Canfield Foundation welcomes plans for expansion of library

By Ed Runyan

The library will span the space between Main and Lisbon streets.

CANFIELD — The announcement that the Public Library of Youngstown and Mahoning County has purchased an option on land directly behind the current library branch here for expansion is good news to the Canfield Foundation.

Lynn Roman, a trustee with the organization, says purchasing an option on the land shows the library’s board of directors has taken seriously the need for Canfield’s library to remain downtown.

It also means that within several years, the Canfield library will become an information center and green space occupying a prominent location between two major streets in the city — West Main and Lisbon streets.

The library administration spent between 2003 and 2007 looking for the best piece of land to build or expand the library before settling on the parcel owned by Albert Ziska.

The administration paid $5,000 to hold an option on the land directly behind the current library and also directly behind the City Building on Lisbon Street. The land has two large buildings on it containing day-care facilities and one small building, said Carlton Sears, director of the library system.

The additional land would give the library a continuous campus flowing from West Main Street through to Lisbon Street.

The option allows the library board to purchase the land for $495,000 through 2009, Sears said, adding he didn’t know the acreage of the new land but said combining the current and additional land adds up to 100,000 square feet. The library branch is 5,000 square feet.

Sears said he hopes the library expansion can be complete in three to four years, but he doesn’t have a timetable for hiring an architect or starting construction.

Roman said the library system plans call for about 25 percent of the 100,000- square-foot library space to be used for the building, 25 percent for parking and the rest for green space and room for future needs.

Roman said system studies showed the Canfield library has more materials being circulated per square foot of space than any branch in the system. That’s one of the reasons why Canfield needs a larger library, she added.

runyan@vindy.com