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Former storefront opens as transitional library in Perry
Tuesday, October 1, 2002
By MALCOLM HALL Repository staff writer
PERRY TWP. — Stark County District Library staffers were meticulously placing books on shelves Monday, as they went through the final phases of converting a storefront into a library.
Starting this morning, the retail plaza site at 4030 Lincoln Way E is what township residents will have as a public library branch. Nearly four months after an arson fire destroyed the old branch, the county library system has use of a structure to lend books and provide computer service.
“We will have about 20 percent of the collections we had before,” said Shirley Rembert, who manages the library sites here and in Jackson Township. “We will have 10,000 to 12,000 items. There were about 8,000 items out in circulation when the fire occurred. We have been purchasing items through the summer.”
The library system had been using a Bookmobile to provide services here. County library officials have expressed commitment to building a new branch for Perry Township.
But this transitional site will suffice for “we are guessing at least a couple years,” said Kent Oliver, executive director of the county’s library system. “It takes a considerable amount of time to get a building program going. We have not completed negotiations on the insurance settlement (from the fire). It will give us an idea of what we will have to start with as far as funds for rebuilding.”
Along with stocking books, library staffers spent time Monday securing six desktop computers that will have Internet access. Members of the township’s Fire Department also helped get the storefront ready for today’s opening.
The transitional branch is in a retail plaza and is nestled between Check ’N’ Go and Perry Tanning & Sportswear.
Meanwhile, the township’s Police Department continues searching for clues to determine who set the June 8 fire that destroyed the branch.
“We have got some leads, but not anything where we can make an arrest,” said Perry Police Chief Mark Machan.
You can reach Repository writer Malcolm Hall at (330) 580-8305 or e-mail: malcolm.hall@cantonrep.com