The Special Collections Department of the Cleveland Public Library will have a temporary installation of several unique and creative chess sets created by students enrolled in the Cleveland Institute of Arts Foundation Design course led by Professor Barbara Stanczak. The sets will be on display from March 30, 2009 to April 10, 2009. Click here to view creative chess sets created by Professor Stanczak's students.
Haven't you heard? Gaming in the library is a big deal these days. On April 2 & 3, 2008, CPL held the 7th annual Progress with Chess program. Students from Cleveland schools played chess games to develop critical thinking and problem solving skills while having fun. At the Lorain branch there are Yu-Gi-Oh! tournaments held every Saturday afternoon where teens trade cards and spend positive time in the library. Collinwood branch library hosts a teen center during weekday afternoons where teens can play PlayStation 2 or bring in their own gaming consoles and challenge each other in popular games like Madden NFL 08 and NBA Live 07. In May, youth from the Cleveland area will gather for Teen Summit 08 and learn how to make digital art and video games. Gaming is quickly changing the way young people relate to the library. How will you interact in the library of the future? (Photo courtesy of the CPL Image Collections)
One of the highlights of the reference collection at Cleveland Public Library is the chess and checkers material amassed by John G. White who was President of the Board of Trustees in the early part of the 20th century. He donated his impressive collection to the library at the time of his death along with an endowment to continue adding to it.
Chess and checkers researchers from around the world use this material - either visiting the library in person or using email and digital scans - to document, analyze and write about the history of these complex and challenging games. Recently, three members of the Ken Whyld Association spent a day at the library looking at and photographing primary source material from the great chess player Emanuel Lasker.