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Struthers lobbies for site of consolidated library
STRUTHERS
The consolidation of the Struthers and Brownlee Woods branches of the Public Library of Youngstown and Mahoning County has been long in the making, but at least one member of city government is pushing for a decision on where the new library will be built.
Mayor Terry Stocker said city administrators have been working to persuade the library to choose Struthers as the location of the consolidated library but have received little information regarding the library system’s decision.
“I sent the library administration a letter expressing that I was very discouraged with the lack of communication we’ve had regarding the new library,” Stocker said. “The interim director promised us we’d hear something by the beginning of this year, and we haven’t yet.”
Stocker said the selection process began more than a year ago, and since that time there has been no update from the library regarding the new location.
Originally, the library was considering locations in Campbell, Brownlee Woods and Struthers. Eventually a separate agreement was reached with Campbell for a library branch to be built inside the city’s planned Activity Recreation and Cultural Center.
Though Campbell’s library was addressed, plans to consolidate the Brownlee Woods and Struthers’ libraries were still underway. Stocker and other city officials, such as Councilman-at-Large Mike Patrick, hoped Struthers would be selected for the library’s new location.
“Youngstown already has several branches, and Struthers is right in the center of the area they’re trying to service,” Patrick said. “There’s a branch right up Midlothian from Brownlee Woods – it’s less than three miles away.”
Patrick was referring to the Newport Library at Midlothian Boulevard and Market Street on Youngstown’s South Side.
Stocker said city officials conducted a number of presentations at library events to promote the city’s safety and street infrastructure – like sidewalks and street lights – that would make Struthers an ideal place for the new facility.
“We even hired a consultant to help us identify a few different spots that would work for a new building,” he said.
Janet Loew, library spokeswoman, said the consolidation was planned years ago, and the Public Library of Youngstown and Mahoning County trustee board was unlikely to make a decision on the location until a new executive director has been selected.
Heidi Daniel, the former director, left at the end of July, with an interim director – Susan Merriman – working in her place.
Four executive director candidates will participate in a public meet-the-candidates event at 6 p.m. today in the meeting room of the Austintown Library.
The consolidation has been on the books since at least 2013, with a mention of the plan appearing in the “MyLibrary 2020” strategic plan released that year as well as a facilities plan released the following year.
The libraries selected for consolidation were done so based on their age, facility condition and overlapping service areas.
A special meeting of the library’s board will take place Wednesday with the executive director search committee, though library officials have said a final decision on an executive director will not be made at that meeting.