Canfield library branch closing for more than one year

The Canfield branch of the Public Library of Youngstown and Mahoning County will close at the end of next week to prepare for demolition.

The library board on Thursday awarded contracts for construction of the new Canfield Branch Library, which will be located on the same site as the current building, 43 W. Main St., Canfield.

Hudson Construction, Inc., of Hermitage, PA, was selected as general contractor with a bid of $3.1 million. The total contracted amount is $4,080,567.

The Canfield Library will close at the end of business on Saturday, Sept. 20, so that the building can be emptied in preparation for construction. The current building will be demolished and the new building erected on the same site. Construction is expected to take a year to a year and a half.

A ceremonial groundbreaking is being planned in the weeks after closing. Details will be released at a later time.

The current Canfield Library, built in 1969, is 5,104 square feet. The new branch will be 18,135 square feet.

A temporary library location will be set up in the Mill Creek Farm, 7574 Columbiana-Canfield Rd., Canfield, beginning October 1. Mill Creek MetroParks is partnering with the Library and making this space available at no cost.

Once open, the temporary site will have hours of Mon. - Sat., from 9 a.m. to 5:30 p.m. This site will feature services such as materials pick-up and drop-off, children's story times, a small collection of materials for checkout, and laptops for use on-site.

The Library reminds patrons that the closest branches to the Canfield Library are Austintown Library, 600 S. Raccoon Rd., at 6.5 miles away, and Boardman Library, 7680 Glenwood Ave., which is about 5.5 miles away.

Plans have been in the works for nearly a decade for this new Canfield Library and the Library Board of Trustees has been saving money for the project. The Library operates debt-free and pays for projects without bond issues or loans, which are costly.