The effort to “save” the Poland Library is well-intentioned and even noble.

It is also, at this point, misguided and bordering on unhealthy.

The Public Library of Youngstown and Mahoning County has spent the better part of a year — if not longer — studying, documenting, analyzing and contracting with reputable professional consultants about every aspect of the building.

On April 9, the Library’s Building and Sites Committee heard everything library staff had learned through their efforts. They learned about the problems with the 25-year-old building, what it would cost to fix them, every anticipated challenge with taking that path, and conversely, every available detail about relocating the branch.

On Wednesday, the full Library Board of Trustees will meet in special session to hear those details again, and perhaps — even likely — render a decision about the Poland branch’s fate.

All of the information made public thus far appears, rather convincingly, to favor relocating the branch. It will be far less expensive in the short- and long-term, it will be far less complicated and unsightly for the community, and it will give the PLYMC a much-needed financial reprieve that can be leveraged to the benefit of the entire public library system in Mahoning County. And Poland will still have what appears to be a very functional, accessible and enjoyable space on par with the other great branches countywide.

But sentimentality has apparently superseded logic and rationale in the arguments being made to keep the current building.

Granted, the Poland community invested a great deal of emotional capital and real capital — at least $1.2 million was raised toward the building’s construction. But those who raised the funds for the dome and elevator and other beloved architectural features are not the ones responsible for maintaining the building year after year. Other than the main branch in downtown Youngstown, Poland’s maintenance costs are decisively the highest of any branch in the system and are expected to balloon in the coming years.

The costs to fix the structural and safety problems and replace outdated utility systems are extensive and may soon become prohibitive.

The Save Our Library committee in Poland say they do not accept the PLYMC’s data and documentation. Yet they have provided none of their own to counter it. They have said they have an engineer on the committee who disagrees with the library’s assessment of the building, yet they have not produced any type of report. Their arguments, while well-meaning, are founded entirely on emotion, or at least they are not making their best argument if they have more to offer.

The emotion will not pay the bills that have to be paid to keep Poland where it is, and so the committee’s efforts become futile.

But the group also comprises very intelligent people. If they were to acknowledge the apparently stark reality of the situation, they could reorganize their collective efforts. Then they might very well contribute meaningfully to a conversation about how the existing building might find new purpose, how a new, affordable Poland branch might look, and how both could best serve the community they love.