YOUNGSTOWN, Ohio (WKBN) – Earlier this month, voters in Mahoning County approved a renewal levy for the public library system. Leaders with the Public Library of Youngstown and Mahoning County shared with us how some of that money is spent.
Some people don’t realize how the physical buildings impact the library system’s budget.
“It’s one of our biggest expenses throughout our budget,” said Aimee Fifarek, director and CEO of PLYMC. “We’re responsible for maintenance, upkeep, new rooms, redoing parking lots every year and painting…landscaping.”
PLYMC also offers outreach programs to those who can’t make it to the library, such as those in nursing homes.
“Literacy is a lifetime activity,” Fifarek said. “It is really fundamental…for people who are not near a library or can’t physically come to a library, either because they have transportation issues, they’re too young to get themselves there or because they live in some sort of residential facility or at home.”
Watch First News on Wednesday to hear more about some of the programs that benefit from taxpayer dollars.
