state is cutting the Indiana State Library’s (ISL) budget by 30%. JCPL receives services from ISL through group savings that make many resources affordable or provided at no extra cost to us.
• The potential elimination of the Institute for Museum and Library Services at the federal level will also impact JCPL. This agency provides $3.6M in federal funding to the Indiana State Library to fund essential statewide and local library materials and services.

I’m proud that JCPL is conservative in our fiscal management and spending. Our staffing levels are right-sized for four Library branches, an administration building, and a bookmobile. We maintain our buildings well, seeing them as publicly funded assets that belong to our residents.

What is at risk? If we lose 40% of our budget and have reduced resources from the Indiana State Library, you can expect these issues beginning in 2028:

• Reduced Staffing               
• Library Location Closures
• Reduced Hours
• Reduced / Eliminated Programs
• Reduced / Eliminated Digital Resources (Hoopla, Libby, etc.)
• Fewer New Books and Materials
• Reduced Access to the Internet

Because of this uncertainty, we are pausing our White River Branch renovation and expansion project until we learn more about our future funding.

We will need you to help protect library funding in the future! Please join our JCPL Foundation’s advocacy team at www.jcplf.org/advocacy to support us.

Sincerely,

Lisa Lintner
Johnson County Public Library, Director
llintner@jcplin.org

__________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________

March 31, 2025

Dear Johnson County Public Library patrons,

On behalf of the Johnson County Public Library and its Board of Trustees, I am sharing significant developments affecting your local library and libraries throughout Indiana and across the United States.

On Friday, March 14, the White House issued Executive Order #14238, calling for the elimination of the Institute of Museum and Library Services (IMLS), our nation’s only federal agency whose mission is to support America’s libraries and museums.

On Monday, March 31, the entire IMLS staff (approximately 70 employees) was placed on administrative leave for up to 90 days after a meeting with IMLS and the Department of Government Efficiency leaders.

These actions may have profound consequences for Indiana libraries. In the past many years, JCPL has received support from IMLS through services provided through the Indiana State Library (ISL). While other libraries in Indiana may be impacted in ways in addition to those listed below, these are the current resources JCPL patrons benefit from IMLS’s support:

• Indiana Digital Library consortium, through the Libby app, JCPL provides access to thousands of eBooks, eAudiobooks, and eMagazines. In 2024, 141,311 items were downloaded by JCPL cardholders.
• INSPIRE – a digital collection of scholarly databases supporting nearly all academic study areas. In 2024, 22,657 items were accessed by JCPL cardholders.
• Info Express is a courier service that transports library materials around the state, allowing JCPL to expand our resource offerings. In 2024, 4,799 items were sent and received for JCPL cardholders.
• TALK – a text messaging service to provide early childhood education tips to parents.
• WorldCat –a database JCPL uses for interlibrary loans and cataloging items.
• Books and Materials for the Blind, Visually Impaired and People with Print Disabilities – JCPL patrons can access these resources directly from the Indiana State Library.
• Indiana History Digitization – JCPL patrons access Indiana Memory and Hoosier State Chronicles through the ISL website.
• Staff training provided through ISL’s Office of Professional Development.

Several community members have asked what they can do or to learn more about these actions. I would like to refer any interested persons to seek additional information at the Indiana Library Federation website at: https://www.ilfonline.org/advocacy.

Sincerely,

Lisa Lintner
Library Director, Johnson County Public Library
llintner@jcplin.org