Cleveland Public Library
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Cleveland Public Library, located in Cleveland, Ohio, operates the Main Library on Superior Avenue in
downtown Cleveland Downtown Cleveland is the central business district of Cleveland, Ohio. The economic and symbolic center of the city and the Cleveland-Akron-Canton, OH Combined Statistical Area, it is Cleveland's oldest district, with its Public Square laid out b ...
, 27 branches throughout the city, a mobile library, a Public Administration Library in
City Hall In local government, a city hall, town hall, civic centre (in the UK or Australia), guildhall, or a municipal building (in the Philippines), is the chief administrative building of a city, town, or other municipality. It usually houses ...
, and the Ohio Library for the Blind and Physically Disabled. The library replaced the State Library of Ohio as the location for the Ohio
Center for the Book The Center for the Book was founded in 1977 by Daniel J. Boorstin, the Librarian of Congress, to promote literacy, library, libraries, and reading and an understanding of the history and heritage of American literature. The Center for the Book is m ...
in 2003.


History


Founding

In 1811, the idea behind the Cleveland Public Library came "out of small beginnings" when sixteen of Cleveland's sixty-four residents subscribed to its first library, established to distribute the rare printed book. The members read books such as the history of Rome, ''
Lives of the English Poets ''Lives of the Most Eminent English Poets'' (1779–81), alternatively known by the shorter title ''Lives of the Poets'', is a work by Samuel Johnson comprising short biographies and critical appraisals of 52 poets, most of whom lived during t ...
'', Goldsmith's ''Greece'', and ''
Don Quixote is a Spanish epic novel by Miguel de Cervantes. Originally published in two parts, in 1605 and 1615, its full title is ''The Ingenious Gentleman Don Quixote of La Mancha'' or, in Spanish, (changing in Part 2 to ). A founding work of Wester ...
''. In 1867, th
ClevelandCincinnati
an

Boards of Education petitioned the
Ohio General Assembly The Ohio General Assembly is the state legislature of the U.S. state of Ohio. It consists of the 99-member Ohio House of Representatives and the 33-member Ohio Senate. Both houses of the General Assembly meet at the Ohio Statehouse in Columbus ...
for authority to levy a tax for the maintenance of free public libraries, permitting boards of education with populations over 20,000 to levy a tax of one-tenth of a mill for each dollar evaluation of their taxable property. Cleveland Superintendent, th
Reverend Anson Smyth
who has been doubtfully called the "father of the Cleveland Public Library," supported this law in his Superintendent position, helping in the laws' development. The new law provided for a Cleveland library that was part of the school system, controlled by the
Cleveland Board of Education Cleveland Metropolitan School District, formerly the Cleveland Municipal School District, is a public school district in the U.S. state of Ohio that serves almost all of the city of Cleveland. The district covers 79 square miles. The Clevelan ...
throughout the first decade of the library's existence, except for the years 1871–1873. The Cleveland Public Library opened on February 17, 1869, on the third floor of the Northup and Harrington Block on West Superior Avenue, The library room was adjacent to the Cleveland Board of Education, and opened with approximately 5,800 books. Luther Melville Oviatt was the first librarian at Cleveland Public Library from 1869 to 1875. During his first year, patrons borrowed 65,000 books. Forwarding thinking in his views, Oviatt wanted to provide books that would interest both children and adults, the mechanic, businessman, and scholar. He had open shelves because, "without a catalog, the only way potential borrowers could ascertain what books were available was to look at them." Oviatt resigned in June, 1875, the victim of governing boards or their subsidiaries, who micromanaged daily operations of the library. Librarian
William Howard Brett William Howard Brett (July 1, 1846 – August 24, 1918) was head librarian for the Cleveland Public Library from 1884 to 1918. ''American Libraries'' described him as one of the "100 most important leaders (librarians) had in the 20th century" In ...
opened the library's first stand-alone children's room on February 22, 1898.Cleveland Public Library, Digital Gallery (n.d.). Retrieved May 24, 2009 from http://cplorg.cdmhost.com/cdm4/item_viewer.php?CISOROOT=/p4014coll13&CISOPTR=173&COSOBOX=1&REC3.
Effie Louise Power Effie Louise Power (February 12, 1873 – October 8, 1969) was a children's librarian, educator, author, and storyteller. She encouraged children's book production and evaluated children's literature.Children's Library Work Puts Her With Who's Wh ...
was appointed Cleveland's first children's librarian. In 1916, the Cleveland architectural firm of
Walker and Weeks Walker and Weeks was an architecture firm based in Cleveland, Ohio, founded by Frank Ray Walker (September 29, 1877 - July 9, 1949) and Harry E. Weeks (October 2, 1871 - December 21, 1935). Background Harry Weeks was born October 2, 1871, in W. S ...
won a competition to design a new library building. Construction of their classical Renaissance design, delayed by the First World War, began in 1923 under
Linda Anne Eastman Linda Anne Eastman (July 7, 1867 – April 5, 1963) was an American librarian. She was selected by the American Library Association (ALA) as one of the 100 most important librarians of the 20th century. Eastman served as the head Librarian of ...
. Eastman (1867–1963) was the first woman to head a major U.S. city library system and a pioneer in the modern library system. She opened bookshelves to patrons, replacing the
New York Public Library The New York Public Library (NYPL) is a public library system in New York City. With nearly 53 million items and 92 locations, the New York Public Library is the second largest public library in the United States (behind the Library of Congress ...
system in which a librarian fetched the books.


Main Library

The Main Library consists of two buildings. The older wing, completed on May 6, 1925, and renovated between 1997 and 1999, has five stories, each as high as two stories in most buildings. The renovations included the restoration of Dominance of the City a large mural painted by Ora Coltman in 1934 for the
Federal Arts Project The Federal Art Project (1935–1943) was a New Deal program to fund the visual arts in the United States. Under national director Holger Cahill, it was one of five Federal Project Number One projects sponsored by the Works Progress Administratio ...
. The painting was restored by the
Intermuseum Conservation Association The Intermuseum Conservation Association ( doing business as ICA-Art Conservation or ICA) is the oldest non-profit art conservation center in the United States, currently located in Cleveland, OH. The ICA offers conservation and preservation tre ...
. In 1957, the library purchased the six-story Plain Dealer Building at 710 Superior Avenue (now the site of the Louis Stokes Wing). The library won passage in November 1957 of a $3 million bond levy to pay for the purchase of the building. The structure was purchased on December 22, 1957, and the new Business and Social Sciences Annex opened on August 24, 1959. The annex was demolished in 1994 to make way for a second building, named after former
Representative Representative may refer to: Politics * Representative democracy, type of democracy in which elected officials represent a group of people * House of Representatives, legislative body in various countries or sub-national entities * Legislator, som ...
Louis Stokes Louis Stokes (February 23, 1925 – August 18, 2015) was an American attorney, civil rights pioneer and politician. He served 15 terms in the United States House of Representatives – representing the east side of Cleveland – and was the firs ...
, was dedicated on April 12, 1997. Stokes commented, "This is the most beautiful that I have ever seen." The $65 million structure of fritted glass panels and Georgia marble housed eight million items and two million titles on its grand opening. The two buildings are connected by underground corridor below th
Eastman Reading Garden
which was designed by
landscape architecture Landscape architecture is the design of outdoor areas, landmarks, and structures to achieve environmental, social-behavioural, or aesthetic outcomes. It involves the systematic design and general engineering of various structures for constructio ...
firm
OLIN Olin may refer to: People Organizations * OLIN, American landscape architecture firm * Olin Business School at Washington University in St. Louis * Olin College, an undergraduate engineering college in Massachusetts * Olin Corporation, a chemica ...
, and includes sculptures by
Maya Lin Maya Ying Lin (born October 5, 1959) is an American designer and sculptor. In 1981, while an undergraduate at Yale University, she achieved national recognition when she won a national design competition for the planned Vietnam Veterans Memoria ...
and
Tom Otterness Tom Otterness (born 1952) is an American sculptor best known as one of America's most prolific public artists. Otterness's works adorn parks, plazas, subway stations, libraries, courthouses and museums around the world, notably in New York City's ...
.


Special Collections

The Special Collections Department was created through the work of
John G. White John Griswold White (10 August 1845 – 27 August 1928) was a prominent Cleveland lawyer, attorney, a chess connoisseur, and a bibliophile. Early life and education John Griswold White was born in Cleveland, Ohio, in 1845 to Bushnell and Eliza ...
, who served as president of the Cleveland Public Library Board of Trustees from 1884 to 1886 and 1913 to 1928. In addition to donating and purchasing many rare books to the library, White underwrote the construction of the Fine Arts and Special Collections reading room and the Exhibit Corridor. The Cleveland Public Library consolidated all rare holdings from subject departments into a unified collection. Most materials are hosted on the library's online catalog, but some are only accessible through the Fine Arts and Special Collections reading room. Collection highlights include: * John G. White Chess and Checkers Collections * John G. White Collection of Folklore and Orientalia * John F. Puskas Miniature Books Collection * Tobacco Collection * Schweinfurth Collection: Rare architectural publications *
Anisfield-Wolf Book Award The Anisfield-Wolf Book Award is an American literary award dedicated to honoring written works that make important contributions to the understanding of racism and the appreciation of the rich diversity of human culture. Established in 1935 by Clev ...
s: The only American book award designed to recognize works addressing issues of racism and diversity.


(Former) Sub-Branches

The Cleveland Public Library had Sub-Branches (Stations) named Alliance, Alta House, Brooklyn, Detroit, Glenville,
Hiram House The Hiram House was the first settlement house in Cleveland and one of the first in the United States. It was founded in 1896 by George A. Bellamy and students from Hiram College. History Hiram House was founded by students from Hiram College who ...
, Lorain, Lorain-Clark, Prospect, South Brooklyn, Superior, and Temple.


Branches

During the 1890s, William Howard Brett opened four self-contained branch libraries in leased buildings. As early as 1891, he asked Andrew Carnegie for building permanent structures, but the steel-mogul-turned-philanthropist refused the librarian's requests for 12 years. Brett persisted and in 1903 Carnegie donated $250,000 to build seven branches, including the Woodland Branch. Carnegie was so impressed with Brett's money management of the funds, he eventually increased the amount to $507,000, which built 15 branches-the foundation for what would become one of the largest branch systems in the United States. Children living in the city's poorest manufacturing districts could not visit the library downtown or the new branches, so William Howard Brett and Miss Eastman put small reading collections in neighborhood homes. By 1913, there were 57 "home libraries" in seven different working class districts, serving 11 different nationalities: Italian, Greek, Syrian, Polish, Bohemian, Hungarian, Slovak, Irish, German, Danish, and Norwegian. Currently, the Cleveland Public Library has 27 neighborhood branches located throughout the city in addition to the Ohio Library for the Blind and Physically Disabled: #Addison Branch #Brooklyn Branch #Carnegie-West Branch - the biggest neighborhood branch at #Collinwood Branch #East 131st Street Branch #Eastman Branch #Fleet Branch #Fulton Branch #Garden Valley Branch #Glenville Branch #Harvard-Lee Branch #Hough Branch #Jefferson Branch #Langston Hughes Branch #Lorain Branch #Martin Luther King, Jr. Branch #Memorial-Nottingham Branch - also the location of the Ohio Library for the Blind and Physically Disabled #Mount Pleasant Branch #Public Administration Library #Rice Branch #Rockport Branch #South Branch #South Brooklyn Branch #Sterling Branch #Union Branch #Walz Branch #West Park Branch #Woodland Branch A Sensory Garden is also adjacent to the Ohio Library for the Blind and Physically Disabled. The garden was first organized in 1998 and was significantly enlarged the following year. The garden features plants specifically for the tactile sensations they provide and unique scents.


Revitalization

In 2019 the library announced it was undertaking a decade-long $100 million revitalization project to redevelop all 27 branches. The project began with a $4.1 million renovation of the South Branch, which transformed the 1911 Gothic Revival structure into "...a light-filled jewel box." After finishing all the branch work, CPL will then begin a $65 million rehabilitation of the downtown Main Library. Phase I-A of the plan, affecting six branches, is scheduled for completion in 2024.


Notable Art and Architecture

The Public Works of Art Project came to Cleveland in 1933, with far-reaching lines of job-seeking artists extending around the Cleveland Museum of Art. Linda Eastman was invited to consult with
Cleveland Museum of Art The Cleveland Museum of Art (CMA) is an art museum in Cleveland, Ohio, located in the Wade Park District, in the University Circle neighborhood on the city's east side. Internationally renowned for its substantial holdings of Asian and Egyptian ...
Directo
William Milliken
What resulted from this interaction were murals of Willam Sommer's "The City in 1833", Donald Bayard's "Early Transportation", and Ora Coltman's "The Dominance of the City." Linda Eastman believed if art could lead readers to books, if art could enlighten and educate in itself, than art was acceptable at the Cleveland Public Library. To complete the decoration of Brett Hall, Cleveland Public Library partnered with the Cleveland Area Arts Council to select three new artists to paint new murals for the walls. "Sommer's Sun" by Edwin Mieczkowski's, Christopher Pekoc's "Night Sky", and "Public Square" by Robert Jergens. Hanging from the Main Library entrance hall is a large terrestrial pearl-gray art glass globe made by the Sterling Bronze Company in 1925. This globe is based on a
Leonardo da Vinci Leonardo di ser Piero da Vinci (15 April 14522 May 1519) was an Italian polymath of the High Renaissance who was active as a painter, Drawing, draughtsman, engineer, scientist, theorist, sculptor, and architect. While his fame initially res ...
map, now housed at
Windsor Castle Windsor Castle is a royal residence at Windsor in the English county of Berkshire. It is strongly associated with the English and succeeding British royal family, and embodies almost a millennium of architectural history. The original cast ...
. The map is one of earliest to depict the Americas-with North America indicated simply by small islands. The portraits of former members of Congress Louis Stokes and Stephanie Tubbs Jones are housed at the Cleveland Public Library, painted by artist Khaz Ra'el.


Recent History

In 2002, the Cleveland Public Library had annual attendance of 804,692 and an annual circulation of 1,698,928 items. In 2016, the library's collection totaled 10,557,336 items. The Cleveland Public Library is a member of
CLEVNET CLEVNET is a library consortium headquartered at Cleveland Public Library. It was founded in 1982 and includes over 40 public library systems in northeast Ohio. CLEVNET provides access to more than 12 million titles of books, movies, music and e ...
, a consortium of 44 public libraries throughout northern Ohio. In 1947, it became a depository library for the United Nations Library network, holding documents for the state of Ohio. There are only 400 UN depository libraries worldwide. In 2002, Northern Ohio library patrons had access to download digital books and periodicals through a new e-book system headquartered at Cleveland Public Library. The Clevnet consortium of libraries entered in a $50,000 setup-free agreement with the Cleveland-based company OverDrive to allow patrons to download text from e-books to their personal computer. In 2012, the library released a strategic plan focusing on communities of learning and preparing for its 150th anniversary in 2019. Cleveland Public Library launched Tech Central on June 14, 2012, featuring a computer lab with 90 computers, tables encouraging collaboration, a 3D printer, and a MyCloud service. This $1 million launch was funded primarily through the library's existing budgets, in which the MyCloud service was partially funded through corporate partners. Cleveland Public Library, along with three other Ohio Libraries (Columbus, Toledo, and Cincinnati), opened digitization hubs, with $1 million in funding dispersed among them, funded by Ohio Public Library Information Network and the Library Services Technology Act. The digitization hub at Cleveland Public Library was named the Cleveland Digital Public Library and debuted February 14, 2015. As stated by Chatham Ewing, Cleveland Public Library's Digital Strategist, "It's a way for us to strike up some partnerships with local organizations that have historical objects they are interested in stewarding and digitizing." In 2018, Cleveland Public Library was designated an official Digital Access Partner with the
Federal Depository Library Program The Federal Depository Library Program (FDLP) is a government program created to make U.S. federal government publications available to the public at no cost. As of April 2021, there are 1,114 depository libraries in the United States and its ter ...
for its digitized multi-volume set of the
First United States Army First Army is the oldest and longest-established field army of the United States Army. It served as a theater army, having seen service in both World War I and World War II, and supplied the US army with soldiers and equipment during the Korea ...
Report of Operations during World War II. Cleveland Public Library celebrated its 150th anniversary in 2019. Events included a street festival, puppet exhibit, and a Writers and Readers author event.
Cleveland Print Room
partnered with Cleveland Public Library to present photographers chronicling Cleveland through the lens of its communities and Ideastream presented audio stories of Clevelanders.


Notable former Cleveland Public Library staff members

*
William Howard Brett William Howard Brett (July 1, 1846 – August 24, 1918) was head librarian for the Cleveland Public Library from 1884 to 1918. ''American Libraries'' described him as one of the "100 most important leaders (librarians) had in the 20th century" In ...
- Head Librarian of Cleveland Public Library, 1884 to 1918. One of the "100 most important ibrariansin the 20th century" * Marilla Waite Freeman - Head Librarian of the Cleveland Public Library's Main Library, 1922–1940; nationally known librarian, author, and library school instructor * Lawrence Quincy Mumford - Cleveland Public Library Director went on to become Librarian of Congress *
Andre Norton Andre Alice Norton (born Alice Mary Norton, February 17, 1912 – March 17, 2005) was an American writer of science fiction and fantasy, who also wrote works of historical and contemporary fiction. She wrote primarily under the pen name ...
- Cleveland Public Library librarian, science fiction and fantasy author of numerous titles including the
Witch World Witch World is a speculative fiction project of American writer Andre Norton, inaugurated by her 1963 novel '' Witch World'' and continuing more than four decades. Beginning in the mid-1980s, when she was about 75 years old, Norton recruited othe ...
series *
Effie Louise Power Effie Louise Power (February 12, 1873 – October 8, 1969) was a children's librarian, educator, author, and storyteller. She encouraged children's book production and evaluated children's literature.Children's Library Work Puts Her With Who's Wh ...
- Pioneering champion of library services to children and youth * John Griswold White - Cleveland Public Library board member and president, noted
chess Chess is a board game for two players, called White and Black, each controlling an army of chess pieces in their color, with the objective to checkmate the opponent's king. It is sometimes called international chess or Western chess to disti ...
historian


See also

*
Cuyahoga County Public Library Cuyahoga County Public Library (CCPL) has 27 branches that serve 47 communities in Cuyahoga County, Ohio. It was ranked the number one public library in the United States among libraries serving populations of more than 500,000 by the Hennen's A ...


References


Further reading

* * * Cleveland Public Library. (1925). ''The New Cleveland Public Library: May the sixth : 1925''. Cleveland: The library.


External links


Cleveland Public Library home page



The World's Greatest Chess Library

Five pieces of artwork in the Main Library produced during the New Deal

Digital Access Partner
{{authority control Government agencies established in 1869 Buildings and structures in Cleveland Education in Cleveland Public libraries in Ohio Tourist attractions in Cleveland Libraries in Cuyahoga County, Ohio Libraries established in 1869 1869 establishments in Ohio Downtown Cleveland