My Library 2020 Strategic Plan-Final
“...libraries are about freedom. Freedom to read, freedom of ideas, freedom of communication. They are about education (which is not a process that finishes the day we leave school or university), about entertainment, about making safe spaces, and about access to information. “...If you perceive a library as a shelf of books, it may seem antiquated or outdated in a world in which most, but not all, books in print exist digitally. But that is to miss the point fundamentally.” – Neil Gaiman, award-winning author (Source: www.theguardian.com/books/2013/oct/15/ neil-gaiman-future-libraries-reading-daydreaming#) 1 myLibrary2020: Data Collection HISTORY The Public Library of Youngstown and Mahoning County (PLYMC) is an institution with origins in Mahoning County dating back to the 1840’s. On Oct. 27, 1880, the signing of Articles of Incorporation made the Youngstown Library Association official. The association’s name was changed to the Reuben McMillan Free Library Association on March 5, 1898, in honor of the Superintendent of Schools, who also became the president of the Library’s Board of Trustees. He was committed to the intellectual development of the city’s youth, a key element of public library service even today in 2014. The Library at the time had 186 volumes, was controlled by the school board, and was housed on West Federal Street until 1898. In 1891 the first true public library was made possible by support from the first tax appropriations, and was housed in a remodeled home on Market Street. In 1907, the sale of that property, as well as a gift from Andrew Carnegie, enabled the Library to relocate to the corner of Wick and Rayen avenues, where the Main Library remains to this day.
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