MAHONING COUNTY Library seeks public's input

Proposals for the library's future will be issued Jan. 22.
YOUNGSTOWN -- Library officials say local residents can help determine the future of the county library system by attending a series of public meetings next week.
Officials from the Public Library of Youngstown and Mahoning County will hold public meetings Dec. 15-17 to seek comments on the library system. The comments will be used to create a strategic plan for the library system's future.
"We'll say, this is where we want to be in the future, and we'll plod along and we'll get there," said Carlton Sears, director of the library system.
The meetings will be:
U6:30 p.m. to 9 p.m. Dec. 15 at the Austintown library.
U10 a.m. to 12:30 p.m. Dec. 16 at the main library.
U6 p.m. to 8:30 p.m. Dec. 16 at the Canfield library.
U9 a.m. to 11:30 a.m. Dec. 17 at the Struthers library.
The goal of the plan will be to focus on responding to changes in demographics and funding, not necessarily on providing more services. Library officials stressed that they want to avoid asking the public for more money through tax levies.
Funding
The library system is expected to receive about 10 percent of its funding, or $1.1 million, this year from a 0.6-mill levy that was approved by voters in 1976. Most library funding comes from the state, which is slated to contribute $9.8 million to the local library system this year.
Sears said that during the meetings next week, residents will be asked to consider if their local library meets their needs and the needs of their community. Some of the library system's 19 branches could be closed or merged with other branches through the strategic plan.
The results of a survey conducted earlier this year show that most library patrons use the newly built or renovated library branches such as the Boardman, Poland and Austintown libraries.
Most of those surveyed also indicated that they would prefer a few larger library facilities in the area rather than many smaller branches that could be in more neighborhoods. Many, however, added that they want the larger facility close to where they live.
Sears noted that library usage has gone up in the last 12 years, even as the local population has decreased. Library statistics show that library item circulation increased from 1.3 million items in 1990 to 2 million items in 2002, while the county's population during the same period decreased from 264,806 people to 253,308.
Key issues
Library officials stressed that the topics that need to be addressed through the plan are funding and financial stability, technology and facilities, meeting the communities' needs, staffing, responsibility to the community, and partnerships with community organization.
The new plan will replace a strategic plan that has been in effect for about five years. Sears has said that plan is more service-driven, and that it addresses creating technological advancements and programs to meet users' needs.
Sears said he expects the library board to issue specific proposals from the plan at its Jan. 22 meeting.