CEO of local library apologizes for error in Poland library upgrades

As the debate over recent changes made to the Poland library continues, the CEO of the Public Library of Youngstown and Mahoning County admitted to making a mistake.

Aimee Fifarek made the comment at the Poland Village Council meeting Tuesday night, apologizing and offering to collaborate and remediate if necessary.

"I acknowledge that the library may have erred and believe we did err in not seeking zoning approval for the improvements to the back patio," Fifarek said. "I have offered to design review and zoning if there is remediation the library needs to make to account for that error, we are more than happy to get that feedback and do what we need to do."

Part of the back patio that was brick, was replaced with concrete. Fifarek said it was for safety reasons.

"Those bricks were eaten away by many years of salt and becoming a trip hazard and so we were prioritizing safety and did the replacement when we had the opportunity to do that," Fifarek said.

Several hundred thousand dollars were spent upgrading the interior and exterior of the Poland library, which has not sit well with some in the community, including one of the original architects, Bob Mastriana.

In a story on 21 News Monday night, Mastriana said certain design aspects don't meet the vision of the space and the changes are, "all wrong."

"Our goal is to correct some of those things done so poorly," Mastriana said. "The finest libraries in the world are just exactly what Poland once had."

The library upgraded its carpets, lighting, paint, furniture and back patio.

Mastriana made a passionate presentation to village council about re-doing and correcting the changes the library made but council says their authority with the library stops at the windows. The back patio is really all they can debate because the library controls the interior.

Mastriana was also told his fight is with the library and its Board of Trustees.

Fifarek, meanwhile, defended the changes the library has made.

"What we did in the Poland library is very similar to what we would do to any 20 to 25-year-old building," Fifarek said. "We refreshed the interior paint, we replaced the carpet which was extremely worn and in need of replacement and we purchased new furniture. Like with any of our community libraries, we want Poland library to reflect the Poland community of yesterday, today and tomorrow."

Fifarek was asked some pointed questions by council members including if they asked for feedback from the community about the changes, to which Fifarek said they did not because it was considered a minor refresh with no architectural changes.

She was also asked about disposal of interior assets, the insensitivity of not asking for feedback based on how many people donated to the original building and if they would be willing to dig up the concrete and put the bricks back.

"I would probably be concerned about doing bricks per say given the fact that in the past they did not last over time," Fifarek said. "We would have to talk about the details of that, I would want to talk with zoning and design review about what they would recommend, look at the sustainability and safety of all that, so I do not want to make a blanket statement without talking about a specific proposal but I am not opposed to discussing any proposals that zoning or design review may want to bring forward."

Village solicitor Jay Macejko said they would meet with zoning, design review and the library to discuss any potential changes to the patio.