Annual report of the Cleveland Public Library for 1979

              Annual Report 1979
Annual Report 1979
Cleveland Public Library
325 Superior Avenue
Cleveland, Ohio 44114
Comments From The President
Of The Board Of Library Trustees
An annual report is a miniature history of an organization. It provides to a govemment body a depth of
perspective not otherwise available. It not only sums up the past but indicates future direction. In all
respects the Annual Report of the Cleveland Public Library tor the year 1979 is a document that records
substantial accomplishment by an institution that. a few short years ago. was torn by dissension and
discouragement. It is not extravagant to say that 1979 might very well be the single best year in the
Library's history for the diversity and importance of its achievements. The drastic loss of book circula·
tion that had plagued the Library for more than a decade came to a dramatic end. Circulation increased
by 10% overall. but more significantly by 14% in the neighborhoods. where the human need is most
apparent. Fourteen new or renovated branches had been completed or were in progress as 1979 ended
- a pertormance not matched in the Library's long history. Many operational efficiencies are mentioned
in the Annual Report along with expanded services. not the least of which. in the Board's judgment.
was the inauguration of Sunday branch service at locations on both east and west side.
The Board is pleased to note that staff efforts were directed toward improved benefits to the public
rather than to bureaucratic convenience. New and more attractive reading environments were well
received by Clevelanders. and parking lots adjacent to new or remodeled buildings added greatly to
convenien e. Summer reading programs were enriched in order to encourage youthful interest in
books. The Board is pleased that the Library. almost on a day's notice. responded to a teachers' strike
by altering its branch service hours to maximize availability of the Library to school children. That sort of
thing exemplifies the ensitivity to the community that this Library Board advocates.
If the Library continues to seek rapport with its public. then the Board will be satisfied that its leadership
has been heeded. As President during the last five years of rapid change. I have been gratified by the
speed and ease of transition of the Library from an encumbered bureaucracy to a stylish and adaptive
people·oriented agency.
One specific action taken by the Board is worthy of special mention. In 1979 the Board made a bold
decision to enter into the field of radio broadcasting by acquiring from the School Board the equipment
of public broadcasting station WBOE Although the request for the broadcast license to be transferred to
the Library is still pending before the Federal Communications Commission, the Library Board is con·
vinced that once on the air the Library will add a dimension of service and increase its reach and its
influence.
To the degree that the Library succeeded in its mission such success is owed to three groups of people:
to the public. who provide the funds: to the staff. who are charged with using the funds wisely: and to
the Board. who establish policy. Cleveland has been particularly blessed in recent years by a Board of
selfless, dedicated men and women who labor without pay and often without public recognition to keep
improving one of America's great libraries. I have been privileged this past year to work with six great
citizens: Carl Asseff (the Vice President), Cheryle Wills (the Secretary), Lew Raymond (the member with
the longest service on the Board). Julie Rak. George Trumbo and Jack Kahl. Their varying perspectives
and their diverse experience help them work together as a dynamic and creative team.
My thanks to them and to the staff. I hope that Cleveland is as pleased with the work as I am.
I J2!--f/-Dl Lee C. Howley, Jr.
President, Board of Library Trustees
PAGE I • ANNUAL REPORT OF TH CL VELAND PUBLI LIBRARY 1979
Use Of The
Library
The Building
Program
Director's Report:
In High Gear
Nineteen seventy-nine was a year when the planning of the four previous
years took shape, when the spirits of the citizens revived. Incomplete
though it was, the large design for the rehabilitation of the Cleveland
Public Library began to emerge.
Details of the progress of this great institution are set forth in the 76
departmental reports of which this is only a distillation. The breadth and
depth of the Library's achievement in 1979 can only be grasped by a
careful perusal of those separate accounts, which are pieces of the larger
mosaic. It is implicit in this report that the facts are sufficiently eloquent
to stand alone. The public who use the Library will judge the merits of
what has been done, but we believe that 1979 was a year of returning
pride and confidence both for the city and for the Library.
The best gauge of a public library's vigor is the use to which it is put. In
1979 the circulation of books for home use increased by 10% over·all,
and by 14% in the neighborhood libraries. One branch - the remodeled
East 131 st Street Branch - enjoyed an astonishing 57% increase over
1978 in books borrowed for home use. Among the 34 branch libraries
there was only a mere scattering of small losses, which ran counter to
the general trend. Increases in book borrowing occurred amid the dis·
ruption of rebuilding in many of the branches.
Another measure of a public library's importance is to be found in the
number of questions put to it by its citizens. Confidence in a library's
reliability is determined by the frequency with which its constituents ask
for and receive timely and accurate information. By this measure the
Cleveland Public Library did well, scoring a 10% gain over the previous
year and 20% over 1977, the first full year for which statistics were tallied.
The upward march of book circulation seemed to accelerate as the year
advanced. Every month in 1979 showed a larger figure than its counter·
part month of the year before - an almost certain sign that the Library's
growth is orderly and is not an accident. Discounting the effect of the
school strike and other outside influences, the Library staff concluded
that public use of the Library is growing because the Library is more
serviceable.
The first phase of the Library's long-range building program, which was
announced in the spring of 1976, was in its fourth year as 1979 ended.
In that short span of time 11 neighborhood capital improvements proj'
ects either had been completed or were in progress. These were in
addition to the many reconstructions taking place in the Main buildings
downtown, of which window replacement and air conditioning were the
largest projects. With still more to come in 1980 and 1981, the work
completed in 1979 nonetheless was impressive in its scope and success­ful
in its execution.
ANNUAL REPORT or THE CLEVELAND PUBLIC LIBRARY 1979 • PAG 2
Four branch building projects were completed and dedicated in public
ceremonies. In January the Library Board celebrated the renovation of
the East 131 st Street Branch Library. The community responded to the
remodeled interior, with its excellent lighting and serene ambience, by
using the Library all during the year at a rate not seen in a decade. In
September, the Library's first entirely new building, the South Brooklyn
Branch, was completed and opened. The branch immediately thereafter
challenged West Park Branch for systemwide leadership in book use.
In October, probably the most famous - certainly the largest - of the
Library's branches, Carnegie West, elegantly slimmed down from 28,000
to 14,000 square feet, and shOWing all the loving signs of careful restora·
tion, was rededicated in a moving speech in praise of libraries by Con'
gresswoman Mary Rose Oakar.
The fourth major effort climaxed in November with a send·off for the
new Harvard·Lee Branch Library, adjacent to the John F. Kennedy High
School. The warm and appreciative words of community leaders ­Rubie
McCullough, Booker Tall, Councilmen John Bames and Terence
Copeland among them - inspired the Library Board to push on with
further building plans in 1980.
Words of encouragement came from then candidate - later to become
Mayor - George Voinovich and from civic leader Gladys Tabor at the
groundbreaking ceremonies for the Glenville Branch Library on St. Clair
Avenue and East 118th Street. It was Mrs. Tabor who reminded the
Library Board that the expected library would be the first new building of
any description in that neighborhood in more than 10 years!
Downtown in the two Main buildings, construction workers swarmed
everywhere, punching holes in walls and installing miles of pipes and
ducts for the air conditioning system. a long·overdue project needed to
protect the books and to increase the utility of the Library during the
summer. Every one of the hundreds of windows in the historic landmark
building was scheduled for replacement. Most of the installation had
been completed by the end of the year, preserving the dignified grace of
the aging building on Superior Avenue. The new windows, well insulated
by double glazing, increased the fuel efficiency of the building by 40%
and added to the comfort of the readers.
The Business and Economics Department was rearranged to make
more effective use of space for the busiest department in the Library.
In the autumn, the General Reference Department began to take on a
barren aspect as its collections were moved elsewhere to make way for a
great shift in operations scheduled for 1980. In December, popular and
technical periodicals in Brett Hall were dispersed to appropriate locations
throughout Main Library to be replaced by a new bibliographic center
managed by the team of librarians from the General Reference Depart·
ment. The former General Reference Room was prepared to contain a
newspaper reading room, a microform reading area and a centralized
collection for the Library's 100,000 maps.
There were other projects as well: on the fourth floor, administrative of­fices
were rearranged; the furnishings and the work spaces of several
departments - notably History, Social Sciences. Fine Arts and John G.
White - were altered. All of the physical changes in Main Library if spelled
out in detail would make a ponderous catalog. and it may be enough to
say that they were all carefully calculated to upgrade library service.
PAGE 3 • ANNUAL REPORT OF THE CLEVELAND PUBLIC LIBRARY 1979
Improved
Performance
The building program, in sum, was highly visible, occasionally distract­ing,
but, in the long view of the institution's utility to the community,
most necessary and certainly overdue_ More improvements must still
come if the Cleveland Public Library is to be brought back to the stand­ards
which once were commonplace for a proud city. The progress
which has been made is owing to the support of the Library's governing
board and of its constituency. Trustees, public and staff together make a
potent alliance in support of quality library service.
The outward appearance of any big institution, by the strength of its
immediate impact, can distract the citizen from a proper inquiry into
operations which, if not eye catching, are of compelling importance. The
true character of any library lies ultimately not in its buildings but in its
staff, its collections and its services. A proper harmonizing of those three
elements is a precondition to success. It is fair to say that the well­remembered
difficulties encountered by the Library during the early
1970's arose from a lack of consensus as to the purpose of the institu­tion.
The Library struggled, even in very prosperous years, but it could
not succeed because its internal systems were not coordinated into a
common design and its service goals were often self-contradictory. To
reduce the contradictions has been one of the goals of the present
administration. Cooperation and commonalty of purpose have replaced
competition. Discipline and order, in the best and highest sense of the
words, have gradually gained the ascendancy in the management of the
Library's affairs.
Special efforts were launched in 1979 to provide performance standards
for individuals and for departments so that they might themselves rate
their own progress and achievement. Tensions within the staff seemed
to evolve slowly into more optimistic pattems that make work enjoyable
and achievement a source of gratification.
What were some of the signs that justify so favorable an opinion of prog­ress)
For the fifth year in succession, the Library was able to operate
with fewer people than in the preceding year with no loss in effective­ness,
and no decrease in public service. Furthermore, the aggregate
performance of the Library's staff improved dramatically, as the circula­tion
statistics suggest. Employment stood at 51 1 full time staff at the
end of the year, down ten from 1978. Use of sick leave by employees,
always a key indicator of morale, dropped by 8.5% for the third succes­sive
annual decline. Turnover of employees also fell. The resulting staff
stability had a positive effect on staff productivity. Training of new
employees became less of a burden and distraction. More time and
more experience were available for the main tasks. Employment of
minorities reached an all-time high.
Certain one-time tasks, which in the past had been neglected but which
were perceived by the senior administrative officers of the Library to be
necessary for the Library's strength, were either well under way or com­pleted
in 1979. The withdrawal of thousands of dead catalog cards. a
task three years in the execution. was finally completed. These cards had
represented an obsolete record of books that the Library had lost or
discarded over a 15-year period. The labor, tedious though it was, was
essential to the provision of accurate information to the library patron (a
catalog card for a non-existent book is a disservice both because it mis·
informs and becau e it leads to fruitless searches for the missing item).
Furthermore, past failures to record withdrawals from the ollection had
ANNUAL I~f PORT I 1HE U:VE.L.AND PUBLIC LIBRARY 1979 • PAG 4
led to a harmful overstatement of the Library's collection size. A library,
no less than a bank, falls into difficulties if it records deposits but not
withdrawals. The winnowing process undertaken in company with many
other technical corrections. resulted in the Library's restatement of its
inventory of titles at about 20% less than had been customarily reported.
An uncritical examination of the Library's statistics would lead to the
erroneous conclusion that the Library's collections were shrinking when
in fact they were being more accurately measured.
Aside from painstaking corrections of its bibliographic records, the
Library also pursued with some energy a program of thinning out its
book collection. This process. sometimes misunderstood, is as impor·
tant to a library as weeding is to a successful gardener. In fact, the meta·
phor of weeding is the very figure of speech used in the professional
library vocabulary. Primarily, weeding is directed not toward eliminating a
title from a collection, but in reducing the duplication of the title once its
popularity has fallen close to the zero point. A great research library is
distinguished by the number of titles in its collection, not by the number
of duplicate volumes. The cost of storage space, the padding that comes
with thoughtless retention of useless volumes, and the clogging of
access to the books are the chief determinants that signal the necessity
for weeding a library collection.
The Literature Department was one focus for a systematic weeding in
1979. The Library's old fiction. consisting of 160,000 volumes. had been
distributed over four stack levels in at least three alphabetical groupings.
In addition. a so·called "reference collection" was stored in a more
remote location. This dispersion of books imposed on the Library staff
the need to search in at least four locations before they could be sure a
wanted title was, indeed, not available. Furthermore. important novelists
were indiscriminately represented in all four collections. Corrective action
was begun to regroup the volumes into a single arrangement, followed
by a pruning of the excess duplicates. Although the labor required the
better part of a year. it led to the elimination of 55.000 worn and dust
covered duplicates. Since then the departmental staff have been up­grading
the physical quality of the collection by buying new copies of
classic titles.
This shortened account of some of the tasks required to correct both the
catalog records and the physical inventory of books provides only a
glimpse of the rehabilitative work in progress everywhere in the Library.
In Braille and Talking Book Department. to indicate another part of the
Library, unused duplicates of recorded books were removed to make
way for new titles and to relieve grossly overstocked stack areas where
books had spilled out onto the floors making difficult any search for
wanted titles. In Business and Economics Department. volumes with
identical call numbers shelved in four or more locations drove peaceful
librarians to anger and frustration: this confusion was being brought into
order by energetic and dedicated staff members. United States Govern­ment
documents were also scheduled to be brought together from sev­eral
departments into a single location in the Business and Science
Building. The effort to consolidate the collections was under way through·
out the system, in branches as well as downtown.
The Library turned its attention to the resurrection of buried or forgotten
collections. A preliminary search uncovered approximately 100.000 maps
and atlases, many of them stored in the basement in the least favorable of
locations and in no condition to be used. This unused hoard would be
organized into a map section on the First floor of Main Library in 1980.
PAGE 5 • ANNUAL REPORT OF TH CLEV LAND PUBLIC LIBRARY 1979
Improved
Collections
Projects,
Programs,
Progress!
Glenville Branch groundbreaking: People are for Libraries!
Fourt n branch proje ts were initiated, completed or
und r w y in 1979.
Fresh, new books and friendly service: Libraries are
for people.
/\NNUAl RLPORf Of THE CU:VE.LAND PUBLIC LIBRARY 1979 • PAG 6
Business & Economics Department: Main Library's
youngest subject department celebrated its 50th anni·
versary in 1979.
Some new and remodeled areas showcase the talents of
Cleveland artists.
The Big Event: a week­long
book fair climaxed
the International Year of
the Child.
PAGE 7 • ANNUAL REPORT OF THE CLEVELAND PUBLIC LIBRARY 1979
Another unappraised treasure is a collection of about 1.5 million news
photographs taken between J920 and 1970. This unsorted and uncata·
loged mass of pictures came to the Library from the Newspaper Enter·
prise Association in 1970 and remained virtually untouched until 1979
when the Library detailed a small task force to dig into the mountain of
prints. The first public access to the collection is not expected before
1981.
The steady now of books increased in 1979 when 220.000 separate
orders were placed for the purchase of new books, 41.000 (or 23%)
more than in 1978. These numbers. however. understate the count of
discrete items actually handled (issues of periodicals. for example). nor
do they include the 52.000 United States Government documents, and
the quantities of pamphlets and ephemera that come to the Library
along routes other than the regular ordering system.
Materials entering the Library require certain physical handling before
they can be made available. Cataloging of the items and making modifi·
cations to them (e.g. book pockets. ownership marks. plastic covers)
absorb considerable labor. In 1979 over 163.000 items passed though
the Book Repair Department before shipment to the service points.
whether branch or subject department. The Library contracted with a
commercial binder to bind J 7,000 items at a cost of $90.000.
Daily chores included the redistribution to the shelves of all the books
that had been drawn off for public use. In addition to the nearly three
million items borrowed for home use by the public. there were several
hundred thousand more used on the premises of the Library. These
reshelving activities are ongoing: they must be performed swiftly and
with a minimum of error, since a mis·shelved book is effectively lost to
use until rediscovered. usually by chance.
The relentless pressure to provide more space to store its growing inven·
tories. called for ingenuity in the planning and unavoidable compromi es
in the execution of the plans. To retrieve shelf space in Main Library. the
Library administration earmarked for replacement with microfilm many
periodicals printed on paper growing brittle and yellow with age. The
sudden expansion of the collections of microfilm and microfiche prompt·
ed by this decision hastened the creation of a microform center where
the best reproduction equipment could be assembled. As the year
ended all the required machines and equipment had been ordered.
Expert library management includes a continuous monitoring of the col·
lections to insure that the acquisition of important books is not inadvert·
ently overlooked in the daily rush of events. Faced with a vast array of
titles tumbling from the world's presses every day. any library may easily
make errors and omissions in book selection. In 1979 the Cleveland
Public Library decided to attempt to design a methodology for continuo
ous review of the collections. To do this the Library first had to deter·
mine the present distribution of its collections by subject both in terms
of number and quality. A complete title·by-title inventory was out of the
question. since such a task would require years. To circumvent this
obsta Ie. the Library. guided by a consultant. designed a random-sam­pling
system to test the reliability and completeness of the collections
over many subjects. This experimental testing system. when perfected.
will enable the Library to identify the weakest areas in its collections
which then can be strengthened by concentrated acquisition programs.
ANNUAL RCP RT OF THE CL VELAND PUBLI LIBRARY 1979 • PAG 8
Services to readers as well as collections of books were the subject of
close managerial analysis. The Braille and Talking Book Department
had shown symptoms of service breakdowns traceable to a variety of ills.
the major one being an inadequate computerized circulation and inven·
tory control system. A new computer program was purchased to operate
on the much larger computer the Library acquired in January 1979. In
spite of the new hardware and software. difficulties persisted until a more
complete diagnosis finally revealed organizational deficiencies which in
turn led to a complete revamping of the department.
Hospital Library Service, which brings books to the bedside of patients.
appeared to be overstaffed in relation to the number of books circulated.
A detailed managerial audit disclosed that by gradual increments over
many years the focus of the service had shifted from patients to hospital
employees. The emphasis on the patient was restored with gratifying
results: more bedside visits were made, and the number of staff required
to operate the service was significantly reduced.
Many other developments within the Library were noteworthy. if not as
large scale as those already mentioned. There was a marked increase in
the use of on-line data bank services. Many vendors are now in the
market to distribute computerized information over telephone lines to
computer terminals in the Library. As public awareness of these services
grows, the Library is called upon more and more to employ them in its
search for information. The speed of computer retrieval is attractive, but
the cost is high. and a proper cost-sharing system is yet to be devised.
The economics of managing the large public library in the United States
is rapidly becoming a debatable matter. The question is. who shall pay
for computerized library service) The general public) Or the immediate
beneficiary of the information? If the present rate of growth in the use of
data banks within the Cleveland Public Library persists. the issue of cost
will become urgent in the very near future - perhaps before 1985.
The Library bid successfully to acquire the physical assets of the public
radio station WBOE owned by the Cleveland School Board. WBOE has
been off the air since 1978. In 1979 the Library filed an application with
the Federal Communications Commission to have the license trans­ferred
from the School Board to the Library Board. Until the FCC acts,
nothing further can be done. As the year ended the FCC had taken no
action on the Library's application.
Films and phonograph records enjoyed a quickening use by the public.
The Library acquired prints of many notable entertainment films to aug­ment
its collection of more narrowly defined educational films. In addi­tion
the Library began a modest trial use of video recordings, which give
promise of eventually replacing film, The Library is striving to stay
abreast of new technology so as to forestall any possibility of being
made obsolete in the new world of telecommunications.
Phonograph collections were overhauled and redisplayed in the Litera·
ture and Fine Arts Departments downtown. and in the branch libraries.
Public interest in the collections increased.
The Library's new computer, mentioned earlier in connection with the
work of the Braille and Talking Book Department, proved its worth and
PAGE 9 • ANNUAL REPORT OF TH LEVELAND PUBLIC LIBRARY 1979
Improved
Services
Information And
New Technology
Community­Responsiveness
Funding Concerns
versatility all during the year. In addition to storing all the information for
circulation of materials to the blind and the physically handicapped, it
was loaded to carry data for the Library's monthly index of the Plain
Dealer and the Cleveland Press. It also provided the base for the periodi·
cal index. As the year ended the computer was being programmed to
hold the Library's catalog of books in anticipation of the time when the
old familiar catalog made up of millions of three·by·fjve·inch cards, will be
replaced by on-line terminals at every service location. A program for a
16mm film catalog was also developed.
The branch libraries reported a gratifying increase in the use of juvenile
books during the year, reversing a down·trend that had persisted over
two decades. The teachers' strike did not appear to be a contributing
factor in this growth. Whether the Library's efforts made a difference or
whether there is a new social current setting in, could not be determined.
A tiny favorable note was sounded by two branch librarians who thought
that they had detected a reduction in social tension in their neighbor'
hoods. These signals are not yet strong enough or continuous enough
to warrant optimism, but any encouragement is welcome in a city beset
by economic and social ills and by physical deterioration.
The Library made special efforts to rekindle juvenile interest in the
Library. The summer reading programs, which a few years ago had been
abandoned, were extended with gratifying results both in the number of
children participating and in their growing enthusiasm for reading
achievement. The efforts climaxed in a week-long celebration of the Inter·
national Year of the Child in Brett Hall, with many programs involving
authors and illustrators all arranged around exhibits of books. In a
ceremony involving the parents, 29 children from every part of the city
were given special recognition for their reading achievements.
An additional bid for renewed Library use was experimental Sunday servo
ice at two branch libraries - Rockport on the west side, Harvard·Lee on
the east. The first several Sundays yielded encouraging results and Rock·
port, particularly, became a center for Sunday family entertainment
through its attractive programs, including many musical groups and a
performance by jugglers.
In the arena of taxes and politics the Library experienced strong pressure
from suburban libraries to assent to a redistribution of intangibles tax
income in favor of the suburbs and, consequently, to the disadvantage of
the city. When voluntary efforts at negotiation broke down, the question
was left to the County Budget Commission, which made a minor adjust·
ment downward in the city's share, but much less than had been sought
by the suburbs. The shifting of populations to the suburbs has tended to
put the Cleveland Public Library somewhat on the defensive.
The disagreement between city and suburbs over taxes was not without
utility, however. The alert·signal stimulated the Library to make inquiry
into two important questions: how much of the use of the Main Library is
by people who live in the suburbs, and how much does operating the
Main Library cost) Employing professional statistical and accounting
consultants, the Library determined with great accuracy that 52% of the
cost of the Main Library's reference service. and 41 %of the cost of its
circulation service are attributable to residents of suburban and rural
Cuyahoga County. The annual cost of operating the Main Library alone
ANNUAL REPORT F THE CLEVELAND PUBLIC LIBRARY 1979 • PAG 10
makes up about 48% of the budget. These figures taken together pro­vide
ample justification for Cleveland to receive 50% of the intangibles
tax revenues. The Library fully intends to update these studies so as to
produce the continuing data to support its claim for a fair share of
intangibles tax revenue.
In 1979 the Library opened up a new area of interest for itself and for the
community. During the long negotiations and planning sessions de­signed
to improve the physical plant of the Library and to create a better
environment for service, the importance of art and decoration gradually
emerged. In 1978 at the suggestion of Board President Lee Howley, a
competition was arranged for murals to be placed in Brett Hall in the
Main Library downtown. With the assistance of several art experts acting
as judges, the Library selected designs by three Cleveland artists, Robert
Jergens, Edwin Mieczkowski and Christopher Pekoc, who were commis­sioned
to complete three works, installed in Brett Hall in May 1979 and
dedicated during a joyful ceremony by Joan Mondale, wife of the Vice
President of the United States, herself an art connoisseur. Since that
occasion the Library has decided to include some art work in all its new
and renovated branches. Hence in 1979 several other artists were com­missioned
to create original works for the Cleveland Public Library:
Harry Bertoia, sculpture for Glenville Branch
Peter P. Dubaniewicz, mural for Eastman Branch
Carl Floyd, sculpture for South Brooklyn Branch
Cathryn Kapp, murals for South Brooklyn Branch
William McVey, sculptures for Harvard-Lee, Rice
and Eastman Branches
Alan T. Pucell, sculptures for Glenville Branch
Julian Stanczak, paintings for South Brooklyn Branch
Lynn Zamblauskas, banners for Harvard-Lee Branch
The Library has already been praised for its willingness to re-emphasize
the importance of good taste and visual enrichment of our urban envi­ronment.
The leadership of the Library is evidently welcomed as a posi­tive
example for other public institutions. Adding to the pleasure and joy
of the people, even as it goes about the more sober task of helping
citizens to strengthen their knowledge and understanding of a difficult
world, is one of the Library's aims.
No report from the Cleveland Public Library staff should ever fail to
acknowledge the continuing vigorous support of the Friends of the
Library, whose membership continues to grow and whose assistance
financially and in every other way encourages the Library staff to perform
more effectively.
The firm support of the Library Board has speeded many changes that
might otherwise have languished in disagreement. The willingness of the
men and women of the Board to devote so many hundreds of hours of
their personal time without any compensation whatsoever is exemplary.
Ervin J. Gaines,
Director
PAGE 1I • ANNUAL REPORT OF THE CLEVELAND PUBLIC LIBRARY 1979
Grace Notes
Acknowledgments
How
Cleveland
Used Its
Library In
1979
--------
Library Materials Loaned
for Home Use
Main Library .
Branch Libraries .
Other Community Services .
Loaned to Other Libraries .
Total················································
Library Cards Issued .
Information Questions
Telephone .
In Person .
Total················································
Programs and Meetings Held
in the Library
Programs .
Attendance .
1978
606.065
1.455.169
591.915
8.649
2.661.798
94.556
719.755
1.412,290
2,132,045
9.045
169.775
1979 Increase
647.401 7%
1,665.676 14%
606.124 2%
10.576 22%
2.929.777 10%
120.052 27%
838.779 17%
1.508,274 7%
2.347,053 10%
10.397
199,271
Attendance at Main Library
Total .
Daily Average .
821.004 821.751
2.692 2.694
(305 Days) (305 Days)
Cleveland
Public Library
Collections
1979
Total System Holdings
Titles .
Volumes .
Microforms
Microfilm .
Microfiche .
Other Microforms .
Films and Filmstrips .
Pictures .
Phonodiscs and Cassettes .
Maps .
Paperbacks .
Main Library
Adult Volumes .
Juvenile Volumes .
Total Volumes .
Branch Libraries
Adult Volumes .
Juvenile Volumes .
Total Volumes .
1,148.069
2.541.876
34,158
663.761
362.762
5.240
2.230,000
32.699
98.075
92.088
1.807.176
111.608
1.918.784
335.527
287.565
623.092
ANNUAL REP RT OF TH CL V AND PUBLIC LIBRARY 1979. PAG 12
Total Cash and Securities on hand January 1, 1979
or received from all sources during the year ..--..- $26,783,707
Total expenditures and encumbrances - -.--- -..-.. 21,396,481
Unexpended balances, December 31, 1979 -..- --..- $ 5,387,226
These receipts and expenditures are shown in more detail in the major
programs below.
How Library
Dollars Were
Spent In 1979
General Library Operations
• Income·
Cash Balance, January 1, 1979 .-..-.---..-.--- .
Tax Revenues - Intangibles - -..-.--.-------.-..-..-.
- Real Estate ---..-..- - - -..-.
State Aid - - - -.-.-.- -- - --.--.- ..---------.------- -..-..-.
Interest Received --- ..- - -.. -.-..-
Fines and Reimbursements - - -.-..--..-
Adjustments and Refunds - -..-..-----.--------.--.---.-------
Miscellaneous - --.- ---.- - -.-..-
$ 954,381
10,877,667
4,427,391
551,747
624,082
92,008
238,648
201,360
$17,967,284
$ 7,865,913
2,119,677
1,354,405
1,348,429
439,989
1,782
$13, 130. J95
Of this amount $4.837,089 was transferred to the
Building and Repair Fund ..--....-..-..--.--.-..--..-.--.--.--.-..--.--.-..-- 4,837,089
Available for general operations - - $13.130,195
• Expenditures and Encumbrances.
Salaries and contributions to Pension Fund - -.-..-..-.--.--.--
Materials and Supplies - - - --.-- --..
Fixed Charges and Capital Outlay --------.--.-----------.--.---- -.--.-.
Contracts for services, equipment and materials - -.--
Office and maintenance materials and supplies -..- .
Refunds - - -..-.--..-.--.--.--..---------------
-;:-------'-'-'--==
Total expenditures during the year - -..-..-.--.----..-
52,222
82,486
30,264
$
$
35,944
46,542
Building and Permanent Improvement Funds
Cash on hand January I, 1979 -- -- $ 7,913,091
Transferred from General Operations 4,837,089 $12,750,180
Expended and encumbered during year 8,136,122
Balance, December 31, 1979 --.-.-.......... $ 4,614,058
These funds will be used for new buildings and remodeling of existing
structures.
Special Projects
Cash on hand January 1, 1979 -.-------.---.--..... $
Received during the year .-.- -.-- --.
Available for use - ----.--.-- .
Expended and encumbered during the year
Balances, December 31, 1979 -
Private Endowments and Trusts
The Library has accumulated many gifts over the years. It invests the
money received and expends income in accordance with donor wishes.
In general, the major portion of this money is spent for books.
Cash Balances, January 1, 1979 -..--..-..--......- $ 702,629
Interest, Dividends. and new gifts --..-----..-- 118,218
Available for use ---..-- - --- $ 820,847
Expended and encumbered ---------..-... 99,901
Total value of private funds,
December 31, 1979 ----..---.... $ 720,946
PAGE 13 • ANNUAL REPORT OF TH CLEVELAND PUBLIC LIBRARY 1979
Cleveland
Public
Library
325 Superior Avenue
Cleveland, Ohio 44114
(216) 623-2800
Main Library Hours
9:00-6:00, Monday-Saturday
Board of Library Trustees 1979
Lee C. Howley, Jr., President
Dr. Carl F. Asseff, Vice President
Cheryle A. Wills, Secretary
John J. Kahl, Jr.
Juliana T. Rak
Rev. Dr. Lewis Raymond
George W. Trumbo
Administration 1979
Dr. Ervin J. Gaines, Director
Marian A. Huttner, Special Assistant to the Director
Norma Braun, Business Manager
Ethel L. Robinson, Head of Main Library
Edward Seely, Head of Technical Services
Norman Holman, Director of Personnel Services
Andrew Venable, Head of Community Services
Friends of the Cleveland Public Library, Inc. 1979
Anne Burton, President
Gordon K. Mott, Vice President
Raymond R. Ernest, Treasurer
Jeanne Warner, Secretary
Ella Mae Howey, Executive Director
Acknowledgment
The photographs of South Brooklyn Branch Library (page 6) and of the
Brett Hall mural (page 7) were made available through the courtesy of
Cleveland Press photographer Timothy Culek.
ANNUAL REPORT OF TH CLEVELAND PUBLI LIBRARY 1979. PAGL 14