Annual report of the Cleveland Public Library for 1988

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~ v # CLEVELAND PUBLIC LIBRARY ....;r;.- 1988 ANNUAL REPORT
II dilettevole e givdizioso givoco de scacchi.
S. Zeno. Cattaro,e Venezia: 1724, 1727, 1735.
Illuminated page from a unique Italian manuscript on chess,
in the collection of the Cleveland Public Ubrary.
1988 ANNUAL REPORT
""- ~ 'in y -# -+- CLEVELAND
PUBLIC
LIBRARY
Cleveland, Ohio
COMMENTS FROM THE BOARD PRESIDENT
Michael V. Kelley
uring 1988, the passage of 2 mill general property
tax levy assured adequate operating revenues for
the 5 year period 1989 through 1993. Voter
approval at the Special Election in August was
gratifying to all involved with Cleveland Public
Library. Passage of this levy marked a sizable shift in
the distribution of operating funding from state to
local sources. In 1988, 74% of the Library's General
Operating revenues were received in the form of
state money: distributions from the Library and
Local Government Support Fund and Aid for Library
for the Blind and Physically Handicapped were the
two major sources. The remaining 26% was
received as revenue from the perpetual 1
mill general property tax levy and other
local sources. In 1989, with 2 mills of general
property tax support added to the existing 1
mill, operating revenue will shift to approx­imately
55% state money and 45% local
funds. This shift in local support should be
noted, and considered in the context of the
significant amount of public services provid­ed
by Cleveland Public Library to Cuyahoga
County, Northeast Ohio and other ports of
the state.
With operating revenues on solid ground,
the Library Board deliberated over means to
fund the long-range Capitol Plan for the
renovation and reorganization of the Main Library
buildings. Various alternatives, including local
funding, private corporate fund raising and county­wide
support have been considered, individually
and as components of a balanced solution, but final
decisions about funding await a more specific
picture of actual project costs. An architectural
competition for design plans in 1989will help color
in that picture.
The first labor-management contract in the history
of the Cleveland Public Library was negotiated in
January 1988 with District 925, SEIU of the AFL-C10.
PAGE 1 • ANNUAL REPORT OF THE CLEVELAND PUBLIC LIBRARY
The bargaining unit contains about 325 of the
Library's 436 employees.
The Library Ooard was pleased to note substantial
increases in use ofthe Cleveland Public Library in all
areas measured. The Library contributes, in signif­icant
ways, to the growth and development of our
area's human and civic resources by extending
access to information to all who would learn and
know more. My fellow Trustees and I share the
community's concern that the Cleveland Public
Library continue to provide top quality public
service, unhindered by constraints imposed by
deteriorating bUildings. We will bring the full
measure of our efforts to bear on achieving timely
and appropriate solutions to the issues at hand.
Michael V. Kelley
President, Ooard of Library Trustees
Marcia L. Fudge
Vice President
Elizabeth L. Coles
Secretory
David M. Noval~
Paul J. DeGrandis, Jr.
Thomas D. Corrigan
Judge Stephanie Tubbs Jones
ANNUAL REPORT OF THE CLEVELAND PUBLIC LIBRARY· PAGE 2
A MESSAGE FROM THE LIBRABY DIRECTOR
quality public library provides the best
services possible in the present and plans
effectively for improved services in the future.
This year the Cleveland Public Library broke
new ground in service delivery and adopted
an innovative and far reaching
plan for long term develop-ment.
In November, the Cleveland
Public Library became the first
large urban library in the
country to offer dial-up access
to its online catalog. With this
service, anyone with a person­al
computer can search the
Library's catalog from home,
office or dorm room, 24 hours
a day, seven days a weel... This
was only one of the service
improvements that resulted in
an increase of 7% in the cir­culation
of materials for home
use and an increase of 5% in Marilyn Gell Mason
the public's use of reference
services; this, at a time when
the population of Cleveland continues to
decline. Other improvements that fueled this
surge of use were expanded service hours and
the availability of new materials. Audiocas­settes
and videocassettes were added to the
collections of several branch libraries, special
collections of Spanish language materialswere
added to six others, and the Main Library
purchased its first CD ROM databases.
The citizens of Cleveland demonstrated that
they value quality library service by voting
overwhelming to approve a five-year, 2 mill
property tax levy on August 2. The passage of
this levy will enable the Library to continue to
provide the best possible library service to its
users.
As part of the 10 year plan for renovation of
the Branch system, the Library moved the new
Addison Branch off the draWing board into
construction. When completed in 1989, this
branch will replace two obsolete buildings,
the East 55th and East 79th
Street Branches. In October,
the Library Board approved a
Capitol Plan for the renovation
and expansion of the Main
Library complex. This plan calls
for the updating and refurb­ishing
of the Main Library and
the Business and Science Build­ing
and the construction of on
additional 50,000square feet
of space. The plan also calls for
a comprehensive book pres­ervation
program and the use
of available technology to im­prove
access to the Library's
vast resources.
In 1989, the Library will begin
to implement portions of the
Capital Plan. We expect to develop prelim­inary
architectural designs, expand book preser­vation
activities and build on current computer
capabilities. Clearly, there is much to be done.
As we move into 1989, our 120th year of
service to residents of Greater Cleveland, we
do so with renewed commitment to you, the
users of the Library.
Marilyn Gel! Mason
Director
PAGE 3· ANNUAL REPORT OF THE CLEVELAND PUBLIC LIBRARY
I
ANNUAL REPORT - 1988
n 1988, Clevelanders used their Library in
record numbers. Circulation of library materials,
borrowed for home use, ran counter to a
progressive loss of population in the neighbor­hoods
of Cleveland. Library users tool~ advan­tage
of extended and Saturday service hours,
and created new patterns of use with lively
demand for videocassettes and audiocas­settes.
People who had not used the Library
previouslywere drawn in by increased program­ming
in connection with grant-funded projects
for the Hispanic community and for disadvan­taged
preteens. In an unlooked for increase in
use, neighborhood libraries became havens
for more than 7,000 students during a six-day
stril~e by Cleveland city school teachers in
February. Students, some accompanied by
parents, came to the libraries to read, to study,
and to be in safe company.
The Cleveland Public Library celebrated an
anniversary of 90 years of service to children
with year-long programs, displays, and activi­ties
planned with families in mind. The Library
rewarded members of the traditional Summer
Reading Club with tickets to a Cleveland
Indians baseball game at the Stadium. Two
free ticl~etswere given to every childwho read
and reported on a minimum of two books.
Everyone who attended the game, including
family and friends, received a baseball-style
cap as a souvenir of the evening during which
the Cleveland Indians defeated the Baltimore
Orioles by a score of 12-2. More than 7,000
children, parents, and neighborhood librarians
enjoyed the event, held on a perfect summer
evening in Cleveland's lakefront Stadium.
conSiderable amountof librarystaff timewas
commited to assisting the Omni Group of
Santa Monica, California, represented by
Joseph Becl~er and Randall Rice, in preparation
of a Capital Plan for the reorganization and
renovation of the Main Library complex. The
Members of the 1988
Summer Reading Club and
their families filled the
Cleveland Stadium bleachers
to cheer for books. libraries
and the Tribe!
ANNUAL REPORT OF THE CLEVELAND PUBLIC LIBRARY· PAGE 4
Board of Trustees accepted the Capital Plan at
the October Board meeting, and planning for
a limited architectural competition began. In
addition to the well-publicized building
component, the Capital Plan contains long­range
programs for information technologies
and for the collections' preservation needs. The
Capital Plan identifies the foreseeable future
needs which will make the Cleveland Public
Library useful to the community for several
decodes.
ven as it planned for the future, Cleveland
Public Library continued to enhance its public
utility in our contemporary community. Public
access to information about items in the col­lections
was increased through the application
of authority control in the catalog and through
a new service, the Dial-Up Catalog. "Authority
control" has refined the search process, allow­ing
those using the online catalog to search
more precisely and efficiently for desired in­formation.
"Dial-Up" access makes it possible
for people with personal computers to use the
Library's online catalog from remote locations.
Both enhancements were enthusiastically re­ceived
by our community of readers.
Young readers at Hough Branch read
about Rosa Parks and other civil rights
advocates. then wrote and performed a
play for families and friends during
Black History Month.
Keeping pace with the explosion of new
information often requires the Cleveland Public
Library to acquire new information sources. The
Library obtained its first CD ROM databases in
1988 and made them available to the public.
"Supermap U.s.A." and "Place-Name Index"
greatly increased the versatility of Map Col­lection
in locating and displaying geographic
and demographic information. The resources
of the Business, Economics and Labor Depart­ment
were strengthened by the acquisition of
"ABI-Inform," "Corporate and Industry Research
Reports (C1RR)," "State Pack," and "Microsoft
Bookshelf." The public's immediate accept­ance
of new information sources and formats
reinforces the Library's intent to continue to
prOVide the most timely and comprehensive
information available.
An expanding pool of repeat cI ientele attested
to the fine quality service, prOVided by the
Library's Cleveland Research Center. A fee­based
service which conducts in-depth research
for businesses, CRC increased its level of activity
significantly in 1988, demonstrating the credi­bility
and confidence area businesses extend
to the Cleveland Public Library.
Ithough the Cleveland Public Library first
actively began to protect materials in the
collections through accepted preservation
technologies as early as 1978, 1988 was a
hallmark year for aggressive preservation
efforts. An on-site Preservation Office was
established with Major Urban Research Libraries
(MURU grant funds. A librarian highly qualified
in preservation work was hired to administer
the grant and to manage a continuing preser­vation
program to address a problem which
afflicts about 40%, or about 640,000volumes,
in the Library's collection of 1.6 million titles.
Exhibits and lectureswere produced by Library
staff to educate the public about the impor­tance
of preservation. Funds from a Liorary
PAGE s· ANNUAL REPORT OF THE CLEVELAND PUBLIC LIBRARY
Services and Construction Act CLSCA) Title I
Grant provided for equipment and supplies for
the Preservation Office, including an ultrasonic
welder, Jacques shears, and a Wei l'0 soft spray
Deacidification System. In achieving the goals
With the establishment of the Pre­servation
Office in 1988, Cleveland
Public Library intensified its long­standing
commitment to perserving
the collections. The fUlly equipped
preservation laboratory performs treat­ments
necessary to save, restore and
protect the Library's books, maps and
manuscripts.
established by the MURL grant, 6,000 items
from Special Collections were processed on­site
to protect them and prevent further deter­ioration.
In other preservation projects, Cleveland Public
Library completed the second year of a three­year
grant from the Kulas Foundation and the
Cleveland Foundation to restore and refurbish
the music score collection in Fine Arts Depart­ment.
Significant progress was made on the
City of Cleveland Archives Documents Preserv­ation
Grant funded by the Gund Foundation.
This project, administered by the Public
Administration Library staff, has exceeded its
goals. Through diligent staff efforts, the Library
obtained permission to microfilm City doc­uments
formerly unknown and unavailable to
the public. A Preservation of Local History
Materials grant for $54,667 was approved by
the State Library of Ohio in September. The
grant will allow the Library to microfilm its
Cleveland School Desegregation File, Cleve­land
Corporation File, two ethnic newspapers
CSzabadsag and Waechter un Anzeiger) and
Cleveland Telephone Directories.
A grant proposal to preserve the Library's
Photograph Collection was submitted to the
U.s. Department of Education in October. The
project would create an interactive subject
searchable database on optical disc contain­ing
both image and descriptive data for about
882,000 black and white photographs. The
ANNUAL REPORT OF THE CLE\iELAND PUBLIC LIBRARY· PAGE 6
project would protect
the original photo­graphs,
while making
them significantly
more accessible to the
public.
In November, a grant
proposal to preserve
segments of the
Theater Collection was
submitted to the
Notional EndO'Nmentfor
the Humanities. The
projectwould organize,
index, and reformat
theater materials con­sisting
of programs,
plays, scrapbooks,
clippings files, review
datebooks, photographs,
and posters. All materials
9re valuable os original
PAGE 7· ANNUAL REPORT OF THE CLEVELAND PUBLIC LIBRARY
source material for researchers and students.
Much local material will be preserved and
made accessible for future generations of
scholars.
embers of the communityjoined the Library
Board of Trustees and civic officials in breal~ing
ground for the construction of the newAddison
Branch Library on Sunday, July 31 . The Library
he Executive Director of the Friends of the
Cleveland Public Library, Ella Mae Haverfield,
retired after twelve years of dedicated and
devoted service. Hercontribution to the develop­ment
of the Friends group, one of the largest in
the country, is acl~nowledged with appreciation.
A gala celebration co- hosted by the Library
and the Friends in December, with the inspir-
Trustees had accepted construction bids total­ling
$1,240,277 during the July 21 Board
Meeting and architect Stephen Bucchieri and
general contractor Aveni Construction, Inc.,
began worl~ at the building site, 6901 Superior
Avenue. Completion of the bricl~, steel-roofed
bUilding is anticipated by the autumn of 1989.
Addison Branch will replace two obsolete
branch bUildings: East 55th Street Branch, 5510
Superior Avenue; and East 79th Street Branch,
1215 East 79th Street.
Library trustees and members of the
community broke ground for the new
Addison Branch. July 31. 1988.
ation of bookman Richard Gildenmeister,
focused positive attention on the value of
supporting the Library's special needs. Richard
Gildenmeister's "Buy a Bool~ for the Library"
promotion resulted in many very desirable
new acquisitons for the Fine Arts and Special
ANNUAL REPORT OF THE CLEVELAND PUBLIC LIBRARY· PAGE 8
Collections Department. Other significant
special acquisitions during the year included
the 1862 Madras edition of the Rubaiyat of
Omor Khayyam, one of 60 copies; B.
Mosblech's Vocabulari Oceanian-Francais
(Paris: 1843); the spectacular Art Treasures of
Tibetan Buddhism edited by H. FUjita in seven
volumes (Tokyo: 1984), one of 500 copies;
TheGameof Chesse, AMetaphoricall Discourse
(London: 1643), a rare first edition of this
political allegory about the English Civil War
expressed entirely in terms of chess; the First
Chess Tourney of the Daneites (n.p.: 1879), an
unrecorded early American imprint; the Loves
ofCamorupa and Camalata, an Ancient Indian
Tale (London: 1973); and a high quality manu­script
of the Koran, written in fine Nasl~h script by
the scribe Khalil Sanjani, ca. 1650AD., preVious­ly
in the library of E.R. and A Olsen. At year's
end, a Program Development Officer joined
the staff to encourage growth of the en­dowment
funds which make such important
acquisitions possible.
heday-to-dayservice ofthe Cleveland Public
Liorary reflects the broad range of public need
and interest generated by Greater Cleveland­ers
at each service agency: requests for service
beyond routine information and document
delivery showed the diversity of the resources
in the Library. A Singer sewing instruction book
from 1916 was copied for a library in Tennes­see.
Environment Canada wanted the June
7th, 1988 Plain Dealer article on acid rain. The
National Geographic Society ordered prints for
consideration in its educational video disc
project on American history and geography.
The Free Street Theatre in Chicago had copies
of two plays rushed to them. A friend of Eliot
Ness, was pleased with the Library's service in
helping him to complete his biography on Mr.
Ness.
Serving the needs of readers, researchers,
businessmen, writers, children and seniors, the
Cleveland Public Library fulfills its mission in a
multitude of rewarding information trans­actions,
extending a tradition of prOViding
"books, information and service" into its 120th
year.
•
PAGE 9· ANNUAL REPORT OF THE CLEVELAND PUBLIC LIBRARY
1. Addison Branch Library,
off the drawing board into
the neighborhood.
2. The most recent pUbli­cation
of New Day Press
premiers at Cleveland Public
Library.
3. Homework time. after­school
at the Library.
4. Reading. a shared expe­rience
and enjoyment.
ANNUAL REPORT OF THE CLEVELAND PUBLIC LIBRARY· PAGE 10
SERVICE PROFILE
One measure of the significance of a major
public research library is the number of discrete
titles owned. The Cleveland Public Library ranks
near the top, nationwide, with 1.6 million titles in
the collections.
Of course, public libraries must buy multiple
copies of some popular titles to serve public
demand. At the end of 1988, there were
3,015,432 bound volumes in the collections of
the Cleveland Public Library.
Your Cleveland Public Library subscribes to 5,160
current periodicals. The collections contain back
runs of 16,487
. periodicals, held
on 12 linear
Artist Moe Brooker, previously
on the FaCUlty of the Cleveland
Institute of Art, returned to
Cleveland to lecture about
"Contemporary Print Images:
Works by Afro-American Artists,"
a traveling exhibit from the
Smithsonian Institution, display­ed
in the Gallery of the Martin
Luther King, Jr. Branch.
miles of shelv­ing.
A total of
4,365,878 items were borrowed from the
Cleveland Public Library in 1988, a gain of 7%
over the previous year.
Cleveland Public Library prOVided 601,265
braille and tall-<;ing bool-<;s to blind and hand­icapped
adults and children in 1988.
PAGE 11 • ANNUAL REPORT OF THE CLEVELAND PUBLIC LIBRARY
HOW LIBRARY DOLLARS WERE SPENT IN 1988
..
GENERAL OPERATING FUND
RECEIPTS
Addison Branch - from
drawing board to con­struction
phase.
$13/882/687
4,768/824
3,520,641
2/051,356
735,672
1,490/396
81/637
$26/531/213
370/783
$26/901,996
Salaries and benefits .
Library materials .
UtITlifes and purchased servi.ces .
Transfer to bUilding & repair fund .
Office and maintenance materials and supplies .
Capital outlay .
Refunds, sales tax, memberships, advances . ~~~.:.....,....----=-
Total expenditures during the year .
Carried forward for first-quarter operations .
Tax revenues
- Library &Local Government Support Fund $15,488/389
~ ~:~~~~~~~int~~g·ibi~s· . : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : 3/8~~:9~~
State aid 825/775
Fines and fees 389,229
Interest 601/685
Services to contracting libraries 688,947
Reimbursed costs and refunds. . . . . . . . .. . . . . . . . . . . . . . 242/601
Total receipts $22/121,837
Fund balance, January 1/ 1988 4/780/159
Available for general operations $26,901/996
EXPENDITURES AND ENCUMI3RANCES
CAPITAL IMPROVEMENT AND REPAIR FUND
In 1988 the Cleveland Public Library expended and encumbered $269/238 to continue maintenance
and repair of the Library's physical plant. Projects included a portion of Addison I3ranch construeti<;>h costs
and roof replacement at West Pari... I3ranch. Funds transfused into the Capitol Improvement and Repair
Fund will permit completion of the branch building projects and other necessary maintenance in 1989.
ENDOWMENTS, TRUSTS, GRANTS
The Cleveland Public Library is endowed in the amount of $3/063/000. Restrictive terms of many
bequests and trusts specify that the principal maynot bespent. The Library uses any interest generated by
endowments to enhance basic services, such as the Library for the I3lind and Physically Handicapped.
Grant receipts made possible special projects such as preservation of rare books, music scores and
municipal archives and expanded services to Hispanic readers, disadvantaged preteens, and
homebound readers.
ANNUAL REPORT OF THE CLEVELAND PUBLIC LIBRARY· PAGE 12
~
,
I CLEVELAND PUBLIC LIBRARY
DIRECTORY:
Main library
325 Superior Avenue 623-2800 Fleet 641·5666
Audio-Video Deportment 623-2942 7224 Broadway Avenue
Business, Economics & Labor 623-2927 Fulton 741-0724
Deportment 3545 Fulton Rood
Children's Literature Deportment 623-2834 Garden Volley 883-9096
7100 Kinsman Rood
Cleveland Research Center 623-2999
Glenville 681-2040
Documents Collection 623-2870 11900 St. Clair Avenue
Fine Arts & Special Collections 623-2848 Harvard-Lee 751·9955
Foreign Literature Deportment 623-2895 16918 Harvard Avenue
General Reference Deportment 623-2856 Hough 795-4383
1566 Crawfard Rood
History & Geography Deportment 623-2864
Jefferson 241·7527
Library for the Blind & Physically 623-2911 850 Jefferson Avenue
Handicapped
Literature Deportment 623-2881 L8or2a1in6 Lorain Avenue 631-4962
Mop Collection 623-2880 Martin Luther King, Jr. 795-4117
Newspaper Collection 623-2904 1962 East 107th Street
Patents 623-2870 Memorial 531-5860
Photograph Collection 623-2871 15212 Lake Shore Boulevard
Popular Library 623-2842 M1r.4P0le0a0sKanintsman P.oad 561·4790
Public Administration Library 623-2919 Nottingham 481-5588
Science & Technology Deportment 623-2932 760 East 185th Street
Social Sciences Deportment 623-2860 PJce 231-5062
John G. White Deportment 623-2818
2820 East 116th Street
Branch libraries P.ockport 251-4466
4421 West 140th Street
Broadway 883-8692 South 781-1690
5417 Broadway Avenue 3096 Scranton Rood
Brooklyn 661-6178 South Brooklyn 661-5700
3706 Pearl Rood 4303 Pearl P.oad
Carnegie West 961-0998 Sterling 621·5766
1900 Fulton Rood 2200 East 30th Street
Collinwood 541-4220 Superior 795-4249
856 East 152nd Street 1347 East 105th Street
East 55th Street 361·6232 Union 641-4961
5510 Superior Avenue 3463 East 93rd Street
E3as8t21031EsatstS1tr3e1etst Street 561-6133 W7a9l1z 0 Detroit Avenue 651-0051
Ea1s2t1759tEhasSttr7e9etth Street 881-7266 W3e8s0t 5PoWrkest 157th Street 941-3730
E1as1t6m0a2nLorain Avenue 251-9433 W5o8o0d6laWndoodland Avenue 361-7255
PAGE 13· ANNUAL REPORT OF THE CLEVELAND PUBLIC LIBRARY
Board of Library Trustees· 1988
Michael V. Kelley
President
Marcia L. Fudge
Vice President
Elizabeth L. Coles
Secretary
David M. Noval~
Paul J. DeGrandis, Jr.
Thomas D. Corrigan
Judge Stephanie Tubbs Jones
Administration
Marilyn Gell Mason, Director
Norman Holman, Deputy Director
Joan L. Clark, Head of Main Library
Phyllis J. Martin, Head of Community Services
Edward Seely, Head of Technical Services
Joan F. Brown, Personnel Officer
Joan L. Toml~ins, Business Manager
Frances M. Peters, Public Relations Supervisor
Robert T. Carterette Jr., Automated Systems Manager
Friends of the Cleveland Public Library. Inc.
James H. Woodring. President
Paul R. Bjorn, Vice President
Estelle Shorter Holmes, Secretary
Dennis P. Anderson, Treasurer
Richard L. Fetzer, Past President
Nancy Dwyer, Mary Ogg, Co-Directors
ANNUAL REPORT OF THE CLEVELAND PUBLIC LIBRARY· PAGE 14
Cleveland Public Library
325 Superior Avenue
Cleveland, Ohio 44114-1271
ADDRESS CORRECTION REQUESTED
NONPROFIT ORG.
u.s. POSTAGE
PAID
PERMIT NO. 408