How Books Build Community: Soledad O’Brien and Killer Mike Discuss Imagination, Community and Personal Growth

From George Orwell’s Animal Farm to Toni Morrison’s The Bluest Eye, and from the works of Zora Neale Hurston to Agatha Christie, Maya Angelou, and Nikki Giovanni, literature has inspired and influenced the lives of journalist Soledad O’Brien and rapper Michael “Killer Mike” Render. O’Brien and Killer Mike appeared in conversation to discuss the power of reading on September 24…

Leading with Her Heart, Lavetta’s Path to Refuge, Learning, Community

Lavetta Louise Price is a woman on a mission—to start a business, to strengthen her community, and, most of all, to help others. Thanks to the resources available to her at Cleveland Public Library’s East 131st Street Branch, she’s able to accomplish all these goals and more. “This is a place where you have access to the world,” Price says….

Knitting a Community, Warming Both Hands and Hearts Throughout the City

Across Cleveland every year, children and adults in need are gifted handmade hats, scarves, blankets, or mittens to help them feel warm and cared for during the cold winter months. This generosity is made possible by volunteers who donate knitted items to Warm Up Cleveland, a program that traces its origins back to one very special Library employee: Diane Mathews….

Snapshot of Cleveland in 2019

The Library’s community-based storytelling and photography projects, which run throughout 2019 as a way to celebrate and document the lives of Clevelanders, are currently in full swing—and Cleveland residents still have the chance to record their oral histories or participate in a photo shoot. Local photographers are busy capturing the city and its people for Cleveland 20/20: A Photographic Exploration…

Documenting a Diverse City

Cleveland, get ready for your close-up. This year, thanks to the Library’s special partnerships with the Cleveland Print Room and ideastream, the lives and times of our city will be documented, shared, and celebrated like never before. These two ongoing, community-based projects—one focusing on photography, the other on storytelling—will also help honor Cleveland Public Library’s 150th anniversary year. “What better…

The Heart of the Community

On December 1, 2018, hundreds of visitors attended the newly restored South Branch reopening ceremony. The day was a whirlwind of food, music, crafts, cake, entertainment, and, most of all, a celebration of the patrons, citizens, advocates, and staff who helped restore the branch to the community. The event provided something for all attendees, no matter their age or interests….