POLAND — Longtime author Adriana Trigiani’s performance easily filled the large room with roaring laughter as she aimed her comedic focus on Italian family members.

Underlying her standup routine, however, was a deeper, more austere and serious message.

“This is the last thing we should cut. It’s shaping our future,” Trigiani, of New York City, said, referring to the vital role library systems play in the communities they serve — and the threats to funding many say they are facing locally and statewide.

Trigiani, a 25-year writer who has penned 21 books and has another one set for publication next month, was the surprise guest for the annual Ladies in Little Black Dresses for Literacy fundraiser program and dinner Thursday evening at The Lake Club, 1140 Paulin Road.

Hosting the three-hour, sold-out gala was the Public Library of Youngstown and Mahoning County.

Proceeds will benefit the Martha M. Muransky Children’s Literacy Fund, named in honor of the late Muransky, who was a strong advocate for early reading and literacy. A primary goal was to raise $25,000 for the fund, money that will be used for the PLYMC’s children’s programs, Debbie Liptak, development director, noted.

Liptak recalled that Martha Muransky’s children often patronized the Brownlee Woods library branch on Youngstown’s South Side.

Muransky, a 1940 Campbell High School graduate, died April 26, 2013. She was 89.

Muransky, who ran a family produce store in downtown Youngstown until 1957, worked for the G.E. Mazda Lamp Co. In addition, she was an executive assistant with Union Bank and worked for the Home Savings and Loan Co. in its computer department, according to her obituary.

She also is the mother of Ed Muransky, a longtime local entrepreneur who founded the Muransky Companies and is a former Youngstown State University Foundation chairman.

Trigiani, who is friends with Muransky and his wife, Christine Muransky, shared her own early forays into the worlds of literature and reading. She recalled that her mother was a librarian who got the young Trigiani a library card that allowed her access to a bookmobile, since no library was in the vicinity of the family’s home in rural northeast Pennsylvania.

More than merely being repositories for books, libraries’ importance lies in their social and community aspects via providing vital connections to both, she told an audience of nearly 400 educators, business leaders and others.

During her appearance, Trigiani also made a connection between fostering in children a love of reading and the greater likelihood they will seek higher education. In addition, reading to young people “engages them on every level,” she said.

“A book is a portal to your soul; a library is a cathedral to your intellect,” Trigiani added.

Library officials and others expressed concern about Ohio House Bill 96, often referred to as the budget bill, which covers health and human services, education, property tax relief and a slew of other spending appropriations.

According to the Ohio Library Council, though, the measure would change the Public Library Fund from a percentage of general revenue fund tax receipts, as proposed by Gov. Mike DeWine, to a line-item appropriation at $490 million for fiscal year 2026. The legislation also would allow the state Senate to deduct more than $10.2 million in each fiscal year from the public library fund appropriation for many Ohio public library systems, according to the OLC, which also noted that Ohio’s public libraries experienced a $27 million loss in state funds last year.

Despite drastic changes to funding sources and the advances in technology, libraries remain relevant, positive and enduring forces in the communities they serve, Aimee Fifarek, the PLYMC’s executive director and chief executive officer, noted.

She also explained the significance of most attendees’ attire for Thursday’s fundraiser.

“The purpose of the black dress represents black print on white paper, and the importance of literacy for everyone in their lifetimes,” Fifarek said.

On May 12, she testified before the Ohio Senate Education Committee in Columbus as part of a delegation of state library leaders and Ohio Library Council representatives to defend library funding as well as continued investment in the Mahoning Valley.

“By continuing to protect the General Library Fund as it stands in current law and providing a modest increase from 1.7% to 1.75% of the general revenue fund, you will safeguard our ability to evolve with our community and ensure that libraries will have the resources necessary to meet the needs of our families,” Fifarek said in her testimony.

Also during the gala, most in attendance visited a makeshift boutique that offered a variety of jewelry, clothing, necklaces, purses and other items that several area businesses were selling. In addition, many attendees swapped books with others or donated gently used and new children’s books.

Another vital role libraries play is preserving a crucial means to help uphold certain democratic values, Trigiani said.

“Providing free access to information is the key,” she added.