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More Than Books

Enriching Lives and Inspiring Minds

Located at 309 North Market Street, the East Palestine Memorial Public Library was built on this property in 1959, but library service first began in the town in 1920 with the first public library established in 1934. It is a municipal public library overseen by a seven-member Board of Trustees appointed by village council as required by the Ohio Revised Code.

Tamra J. Hess, Library Director, shared the library’s mission statement: “The East Palestine Memorial Public Library serves the Village of East Palestine and the surrounding area by providing materials, services, programs, technology, and meeting spaces in order to meet the needs of all members of the community. The library upholds the principles of intellectual freedom and the public’s right to know by providing people of all ages with guidance and access to educational, informational, cultural, and recreational collections which reflect all points of view.”

In 2020, the library joined with four other libraries in Columbiana County to create the PLUS (Public Libraries United in Service) Consortium. The other member libraries include Columbiana Public Library, Lepper Library, Salem Public Library, and Wellsville Carnegie Public Library. The consortium shares a computer system and library catalog, allowing access to a larger collection for each community. Interlibrary loan services are also provided through Search Ohio and Ohiolink, which enables them to borrowing from large metropolitan libraries and colleges and universities throughout the state of Ohio. Situated on the state line, East Palestine’s library also serves nearby Beaver County, PA residents.

“Our main focus is promoting literacy to the community. And that’s achieved through access to reading materials and many formats, including access to databases Libby and Hoopla that allow access to ebooks and digital audiobooks,” explains Noreen McBride, Assistant Director/Youth Services Librarian. “We also offer preschool story time, a toddler play group, an afterschool program for school-age children, a homeschool program, a tween and teen program, and family events. Book clubs and programs for adults on a wide variety of topics are also presented throughout the month.”

In addition to librarians Tamra and Noreen who earned their Master of Library Science degrees from Kent State University, employees include a fiscal officer, a youth services assistant, four library clerks and a maintenance employee. The library has a Friends of the Library organization. This group of library supporters meets and works throughout the year holding two annual book sales and a silent auction to raise funds to assist the library in providing services and programming.