Langston Hughes

10200 Superior Avenue
Cleveland, OH 44106

Phone: 216-623-6975
Email: Langston.Hughes.Branch@cpl.org
Manager: Bill Bradford

Hours

Monday – Saturday: 10 a.m. – 6 p.m.
Sunday: CLOSED

About

The Langston Hughes Branch is located minutes from the main campuses of the Cleveland Clinic and University Hospital, the Western Reserve Historical Society, the VA Medical Center-Louis Stokes, the Cleveland Museum of Art, and Case Western Reserve University. The branch offers free wifi and public computers with Internet access. Printing, copying, scanning, and faxing services are available for a fee. Parking is free in the lot located next to the library bordering Superior Avenue.

History & Architecture

The Langston Hughes Branch opened in 1998. The facility includes 8,370 square feet designed by R.P. Madison International. The exterior is composed of red brick with horizontal bands of white brick. The interior is has a long rectangular reading room, a circular meeting room topped by windows, and a curved ceiling vault with clerestory windows.

Special Features

  • The Langston Hughes Branch has a special collection of original documents written by the author Langston Hughes. These documents include a letter to Cleveland Public Library, photos, and literature by and about Hughes.
  • An Ohio Historical Marker, which can be found at the northwest exterior corner of the library, honors the life and legacy of Langston Hughes.
  • The branch also displays artifacts including an autographed copy of Langston Hughes’s 1920 Central High School yearbook and hardware from Hughes’s former residence on East 86th
  • An outdoor tile mosaic by Malcolm Brown from 1998, The Jazz Messengers, adorns this branch.

Events

  • Papercraft Alphabet Basics

    Langston Hughes
    Tuesday, March 21 | 4 pm

    Want to spell your name in giant 3-D letters? Learn the basics of papercraft – cutting, folding, and gluing – and start to build your own name.


  • Spring into Spring with Pop-Up Books

    Langston Hughes
    Tuesday, March 28 | 4 pm

    What better way to celebrate the beginning of spring than with books that spring up? Join us in building springy books that celebrate the changing of seasons.

  • Painting the Spring Landscape

    Langston Hughes
    Tuesday, April 04 | 4 pm

    Join us as we look at real art illustrating spring scenes. With these for inspiration, we’ll paint our own verdant landscapes.

  • Planting a Rainbow

    Langston Hughes
    Tuesday, April 11 | 4 pm

    Join us for an enthusiastic reading of Lois Ehlert’s classic, Planting a Rainbow. Then we’ll plan our own fantastic flower gardens.


  • Chalk

    Langston Hughes
    Tuesday, April 18 | 4 pm

    Sidewalk drawings can be full of magic and surprises, as we’ll see when we share Chalk, by Bill Thompson. Then we’ll make our own chalk drawings.