It’s been 38 years, but Felton Thomas Jr., director of the Cleveland Public Library (CPL), vividly remembers the first book he read that made an impact on his life — The Catcher in the Rye by J.D. Salinger. Thomas discovered the novel when he was 13 and working as a page, shelving books at the Las Vegas-Clark County Library.
Like the story’s protagonist, Holden Caulfield, Thomas was dealing with insecurities of his own: The Las Vegas neighborhood in which he lived was filled with gangs and drugs. As a teen, he watched friends being led into a cesspool of violence. So the youth started spending his free time at the only safe haven he knew: the neighborhood library. “I can honestly say that the library saved my life,” Thomas reveals.
Since taking the helm of the CPL in 2009, Thomas has made it his mission to ensure that its 27 neighborhood branches and the main library downtown are bastions of support for the 300,000 cardholders the CPL serves.
“Our services do not duplicate those offered by other library systems in the county — they are very complementary,” Thomas says. “The Cuyahoga County Public Library is a popular lending library. The Cleveland Public Library is both a lending and a public research library — meaning that we hold important collections of materials, including foreign literature, maps and rare books.”
In addition to its collection of more than 10 million items, the Cleveland Public Library maintains CLEVNET, a resource-sharing network connecting 42 library systems in 12 counties across Northeast Ohio. The library also mails materials to homebound patrons free of charge. And, since 1931, the institution has managed the Ohio Library for the Blind and Physically Disabled, administering the free program that distributes more than 560,000 items in Braille and audio to eligible borrowers throughout Ohio.
But, the director adds, there’s more to the library than what’s on the shelves.
“While all library systems offer programs to reach underserved populations, a far higher percentage of our patrons face the challenges of poverty, hunger, unemployment and low literacy rates,” Thomas says. “The Cleveland Public Library is uniquely positioned to help fight these deficits.”
Every month, representatives from the Legal Aid Society of Cleveland visit CPL branches to offer free advice to residents struggling with civil issues ranging from bankruptcy to home foreclosure. Through a unique partnership among CPL, the county library and Cuyahoga County, residents can apply for food assistance, cash assistance and Medicaid at any branch. In addition, through a partnership with OhioMeansJobs (OMJ), job seekers can register for services and meet with an employment specialist who will assist them with eligibility and referral services and discuss employment and training opportunities funded by OMJ.
“As a library, we’ve got to be able to have the programs, services and materials people need, whether they’re 2 or 82,” Thomas says. “It’s a delicate balancing act.”
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Since its founding in 1859, the CPL has enjoyed generous public funding from city property taxes, as well as the state’s general operating fund. But in recent years, that funding has steadily eroded due in large part to the city’s housing foreclosure crisis in 2008.
“Looking toward the next 150 years, it’s become apparent that, much like the city’s other world-renowned cultural institutions, the Cleveland Public Library needs to tap into the generosity of Greater Cleveland’s private philanthropic community,” Thomas says. To that end, the Cleveland Public Library Foundation was launched earlier this year to help fund critical programs promoting literacy, digital access, education and employment in Cleveland neighborhoods, as well as maintain and preserve library collections.
“There are few charitable investments that have a broader or deeper impact on our community than a gift to the Cleveland Public Library,” says Gretchen Faro, executive director of the Cleveland Public Library Foundation. “Donations to CPL make a profound difference to everyone whose lives are enriched through all the institution offers.”
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Kristen Warzocha, president and CEO of the Greater Cleveland Food Bank, understands how devastating hunger can be. For 38 years, the nonprofit organization has annually provided 53 million meals to residents in Cuyahoga and nearby counties. In 2014, the food bank began partnering with the CPL to serve approximately 150,000 meals a year to children 18 and under at each of the library’s branches.
“We knew there were children out there we were missing, so we began looking for organizations to help us find them,” Warzocha says. “The Cleveland Public Library has been a wonderful partner. Staff members roll up their sleeves to serve the brown-bag meals and keep an eye out for children who need to be enrolled in the program. Children cannot be lifelong learners unless they have access to quality food. The Cleveland Public Library is a leader in helping to ensure that’s possible.”
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Jeffery K. Patterson, CEO of the Cuyahoga Metropolitan Housing Authority, says many of his 55,000 residents visit the CPL on a regular basis.
“The Cleveland Public Library serves as a safe and comfortable environment where many of our youth, adults and seniors have much-needed internet access so they can complete on-line applications for college and employment, as well as engage in various digital literacy activities,” Patterson says. “Technology is changing so fast, and the library is a leader when it comes to helping folks understand how essential a role digital literacy can play in their lives.”
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As the CPL prepares to celebrate its sesquicentennial in 2019, Thomas reflects on the institution’s future. “When the Cleveland Public Library was founded, folks came together in their belief that libraries are essential to democracy and are a power for the good,” he says. “That ideology will always be our North Star.”