McGuffey proposed again as name

By Harold Gwin

The library is being built in McGuffey Heights, the society president said.

YOUNGSTOWN — The William Holmes McGuffey Historical Society has made another bid to have the new East Side library facility named for McGuffey, a prominent 19th-century educator from this area.

Richard Scarsella, society president, and June Murdoch of Boardman, a McGuffey descendant, addressed the issue Thursday before the board of trustees of the Public Library of Youngstown and the Mahoning Valley.

Representatives of the society initially made the request to the library board in February.

William Holmes McGuffey, who grew up in what is now Coitsville Township, is considered to be “America’s Schoolmaster.” He was an educator and the author of the famed McGuffey Eclectic Readers that served as the reading primer of choice in the United States for decades.

Scarsella said the society would like to see the facility named the William Holmes McGuffey Library, McGuffey Library or McGuffey Heights Library.

There is some precedent for it, he said, noting that the main library in Youngstown bears the name “Reuben McMillan Free Library,” named for a former Youngstown school superintendent, and Brownlee Woods Library is named for a specific geographic area.

He read a letter from another McGuffey descendant, Shirley Eckley of Hubbard, which pointed out that McGuffey “was the man that did not just make the words ‘no child left behind’ a slogan, he made it a reality.”

The $2.1 million, 9,000-square-foot East Side library is being built at East High Avenue and Early Road in what is considered McGuffey Heights, Scarsella said.

People from the Coitsville area will be the ones most likely to use the new library, Scarsella said.

Dr. David Ritchie, library board president, said in February the issue had been taken under advisement. He noted at the time that the board prefers to name libraries after the areas in which they are located, rather than for a person.

Scarsella said Ritchie indicated Thursday that a decision would be made soon. Janet Lowe, library spokeswoman, confirmed that no decision has been made.

There is some opposition to the McGuffey request. Scarsella said representatives of the Friends of the East Side Library also addressed the board, urging that the East Side name be retained.

gwin@vindy.com