Cleveland Public Library
The People's University
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youth services
Librarian Ruth M. Hadlow was known affectionately to generations of young Clevelanders as the Story Lady. Always ready to tell a good story and recommend a good book to children and their parents, Miss Hadlow helped to instill a love of reading in countless thousands of young readers. Many adults can trace their first introduction to the rich holdings of the Main Library to one of her legendary class tours. Her well known celebrations of children's literature drew authors such as Maurice Sendak and Virginia Hamilton to rapt audiences at Main Library.
We would like to celebrate the life of Effie Lee Morris, advocate and children's librarian who began her career at the Cleveland Public Library, where she established CPL's first Negro History Week celebration for children.
Ms. Morris began working part-time at Cleveland Public Library in 1941. In 1949, Ms. Morris began a course entitled "Reading for Understanding" at Woodland Branch. "The children learn through this course that regardless of their racial or religious background, all of them have problems that are common, and that they must face these barriers courageously," the Call & Post quoted Ms. Morris in a 1950 article.
Avast ye mateys! Every September 19th is "International Talk Like a Pirate Day" and to celebrate, the pirate duo The Rambling Sailors will perform traditional and modern sea shanties and ballads of the sea at 2PM in the lower level of the Louis Stokes Wing. There will be pirate activities for the kids and refreshments. Make sure you dress and talk like a pirate! This event is free and open to all ages. So weigh anchor, hoist the mizzen, and bring the lads and lassies to the Main Library Louis Stokes Wing on Saturday, September 19th, 2009 at 2PM to enjoy an afternoon of maritime fun. Aaarrrrrrr!
Be sure to check out these pirate-themed book titles!
Inspired by a discussion of vampire novels at the library, teens from our Carnegie West branch took the Summer Reading Club theme of Be Creative @ Your Library to another level. During a discussion of the novel Blue Bloods, librarian Helen Zaluckyj challenged the group to write a book using Cleveland locations as inspiration, while incorporating the term "mercy killing" into their writing. Writing under the pen name The Carnegie Seven, they have written seven parts to a story entitled Mercy Killing and have YouTube and Quizilla accounts to share it with the world. The group is also developing zines and manga related to Mercy Killing. Says the group, "Writing Mercy Killing has been lots of fun for everyone." Click here for an excerpt.
Visual Stories is an exhibit of fifty-one paintings by the renowned artist and children’s book illustrator, James Ransome, that depicts an extraordinary array of African American experiences, particularly from the Black South. The selected paintings span decades of collaboration with major publishers and numerous children’s authors, and reflect themes of emancipation from slavery, segregation and the Jim Crow era, and the strong family traditions that were necessary to maintain and keep the African American family together. Ransome’s paintings embody the powerful strength of family, faith, and fortitude that gives these people the courage to face difficult social and political conditions.