Sure, Sharon Ivey could use a set of encyclopedias, some teen-age-oriented books and more funding and staffing to keep the library in the Quinby Street Resource Center open longer.

But she's not complaining. The librarian at the branch of the Shenango Valley Community Library has a nice room, seen just as you walk into the building.

"The library was like a dungeon," she said of the old Quinby Street Service Center, which was demolished to make way for the new building.

The service center, in Mercer County Housing Authority's Malleable Heights community, Sharon, was a hodgepodge of offices created in a building that had been added onto several times over the years. It was difficult to get around in and find what you were looking for.

"Because the (Sharon police) substation was here, people thought that was all that was here," said Frazier B. Zahniser, family living/4-H youth development agent for Mercer County Cooperative Extension.

Moving into an authority apartment while construction was under way raised the visibility of the extension's Children, Youth and Families Are Resilient program, and the heightened interest has continued.

"The enrollment started to rise when we moved over there and has continued to increase when we moved back here," she said.

CYFAR is an extension of the 4-H program, which has been at Quinby since 1997.

Sharon police were the first tenants of the center, which had been closed for some time. The city received a federal grant to create a community-oriented policing program in 1995. The Malleable Heights area was one of the city's most persistent crime problems.

"Back in those days, the families who lived here had their hands full," said authority Executive Director L. DeWitt Boosel. "It was not a good place to raise a family."

Crime remains a central concern. The substation was put in the center so residents could get to know the policemen, making them a part of the community instead of an outside force.

"People talk to you and they realize we're people just like they are," said patrolman Gerald Smith, the newly appointed department evidence technician. "They tell us things going on in the community."

And, when crimes are committed, they are more likely to cooperate with the police.

"We solve a lot more (crimes) that way," Smith said.

Crime is down and public involvement in police matters is up, said Sharon Councilman Lou Rotunno.

"We're extremely happy with the substation," he said.

It's important that the substation remain active to keep it that way, Smith said.

"You can cut the grass and make it look nice, but it's going to grow again," he said, predicting that the crime problems would return if police abandon the substation.

The substation has been joined by Marcia Gregory, of the district attorney's victim-witness program, and Robert Kochems, assistant district attorney assigned to Sharon and Farrell, and law enforcement coordinator for Sharon/Farrell Weed and Seed, a state revitalization program.

Kochems said his goal is to increase the number of "citizen contacts" by police and representatives of the DA's office. He noted that the station has helped combat crime in an area beyond just Malleable Heights.

Besides the crime problem, the authority realized residents were not taking part in community services, but believed they would if the services were brought to them.

Tenants of the center remain focused on that.

"Whatever the residents need, we can provide a lot of the resources here," said Timothy W. Barnes Sr., CYFAR program adviser. "We're trying to provide it here so they don't have to go anyplace else."

4-H is aimed at children ages 8 to 18, but a state grant obtained three years ago allowed the 4-H activities to be expanded to younger children and parents.

CYFAR is designed to strengthen families by getting parents more involved in their children's schooling, and activities such as classes on parenting and conflict resolution, physical fitness programs and family field trips.

Another CYFAR site in the state dissolved, and the Mercer County program received an additional $20,000, which is being used to create a four-station computer lab.

The CYFAR funding -- $40,000 a year over three years -- runs out this year, and Ms. Zahniser pledged Cooperative Extension will keep it open in some form, whether by a new grant or through her office's budget.

Ms. Ivey, who is trained in adult literacy, said the center is getting more family-oriented and she hopes the library branch can do the same, although book additions will be strictly through donations.

The Sharon Recreation Commission will help this summer by donating $500 for new books and sponsoring an eight-week arts and crafts program, Rotunno said.

A grand opening celebration will be held at 4 p.m. Wednesday. The center will be dedicated to former Mayor Robert T. Price.