Cleveland Public Library The Art, Architecture, and Collections of the Main Library A Self-Guided Tour Cleveland Public Library 325 Superior Avenue Cleveland, Ohio 44114 (216) 623-2800 www.cpl.org Cleveland Public Library The Art, Architecture, and Collections of the Main Library Table of Contents Main Building, Terrestrial Globe Eastman Reading Garden, section from Tom Otterness bronze figures Louis Stokes Wing Introduction 1 Title Page 2 Photograph Credits 3 Introduction 6 Architectural Glossary & Building Diagram Main Building 9 History of Main Library 10 History of the Group Plan 17 Main Building, First Floor 23 Main Building, Second Floor 24 Main Building, Third Floor 28 Main Building, Fourth Floor Louis Stokes Wing 33 Louis Stokes Wing, Lower Level 36 Louis Stokes Wing, Sixth Floor 40 Louis Stokes Wing, Fifth Floor 42 Louis Stokes Wing, Fourth Floor 43 Louis Stokes Wing, Third Floor 44 Louis Stokes Wing, Second Floor 46 Louis Stokes Wing, First Floor Eastman Reading Garden 49 Eastman Reading Garden 52 Main Library Renovation & Construction Project Team i Cleveland Public Library The Art, Architecture, and Collections of the Main Library A Self-Guided Tour Cleveland Public Library Board of Trustees Venerine L. Branham, President Robert C. Petrulis, Vice President Charlene A. Jones, Secretary Thomas D. Corrigan The Virtualwww.cpl.org Library Frances Hunter Patricia S. James Sandra E. Noble Administration More than 100 computers in the Main Library Marilyn Gell Mason, Director Andrew A. Venable, Deputy Director provide access to a dynamic universe of elec- Joan L. Clark, Head of Main Library Publication Credits Joan F. Brown, Head of Human Resources Writer tronic information. Through these computers, Robert T. Carterette, Head of Automation Services Marc Vincent, Ph.D. Sari Feldman, Head of Community Services Assistant Professor, you can browse the Internet, search the Baldwin-Wallace College Norbert R. Harnegie, Facilities Manager Library’s Catalog, visit thousands of Web sites Michael A. Janero, Chief of Security Graphic Design Pam Cerio Alan A. A. Seifullah, Head of Marketing and Public Relations indexed by subject, and access powerful elec- Donald A. Tipka, Head of Technical Services Publication Manager Michael Ruffing Joan L. Tomkins, Head of Financial Services tronic databases on a wide range of subjects. Photography Cervin Robinson Outside of the Library, you can access most of Don Snyder Eric Hanson these electronic resources via the Library’s Contributing Photographers Main Building Howard Agriesti Web site <www.cpl.org> or by dialing into the Rededicated Peter Hastings May 22, 1999 Jennie Jones Library’s computer system with a modem Diana McNees Printer (216-623-0623). SP Mount Printing Co. Message from the Board of Library Trustees Eight years ago, the Board of Library Trustees asked the citizens of Cleveland to insure the future of their Main Library by approving a bond issue for needed renovation and expansion. Cleveland responded by passing the November 5, 1991, bond issue with an overwhelming 71% affirmative vote. During this mon- umental, $90-million, three-phase project, Library users and Library staff have been patient as materials Main Library, 1999 and departments have been moved to allow work Main Building, opened May 6, 1925 to progress. Louis Stokes Wing, opened April 12, 1997 In 1997, the first phase of the project was completed when Congressman Louis Stokes helped us dedicate the new wing in his honor. In September 1998, we rededicated the beloved Eastman Reading Garden and it was immediately filled with delighted lunchtime readers. It gives the Board and me great pleasure to mark the completion of this project by reopening the landmark Main Library building to the people of Cleveland. In doing so, we symbolically rededicate the entire Main Library. Photograph Credits While many of the people and firms that contributed Photograph credits can be identified by their position on each page, starting to the success of the Main Library Project are listed in with position one (top or top left) and moving clockwise (or down) to the last this guide, it is not possible to include everyone here. position. For example: 3(1) refers to the top left picture on page three. A project of this size would not have been possible © Cervin Robinson: pages: 4, 7, 13(1), 18(4), 21, 34, 35, 36, 37, 46(1), 48(1), 50(1,2), 51 without the steady support and cooperation of a great © Don Snyder: pages: front cover, 2, 8, 13(2), 14, 15(4), 16, 17(1), many people, including the entire staff of the Library, 18(2,3), 22(1,3), 23(1), 26, 27(1), 28, 29(1,3), 31(2), 32(1), 33, 38, 39(1), 40, 43, 44(1,2) from the pages to the administration. The Board and © Eric Hanson: pages: 1, 15(2,3), 22(4), 24(2,4), 26(inset), 32(2) I want to thank everyone who worked to make the © Howard Agriesti: pages: 19(1), 22(2), 23(2,3), 25, 30(1), 31(1), 39(2), Main Library Project a success. 41(1), 45, 47(1), 48(2) © Jennie Jones: pages: 5(1), 12, 46(2) Cleveland has been known, at points in its history, © Diana McNees: pages: 29(2), 49 as the Sixth City—for being sixth in population in © Peter Hastings: page 20 the United States, the Forest City—for its trees, and The Margaret Bourke-White photograph on page 42 was used the All-America City—for its rebirth as the new by permission of the Bourke-White Estate. American city. It is the Board’s hope that Cleveland will now be known as The City That Reads. Welcome, Cleveland, to your Main Library! Venerine Branham President, Board of Library Trustees © 1999 Cleveland Public Library ISBN 0-9670873-0-9 2 3 Message from the Director Cleveland Public Library was the first large public library to allow people to select their own books directly from its bookshelves. When pioneering librarian William Howard Brett initiated his radical open-shelf plan in 1890, he was working in cramped rental space at the corner of East Ninth Street and Euclid Avenue. The experiment was a dazzling success and became standard policy in public libraries every- where. This democratic ideal of direct access to books and information was a driving influence in the plan- ning for a permanent main library, which was a dream delayed by World War I, rising building costs, and Brett’s untimely death. The opening of the landmark Main Library build- ing on May 6, 1925, placed Cleveland Public Library Main Library, Louis Stokes Wing view from the Mall firmly in the front rank of the world’s great public which are available only in paper form. We will help libraries. A civic triumph, the new building was an you find the resources you need to complete your efficient and beautiful model of the open-shelf plan, and homework assignment. We will guide you to popular it provided needed space for the Library’s growing novels in English and in dozens of other languages. collections. It also marked the end of fifty-six years of We will answer your questions over the telephone. temporary and inefficient locations throughout down- We will help you select talking books and books in town Cleveland. During those years, Cleveland had Braille. We will help you navigate the maze of U.S. evolved into a major industrial center and use of the government publications. We will help you select the Library had risen spectacularly. latest music and video recordings. We will guide you Seventy-four years later, the Library has again to scholarly research materials. risen to the challenge of overcrowded and inefficient This Library is not only Cleveland’s great symbol building conditions during a period of phenomenal of knowledge, it is an American Treasure. In this civic rebirth and parallel growth in library use. The guide we have endeavored not only to describe the renovated 1925 Main Building and new Louis Stokes Main Library architecture and art, but to give you a Wing are designed to serve and adapt to Cleveland’s glimpse of what we have to offer you, from the every- Detail of the solid bronze Eastman Reading Garden expanding information needs well into the new century. day to the extraordinary. Many of the printed works Gates by Tom Otterness The open-shelf plan has become the open access plan: used to illustrate the guide are among Cleveland beyond printed material, we now provide broad access Public Library’s treasures. For more than a decade, the Treating an item in the Preservation Office to an array of electronic information. We offer access Library’s Preservation Office has worked to preserve to dozens of powerful research databases, links to these and many other important items in the Library’s thousands of Web sites selected by Library staff, and collections. From Cleveland telephone books dating full access to the infinite resources of the Internet— to the 1880s to world-class research collections, the and this is only the beginning. Library is taking great care to preserve and make You may wonder what the librarian’s role is in the accessible the cultural heritage of civilization. digital age. The answer is traditional and it is simple: Welcome to the Cleveland Public Library! A place service. Beyond the important work of building and to read, a place to learn, a place to know, a place to maintaining paper and electronic collections, we are grow. The staff and I hope that you will take time to here to serve you. We will help you use your Library’s enjoy the buildings and the Eastman Reading Garden, resources, some of which are electronic, many more of and we encourage you to use your library often.