A bronze walrus statue stands outside Cleveland Public Library’s Eastman Branch at W. 116th and Lorain Avenue. Known affectionately as “Wally,” the sculpture has presided over Eastman since 1980, the year the building opened, and bears an excerpt from “The Walrus and the Carpenter” by Lewis Carroll: ‘The time has come,’ the Walrus said, ‘To talk of many things: Of…
Cleveland Public Library’s mission to be a diverse and inclusive organization extends not only to its staff, patrons, and community members, but also to its suppliers. For example, are the Library’s plumbers, painters, carpenters, electricians, and those who provide procurement services representative of the community the Library serves? To address that question and to enact meaningful change, Cleveland Public Library…
I often think of my kids when I think of progress. The idea of the future, of the possibility of something new happening, is what fascinates me about youth. I can see myself in them—I can see whole alternative ways of living. Artist Darius Steward Darius Steward’s Baggage Claim, in Search of New Beginnings, an installation embracing themes of identity,…
On July 24, Literary Cleveland’s 2021 Inkubator writing conference culminated in a keynote address from author Claudia Rankine, who discussed the power of engaging in conversation about race and whiteness in America. The event was moderated by ideastream reporter Shelli Reeves and presented by Cleveland Public Library. Rankine’s latest book, Just Us: An American Conversation, mines the conversations she had…
A century ago, Cleveland Public Library’s Lorain Branch, a 1912 Carnegie building located in the Detroit-Shoreway neighborhood, was surrounded by natural wonders. According to a document in the Library’s Archives, the exterior of this neighborhood library once featured flowering cherry trees, ivy, lilacs, and a mulberry tree laden with berries. “Birds flocked to the berries and sang as they built…
In a virtual Writers & Readers event hosted by Cleveland Public Library on June 12, author and linguist John McWhorter offered potential solutions to improve the lives and futures of Black Americans—while also turning a critical eye to some aspects of the anti-racist rhetoric that has proliferated in the last year. In a conversation moderated by Mordecai Cargill, cofounder and…