Local

Public Library of Youngstown and Mahoning County receives $100K for restoration

By Mahoning Matters staff
Back row, from left: Aimee Fifarek, executive director and CEO of the Public Library of Youngstown & Mahoning County; Judy and Reid Schmutz of The Schmutz Family Foundation; and Debbie Liptak, development director at the PLYMC. Front row, from left: Eddie, Charlie, Mallory and Ali Maughan.
Back row, from left: Aimee Fifarek, executive director and CEO of the Public Library of Youngstown & Mahoning County; Judy and Reid Schmutz of The Schmutz Family Foundation; and Debbie Liptak, development director at the PLYMC. Front row, from left: Eddie, Charlie, Mallory and Ali Maughan. (Photo provided)
YOUNGSTOWN

The Public Library of Youngstown & Mahoning County recently received a $100,000 donation from The Schmutz Family Foundation for the restoration of the Main Library’s Grand Reading Room.

The donation “falls in line with the historic gift that Andrew Carnegie provided more than a century ago to buy the land to build Main Library,” Aimee Fifarek, PLYMC executive director and CEO, said in a news release.

“Gifts like these help us to build, renovate and restore our libraries, while support from our communities helps to maintain our library’s operations,” Fifarek said.

As part of the library’s final phase of renovation, the original skylight in the Grand Reading Room will be uncovered and restored.

“PLYMC has a long history of serving the Valley as a community hub for connection, learning and discovery, and it is our hope that with the restoration of this beautiful space, generations of readers, learners and innovators will enjoy the historic Grand Reading Room for years to come,” Judy Schmutz, co-founder of The Schmutz Family Foundation and member of the PLYMC Board of Trustees, said in the release.