Library's recent windfalls to fund improvements

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by Steve Wiandt

Reporter

Cuyahoga Falls -- Kevin Rosswurm, director of the Cuyahoga Falls Library, said he is "thrilled" with a donation of $129,002.43 accepted Feb. 19 by the library's board of trustees. The money will be used toward building improvements, Rosswurm said.

This is the second donation bequeathed to the library by Dr. Helen W. Painter who died Jan. 30. Both bequeaths from her estate total $239,502 and have been deposited in the library's building fund.

"She was a college professor who was interested in reading," said Rosswurm, "and a member of the Friends [of the Library] group." Painter had taught at Kent State University and the University of Akron.

Painter's donations to the library have been added to those of the late Leo Gorup, an accountant employed as an auditor for General Tire, who died last year. Gorup loved the library, Rosswurm said, and came to the library to use it in a variety of ways for professional and recreational reasons.

Rosswurm said Leo Gorup was the last of four brothers who lived in the Falls.

The bequeaths from both estates add up to $470,229, making the total amount in the building fund approximately $2.022 million.

Rosswurm said the donations willed to the library by two loyal patrons will be used to update the interior of the library, including improving the heating and cooling system, rearranging and expanding specific departments, and buying new carpet and paint.

The donations from the two estates encourages Rosswurm. He said it proves there are people who see the library as a valuable service worthy of investment.

The director said improvement projects will not begin until the library's master plan is reviewed, and possibly updated, by the building committee and then the library board.

The library's master plan was developed in 2004. The first phase of that plan was remodeling the entrance, completed in 2006. The master plan could be changed, Rosswurm said, but that decision remains to be seen.

E-mail: swiandt@recordpub.com

Phone: 330-686-3915