MAHONING COUNTY Library officials announce New Middletown move

Public library space in the village will more than triple.
NEW MIDDLETOWN -- Village and library officials were to gather today at village hall for a formal announcement of the move of the local library branch to much larger quarters.
The move will be the first step in the Library 2011 strategic plan adopted last month by the board of trustees of the Public Library of Youngstown and Mahoning County, which consists of 19 branches, including the one here.
The library system's New Middletown branch will be moving later this year from its one-room, 1,000-square-foot quarters in village hall, which it has occupied since 1974, to a 3,438-square-foot storefront building the library has bought at 10418 Main St.
The storefront now houses Heaven Sent, a Hallmark card shop, and must be renovated for library use after the card shop leaves the premises, said Janet S. Loew, the library system's communications and public relations director. The exact timetable for the library's move is uncertain, she added.
"The community has indicated a need for a larger facility. We believe that the new library will be very well-used in New Middletown. The residents have been very enthusiastic about their library," Loew said.
East Side branch
Library officials also were to announce today that they are seeking a site on Youngstown's East Side for construction of a new and considerably larger East Side branch -- another element in the strategic plan. The current East Side branch is in a 2,784-square-foot, 1930-vintage building at 6 N. Jackson St. The library is also seeking an architect for the East Side project, Loew said.
"Urban library services have been a high priority for the board for the past several years," Library Director Carlton A. Sears said.
"The existing branch is a very small neighborhood branch, and it has very little in the way of computers and library materials. We would want the new branch to be very much like our newer libraries," which include meeting rooms and the latest computer technology, Loew said. The library's newest branches opened in 2001 in Poland and in 2002 in Austintown.