Libraries

Cleveland Public Library

Main Library

Cleveland, Ohio

Cleveland Public Library is made up of three main parts - the historic Walker and Weeks building, the 1997 Louis Stokes Wing, and the Eastman Reading Garden. This complex of buildings was designed for a different Cleveland and a model of service predating the explosion of computer and internet use in public libraries.

The combination of new demographics, new use patterns, evolving technology, and organizational reconfiguration placed CPL in a position to redefine the Main Library into a "Destination Experience" which involved four initiatives:

1. Revitalize the first floor of the Main Building with Brett Hall acting as the centerpiece of the "heart" of the building.

2. Create a place where all of the public use computers are consolidated.

3. Co-locate the primary areas of related research into a new Research Center.

4. Revitalize the undersized and poorly located Youth Service Department into a new Discovery Center for Families and Children.