The Periodical Center subscribes to more than 3,875 magazines and journals and over 160 national and international newspapers. Current issues as well as retrospective volumes are available. Newspapers from all over the world can be viewed online through PressDisplay (access to CPL patrons only). The collection also includes high school newspapers from Cleveland.
CPL has one of the largest public-library periodical collections in the country and houses both popular and obscure titles. The following are a few of the journals that we subscribe to: American Cemetery, Hoard's Dairyman, Jane's Defence Weekly, National Button Bulletin, Scroll Saw Workshop, Theatre Organ, and Transworld Skateboarding.
Call it “Urban Fiction,” “Street Lit,” or “Hood Tales,” but don’t call it "irrelevant." In the 1970’s, authors such as Donald Goines and Iceberg Slim branched into what became a new standard, a genre of sorts, that followed the themes of the Blaxploitation era. This genre was revisited in the 90’s with a Hip-Hop flair when Sister Souljah broke ground with The Coldest Winter Ever. Now, this controversial wave of literature has hit an all-time high with the emergence of publishers such as Triple Crown Publications, Urban Books, and Q-Boro Books, just to name a few.
Did you know there is a library in Cleveland City Hall? You may ask yourself why go to City Hall when there is a library close by? The library in City Hall, a part of the Cleveland Public Library system, is different from your local branch library in many respects.
City Hall’s Public Administration Library is devoted to all aspects of municipal government and services. If the city does it, we have a book on it: from adaptive reuse to zoning, and everything in between, our book and periodical collection can fill almost any request for information dealing with all aspects of public administration, including community and economic development.
Brrrr! Below-zero wind-chill temperatures and lake-effect snow may make it feel like winter will never end. But, avid gardeners know that they can get a head start on summer by starting seeds indoors.
All you need is some space in a basement, spare room or even a closet. A few fluorescent shop lights, seed-starting containers and potting mix complete your kit.
The people have spoken. Cleveland voters approved Issue 2 on March 4th by 65%. The Cleveland Public Library will continue to be a good custodian of the public trust and looks forward to providing even more great public service to the Cleveland area in the coming years.
The worst school fire in U.S. history occurred on March 4, 1908, when Collinwood’s Lake View School was destroyed in an uncontrollable inferno. Known as the Collinwood School Fire, this disaster shocked the world with its death toll of 172 children and three adults. In preparing an exhibit to commemorate the centennial of the disaster, Cleveland Public Library uncovered a rare silent film of the fire scene and public funeral. These short films are being shown here for the first time in a century. Also included is a short film of the Cleveland Fire Department displaying its equipment in 1900. Cleveland Fire Department provided back-up assistance to the Collinwood Fire Department at the time of the fire and would have used equipment similar to what is seen in this film.
Glenville branch is the site of two distinguished works, the Black Family of Man sculpted from local wood by Alan Pucell, and a tonal sculpture by Harry Bertoia, (1915-1978) Pucell’s work is a series of 4 heads representing a father, mother, brother, and sister. They stand in a line on separate cylindrical bases. The faces are unstained. Pucell was a 1960 graduate of the Cleveland Institute of Art. In the summer he painted, in the winter he sculpted. He said the physical exertion of sculpting kept him warm in his unheated studio in the Cleveland flats.
Eight of the Cleveland Public Library neighborhood branch libraries were built between 1978 and 1984. In this building program, Library trustees and administration chose to accent the new branches with art as part of the Library mission to elevate, instruct, and inspire. "The presence of good art is a mark of respect to the people who use libraries. Books and bare walls are not enough," explained Library director Ervin Gaines in 1983. As part of the building process, architects for the branches commissioned a significant piece of sculpture to complement each building. 
One of the Cleveland Public Library's great strengths is its wide-ranging collection of African American authors from Ohio. The following selection of works by African American poets, playwrights, and novelists includes early literary pioneers such as Charles Chesnutt and Paul Laurence Dunbar and contemporary writers like Nikki Giovanni and Toni Morrison.
Examining your family tree?
Doing family research? Cleveland Public Library has many specialized resources for doing genealogical research, including death certificates, premium databases you can access with just your library card, a comprehensive research guide and (of course), librarians that can help you with your research.