Toni Morrison is everywhere, even after her death in 2019. Her presence is scattered across the world in bookshelves, curriculums, podcasts, documentaries and plays. But in many ways, her heartbeat still thumps loudest in her hometown of Lorain.
The Toni Morrison Reading Room at Lorain Public Library is an extension of her home, and where she worked her first job as a shelver.
“I spent long, long hours reading there,” Morrison said at the reading room’s ribbon cutting in 1995, according to library records, “so I wanted one place available in the neighborhood with a quiet room and comfortable chairs.”
Those chairs are a focal point — large, green and plush. “[Toni’s] family came … and someone told us that they actually looked remarkably similar to chairs that she had in her own apartment,” says Anastasia Diamond-Ortiz, chief executive officer and director at Lorain Public Library.
It’s a happy coincidence, and just one of many Easter eggs across the space. There hangs a letter written by Morrison to the library. There are pens used to sign Toni Morrison Day into law, honoring the author every Feb. 18 — an effort that was largely backed by Diamond-Ortiz’s staff. Everything is anchored by a bookcase, where signed copies of The Bluest Eye and Sula withstand years of both praise and criticism in the place where Morrison first found her story to tell.
“To me, her impact is just letting writers and everyone know that if you don't see something on the shelf that reflects who you are, it is not only your responsibility, but it's your gift back to the world to document that and share it,” says Diamond-Ortiz.
RELATED: A Local Poet Remembers Toni Morrison
Morrison, who was born in 1931 and lived to be 88 years old, gave back by asserting the Black woman’s experience in a divisive world beyond her rural town, standing tall in major spaces. That included being the first Black female editor at Random House, the first Black chairwoman at an Ivy League university and the first Black woman to win the Nobel Prize in Literature.
A bustling community of local writers still returns its thanks today, fostering spaces to keep Morrison’s passion alive. Literary Cleveland is putting together a statewide, yearlong Toni Morrison celebration that’s slated to kick off in February. The Community Foundation of Lorain County presents an annual Toni Morrison Essay Contest for Young People, upholding the power of a personal story.
“A lot of people wouldn't think of Northeast Ohio as being a hotbed for a literary community,” says Laura Maylene Walter, Ohio Center for the Book fellow, “but I think we have so much going on. I have found it to be a supportive place, a really smart place for writers, a really livable place for writers. I'm just excited to be a part of it.”
“Genius can't be constrained by geography,” she adds. “Toni Morrison could be from anywhere. But the fact that she's from here is really powerful.”
For more updates about Cleveland, sign up for our Cleveland Magazine Daily newsletter, delivered to your inbox six times a week.
Cleveland Magazine is also available in print, publishing 12 times a year with immersive features, helpful guides and beautiful photography and design.
