At a recent Portsmouth City Council meeting, Mayor Sean Dunne read a proclamation honoring local Taryn Mirabello.

Mirabello, who works as supervisor of the Lucasville branch of the Portsmouth Public Library, recently received the 2022 Ohio Library Council’s Diana Vescelius Memorial Award.

“I am proud and grateful to be a part of a Scioto County organization as time-honored, community-minded and service-oriented as the Portsmouth Public Library system,” Mirabello said. “Some of my fondest childhood memories are of attending summer reading programs with my mother, and it is extremely rewarding as an emerging library leader to be able to pay it forward.”

The award was created to acknowledge Vescelius’ enthusiasm and active and creative contributions to the library profession, according to the proclamation.

According to the Ohio Library Council, for nominees, “Individual career demonstrates future leadership potential by demonstrating an outstanding commitment to the profession, including advocacy in special areas such as intellectual freedom, library innovation, outreach, and/or expansion of library services.”

Nominees must be an OLC member; MLIS or library school student; 35 years or younger or worked 5 years or less in Ohio libraries.

Mirabello, who was recognized as being an emerging leader, was honored by council for her career with the library system that goes back to 2012.

“She has worked hard to ensure that her community has access to high-quality library services and was instrumental in the development of a sensory-inclusive story time that welcomed adults with disabilities,” the proclamation read. “This was the first library in Scioto County to offer this type of programming.”

Mirabello said that her love of the library system and Lucasville is immeasurable.

“I love collaborating with Lucasville’s dedicated and hard-working staff to identify needs within our community, and then brainstorming programs and services the library can create to meet those needs,” Mirabello said.

Other services Mirabello has provided include book tote deliveries to area daycares; early childhood literacy outreach programs to Northwest Head Start and Valley Elementary; and Cards for a Cause, whereby children and patrons of any age can visit the Lucasville branch to create holiday greeting cards to be delivered to area nursing home residents.

“One cannot overemphasize the lasting and life-changing impact the Portsmouth Public Library system has had on Scioto County residents since the Portsmouth Carnegie branch’s opening in February 1906. To this day, we have patrons drop in to thank staff for the free resources that helped them secure a job; patrons who fondly recall the Bookmobile visiting their school decades ago; parents who themselves attended story times who are now bringing their own children to the library,” Mirabello explained. “It is impossible to place a valuation on fostering and sustaining a lifetime love of learning—the contributions the Portsmouth Public Library system has made to enriching Scioto County for generations are priceless. I count myself fortunate to be a part of something so great and look forward to seeing the contributions the Library will inevitably continue to make to southern Ohio in the future.”

Reach Joseph Pratt at (740) 353-3101, by email at [email protected], © 2022 Portsmouth Daily Times, all rights reserved