YOUNGSTOWN — The Poland Library’s fate has yet to be decided.

In a meeting Thursday at the system’s Newport branch, the Building and Sites Committee of the Public Library of Youngstown and Mahoning County, heard information from executive staff about the costs and possibilities for either rehabilitating the 25-year-old building or selling it and relocating the branch to a newly constructed building elsewhere in the community.

After a lengthy executive session, the committee reopened the meeting to the public and committee chair Ron Strollo stated that they would not make a formal recommendation on either option to the library’s full board of trustees.

Instead, the board will consider all the information the committee heard during a special meeting on April 29. Strollo could not say whether trustees will make any final determination at that time either.

“We wanted to consider all the information that we had asked staff for several months ago, to evaluate both options, and we wanted to make sure that, for it being the first time we have seen these numbers, we evaluate them properly,” Strollo said.

“There was an understanding that we are all members of the full board and that we are all going to have an opportunity to share our thoughts at that special board meeting, and that also avoids any undue pressure on the rest of the board by us making a recommendation,” he said. “So the ones that didn’t see the info have the ability to have it in front of them and we can all have a real conversation about what’s in the best interest, moving forward.”

Strollo said the executive session discussion focused largely on the prospect of what properties might be considered for a relocation, as well as some conversation about the state of the current building.

The Vindicator will elaborate on the many issues facing the branch and the costs associated with both relocation and renovation in this weekend’s paper.

The short version is that library officials have outlined considerable design flaws with the Poland branch and said that, next to the main branch, the building is the single largest drain on the library’s maintenance budget every year.

It requires, on average, $150,000 of maintenance annually, but those costs were more than $193,000 in 2024 and about $211,000 in 2025. On March 7, The Vindicator outlined many of the problems with the branch, including heaving floors and pavement icing over due to drainage issues.

On Thursday, the committee heard that the branch would cost the library system $8.4 million in continued maintenance costs over the next 30 years, compared to $3.6 million over the same span for a newly built 16,000-square-foot facility.

The preferred location for that new building, which library CEO Amy Fifarek said the staff have vetted already, would be 1.1 miles away in Poland Township, though she did not say explicitly where. It would cost roughly $6.7 million to $9.9 million to build, compared to the roughly $7.3 million to complete all the proposed renovations to the existing branch.

Fifarek said the construction estimate does not include design costs; furniture, shelving and materials collection; actual relocation costs, or permitting fees.

On the other hand, she said, renovating the current branch would include major costs like upgrading the elevator; repairing the stone wall against the creek for the third time; several ADA compliance upgrades that are overdue; as well as the costs of finding a new location, making it suitable for library operations, including IT upgrades, and moving from the Main Street building to the temporary location and back; as well as the cost of storage for items not brought to the temporary location. She also noted the likely extreme disruption to the community that the renovation work would create over a two- to three-year period.

Many residents in Poland say they do not believe the library needs to be relocated.

Susan Yerian was one of six residents representing the Save Our Library Committee in Poland, who spoke at Thursday’s meeting after the committee declined to make a formal recommendation.

She cited the library’s own Facilities Master Plan.

“The Poland Library is located on a main street historic district and its distinctive design gives it an iconic presence that marks it as a civic institution and makes it beloved by its residents,” she read. “You have to understand that there are costs involved – monetary costs but also community costs. This library…is the heart of our community and has been recognized nationally, statewide, internationally as an important facility.”

Patti Wanat also noted the importance of the Library’s location and atmosphere, calling it an oasis, where visitors can enjoy nature from a picnic table near Yellow Creek or looking out through the window with a cup of coffee at a comfortable chair inside by the cafe. She also noted its convenient access via U.S. 224, state Route 170, or Interstate 680.

She said if the building is abandoned by the Library and sold to a private owner, the community’s access to it will likely be lost.

“This oasis will effectively be removed from the community. I don’t believe the effects of that can be undone. Removing what is the anchor of our community destabilizes our community,” she said.