Saving the East Cleveland Library

The first paycheck I ever received was from the Cleveland Public Library. Although I'd had hustles that produced income for a number of years prior, the first official job I had after obtaining a work permit (do young people still have to get one of those to be able to work?) was as a page at the Sterling Branch of the CPL, which is still located on 30th Street near the corner of Central Ave. I guess you could say that I’ve been a library rat ever since.

My “home” library is now the Addison Branch, which is located on Superior Ave. at 70th Street. Thanks to the Internet I don’t have to make as many treks to the library as I did years ago, but I still enjoy going into the branch to pick up books that I’ve ordered online. There’s always such an earnest studiousness on the faces of the young people as they hunch over books or peer into computer screens. Libraries are among the most civilized of our common spaces and are more than just the repositories of books and movies … they play host and wet-nurse to our future enlightened citizenry.

So the news that the East Cleveland Library system is in dire financial straights is very disturbing and dispiriting to me and many others. The fact that the system had to shut down for a few weeks due to a financial shortfall bodes ill not only for the residents — both young and old — who frequent the branches, but for society in general. As institutions go, libraries are among the most critical in terms of the wellbeing of future generations, and therefore have to be protected and preserved at all costs.

As discussions get underway regarding the East Cleveland system becoming part of the county system the question in my mind is … can this proposed merger of a smaller, financially strapped (but nonetheless critically important) institution into a larger entity be the forerunner of the regionalism we’ve been conversing about for years now?

Chief among the concerns of many City of Cleveland residents is how regionalism will impact on institutions like schools, and yes, libraries that are not as well-off as their suburban counterparts. Whenever the regionalism question is raised by those residing in the outermost regions of the county, the response from Clevelanders is “sure, we understand that you’d love to have our Crown Jewels (the airport, water department, and port authority) but are you willing to help with the problem areas of education and public safety?”

How this conversation between the East Cleveland and County Library systems moves forth and plays out might be a good indication — a precursor if you will — in regards to how regionalism would work on a larger scale. I’m sure the situation will be watched with great interest by many.

From Cool Cleveland correspondent Mansfield B. Frazier mansfieldfATgmail.com. Frazier's From Behind The Wall: Commentary on Crime, Punishment, Race and the Underclass by a Prison Inmate is available again in hardback. Snag your copy and have it signed by the author by visiting http://www.frombehindthewall.com.