• There will be a public event at the Mariemont branch on Feb. 7th to introduce the 2026 Writer-in-Residence, Intisar Khanani, and celebrate the outgoing Writer-in-Residence, Mary Kay Carson‍
• Winter Checkout Challenge continues until Feb. 28th; signing up at any branch will get you a free tote bag, and a mug upon returning a completed challenge bookmark, while supplies last
• After many months of renovation the Mt. Washington branch reopens Feb. 14th, with ribbon cutting at 10 AM and festivities until 4 PM‍
• Downtown branch's Makerspace reopened yesterday (Feb. 3rd) after repainting, re-carpeting, and upgrading furniture and equipment

To be directly notified about library events, you may want to sign up to the library or library foudation newsletters

‍

Ohio Revised Code 723.011 authorizes the City of Cincinnati to require property owners to remove snow and ice from abutting or adjoining sidewalks in a timely manner.

What does this mean?
A property owner is responsible for keeping his or her property safe. If a postal worker, delivery worker or a visitor falls because you didn’t shovel and salt your walkway, you could be responsible for covering that person’s injuries.
Am I liable if I shovel my sidewalk and it freezes again, then someone falls?
The Ohio Supreme Court has affirmed residents can comply with Municipal Code’s requirement to shovel their sidewalks without assuming liability to others who may slip and fall. The only time a resident may become liable is when they permit or create a dangerous accumulation of snow that results in personal injury to another.

• Section 723-57 of the Cincinnati Municipal Code requires property owners to remove snow.
• Section 723-59 of the Cincinnati Municipal Code requires property owners to remove ice.
• ORC 723.011 (Ohio Revised Code) The penalty for violating these sections is a fine of $25.

Please be a Good Neighbor: Do your part in helping fellow residents and visitors  – especially the elderly and those with disabilities – navigate through the difficulties of winter.

City Manager Sheryl Long declared a Snow Emergency effective 7 PM last night (Jan. 23rd) through Monday, January 26 at midnight.

• Vehicles parked on official snow emergency routes may be towed and fined; these should
• Use driveways, garages, or off‑street parking whenever possible to help snowplow crews navigate safely
• If you must travel, drive slowly and give snowplows plenty of space

A major winter storm is expected to bring 8–12 inches of snow and dangerous cold this weekend. The city began pretreating roads on Monday night, and has plenty of salt (20,000 tons) available.

Department of Public Services begins 12-hour shifts around the clock at 7 AM today. Plowing of residential streets may be delayed if there is heavy accumulation on major streets and emergency corridors.

The city will open the extreme winter daytime shelter at the St. Anthony Center (1615 Republic) from 6 AM to 7 PM, starting on the 23rd to through Friday the 30th. Food, warming space, and transportation to Shelterhouse for overnight stays will be available.

Update: the city's snow plow tracker map is now active, and shows which streets have been pretreated, salted, or plowed.

• Trash, recycling, and other collection services are delayed by one day and will begin Tuesday (27th)
• City Buildings are closed to the pubic Monday (26th), and the Economic and Cultural Opportunity and Budget, Finance & Governance Committee meeting for that day is cancelled

At their January Monthly Meeting, HPNC adopted the following motion:

‍We move that the Hyde Park Neighborhood Council (HPNC) creates an Ad Hoc Committee regarding the Hyde Park Square (HPS) Development. The HPS Development Ad Hoc Committee will be a working group that makes recommendations to HPNC related to the development. The Committee will:  1) Represent key community stakeholder groups to provide a consistent, cohesive voice regarding the development; 2) Create and lead development of a Community Benefits Agreement (CBA) with the developer and City; and 3) Monitor revisions to development plans and adherence to CBA, as well as other duties as mutually agreed with the HPNC Board.

Please join us for our first monthly meeting of the year on Tuesday, January 13th, at 7:00 PM, in the Little Theater on the second floor of Hyde Park Community United Methodist Church, at 1345 Grace Avenue.

The meeting packet is linked below and on the Meeting & Minutes page, and includes the agenda as well as minutes from the previous monthly meeting.

Monthly meetings are the second Tuesday of each month at 7:00 PM — Since the location may vary, please check on the HPNC website, Facebook, or the emailed announcement if you are on our mailing list.

Hoxworth Blood Center will have its mobile "Donor Bus" parked outside the Hyde Park library branch Tuesday next week (December 23rd) for people to donate blood; available from 11:00 AM to 1:00 PM and 2:15 PM to 5:00 PM. Donors will receive a Hoxworth backpack as a thank you; you can register using the link below:

There will be two back to back meetings held in the Little Theater, on the second floor of Hyde Park Community United Methodist Church, at 1345 Grace Avenue, on the second Tuesday of this month, December 9th.

HPNC is hosting a special meeting at 6:00 PM (prior to the regularly scheduled December monthly meeting at 7:00 PM) to discuss the current state of Hyde Park Square development proposals, along with representatives from Save Hyde Park Square and the prospective developers:

• 6:00 PM — Welcome ^{(Valerie Woodham, President HPNC)}
• 6:05 PM — Overall Timeline Recap ^{(Valerie Woodham, President HPNC)}
• 6:08 PM — HPNC Process Timeline Recap ^{(Valerie Woodham, President HPNC)}
• 6:12 PM — HPNC Legal Support Balance Sheet Recap ^{(Kyndal Michel Marks, Treasurer HPNC)}
• 6:15 PM — HPNC + Community Next Steps ^{(Valerie Woodham, HPNC + Maureen Hood, SHPS)}
• 6:25 PM — Developer + Architect Presentation ^{(HPS Developers)}
• 6:50 PM — Close and Adjourn Special Meeting ^{(Valerie Woodham, President HPNC)}

Our standard monthly meeting will follow at 7:00 PM; the meeting packet is available below or on the Meeting & Minutes page.

Both meeting's minutes can be found in the January monthly meeting packet.

During Winter Operations, the city Department of Public Services will be treating and plowing streets to keep them passable. The snow plow tracker is linked below, though the map is only active during "full winter response operations" when there are crews are working all hours of the day and night to clear and treat the streets. During such times, the city recommends:

• Giving crews plenty of space to work
• Using off-street parking if possible—parked cars make plowing harder
• Keeping an emergency kit in your car (blanket, snacks, flashlight, phone charger)
• Slowing down and allowing extra time for braking, especially on bridges and hills

For more information on winter street conditions or to report dangerous or icy conditions, visit the City Service Requests webpage or call 311.

The county will hold two public hearings in early December before approving the 2026 budgets for MSDGC (Metropolitan Sewer District of Greater Cincinnati); the proposed budgets & rates are currently shown on MSDGC's budget page; the hearings are scheduled for:

• Tuesday, December 2, starting 10:00 AM in Room 603 in the Office of the Board of County Commissioners of Hamilton County, Ohio, Todd B. Portune Center for County Government, 138 E. Court Street
• Tuesday, December 9, 2025, starting 6:00 PM at the Hamilton County Board of Elections, 4700 Smith Road, (in Norwood)

These meetings can also be attended virtually, and public comment may also be submitted by mail or electronically. For details on calling in virtually by phone or Zoom, see the Hamilton County Commissioners Meetings website. To send in your comments,

• use Hamilton County's Electronic Public Hearing Website
• or send in writing to:  Leslie Hervey, Clerk of the Board, Todd B. Portune Center for County Government, 138 E. Court Street, Cincinnati, Ohio 45202

Please join us on Tuesday, November 11th, at 7:00 PM for our monthly meeting.

It will be held in the Little Theater, on the second floor of Hyde Park Community United Methodist Church, at 1345 Grace Avenue.

The meeting packet can be found via the link below, or on the Meeting & Minutes page.

Monthly meetings are the second Tuesday of each month at 7:00 PM. Since the location may vary, please check on the HPNC website, Facebook, or the emailed announcement if you are on our mailing list.