International Languages

Main Library
Main Building
4th Floor
325 Superior Avenue
Cleveland, OH 44114
216.623.2895
ForeignLit@cpl.org
Manager: Milos Markovic

About the Department

Whether you are a first-year French student, a traveler planning a trip to Denmark, a language hobbyist intent on mastering Portuguese, or a new American learning English as a second language, you can find resources well suited to your purpose here. Books and other materials are available in more than forty-five languages.

The Collection

Classics and Popular Fiction/Nonfiction

Arabic, German, Romanian, Armenian, Greek(Modern), Russian, Belarusian, Hebrew, Serbian, Bengali, Hindi, Slovak, Bulgarian, Hungarian, Slovenian, Chinese, Irish, Spanish, Croatian, Italian, Swahili, Czech, Japanese, Swedish, Danish, Korean, Thai, Dutch, Latvian, Turkish, Estonian, Lithuanian, Ukrainian, Farsi(Persian), Marathi, Urdu, Finnish, Norwegian, Vietnamese, French, Polish, Welsh, Gaelic(Scottish), Portuguese, Yiddish.

Books for Children and Young People

Parents who want their children to acquire or maintain proficiency in the native language of their forefathers can draw upon several collections which contain materials especially suitable for children and young people.

Periodicals and Recordings

A circulating collection of news weeklies, fashion magazines and popular monthlies. Language-learning for travelers, students, and English courses for the foreign-born.

Chinese Corner

A partnership between Cleveland Public Library and China Hanban (Confucius Institute) in which hundreds of books were graciously donated to promote a greater understanding of Chinese language and culture among the residents of NE Ohio. Chinese Corner collection is located in Foreign Literature Department, 4th Floor of the Main Library Building. The public is encouraged to spend some time learning something new about Chinese language and culture.