Thirty-eight public libraries are on the ballot next week, the most on a single ballot since at least 1980, said Doug Evans, Ohio Library Council executive director.

However, not all libraries are allowed to turn to the ballot to ask taxpayers for help. The kind of library not in a public system, independent libraries, also must weather the latest financial crisis.

"We've been in crisis mode since we started," said Patty Collins, Harrisburg Library's board president. "But we're used to it."

The independent library in the southern Franklin County village of Harrisburg has struggled for years. Southwest Public Libraries dropped it as a branch in 1990, saying that many of Harrisburg's users were from neighboring Pickaway County, which did not provide any financial support.

The village eventually purchased the building, and today, the library lends 15 to 20 items per day. The village contributes a third of its 1 percent income tax for utilities, maintenance and supplies. That amounts to about $12,000 in a good year.

The salary for library director Ellen Dawson, about $900 a month, is met solely through donations.

No one keeps track of the number of independent libraries in Ohio.

After Wagnalls Memorial Library in Lithopolis in Fairfield County had its endowment drop about $6 million over 15 years because of declining investments, it started taking state money in 2006, Evans said.

Wagnalls was the last library to qualify for the money.

Currently, 251 libraries in Ohio's 88 counties receive state funding, Evans said. State law capped the number at 251 last year so that independent libraries no longer are eligible, he said.

Harrisburg Library relies mainly on the good will of the community. Its new sign came from proceeds of an annual baking contest and auction.

Volunteers run the checkout and shelve and weed out old books.

And local merchants promote the library through fundraisers, donations and volunteers.

"It's for the community," said Stan Baldwin, of the Harrisburg VFW, which donates part of its instant lottery proceeds to the library. "There's not really too much of anything here that belongs to the community."

Lynda Davis, the town's postmaster and a library trustee, teaches a greeting-card-making class for $10. All proceeds benefit the library.

"There are so many people who are undergoing hard times, and the kids need those computers for schoolwork and research," she said, pointing to five computers donated by American Electric Power, which has an ongoing relationship with the library.

"They see how we stretch the dollar," Dawson said. Often, a patron will hand her some money and say, "Buy what you need."

"I don't want to buy candy for kids," she recalled one woman saying. "Here's $25, buy them some books."

Jan Harvey, who recently donated books to the library, was recruited to organize the Wednesday story-time program after Dawson learned she had retired after 25 years teaching preschool.

"I don't let anyone get out of here without asking them to volunteer," she said.

dnarciso@dispatch.com