The Cleveland Heights-University Heights Public Library has announced it will partner with Cleveland State’s Monte Ahuja College of Business and the City of Cleveland Heights to move the existing Small Business Development Center (SBDC) to its new Heights Knowledge and Innovation Center in the west wing of the Lee Road Branch, scheduled to open in June 2013.

This move will increase the customer base of the SBDC, currently located in the Cleveland Heights City Hall, and allow those seeking advice on business plans, marketing, staffing or other related issues to use the library’s resources to put their plans into action.

“We are a model for the whole country,” says Heights Libraries Director Nancy Levin. “We will be documenting our activities so that other libraries can follow our lead. This is a partnership that makes complete sense.”

Jim Kraft, director of the Cuyahoga County SBDC at Cleveland State University, and a graduate student from CSU’s Monte Ahuja College of Business will staff the SBDC. Jim Kraft has been advising small business owners for more than 20 years.

Staff will be funded by the Ohio Department of Development and the U.S. Small Business Administration. The State of Ohio Small Business Association will be funding counselors with $30,000 which the library will match with $10,000. There are 39 SBDCs in the state of Ohio.

“Locating the CSU SBDC in the Heights Knowledge and Innovation Center opens a new avenue for the small business person in the region,” says Kraft. “Combining the resources of the CSU SBDC and the library will give small businesses access to information in a whole new way. The CSU SBDC will be able to utilize all of the databases that are available and will be able to pass this on to our clients. This partnership is a first in the SBDC network and we are excited to be part of it.”

“We are very enthusiastic about this opportunity to collaborate with Heights Libraries to advance economic development in the region and hope to set a positive example for other SBDCs and library systems to follow,” says Steve Percy, dean of the Monte Ahuja College of Business.

The new HKIC at Heights Libraries will include:

• An improved computer lab with 26 roomy work stations and computers featuring Microsoft Office Software
• Expanded wireless access in the HKIC lounge area
• Two small study rooms
• iPad rental (Coming in July)
• A special collection of business- and technology-related books and magazines
• A production work area and office supplies such as a copier, printer, scanner, and fax machine
• A video, sound, and digital media lab

The building currently houses Dobama Theatre, which will not be affected by the renovation, and Family Connections Little Heights Literacy Playroom, which will move to the space currently occupied by the Library’s existing computer lab.

Heights Libraries has planned grand opening activities for the new HKIC throughout the month of June.

To ensure that it can give the Cleveland Heights-University Heights community the best possible services in the coming years, Heights Libraries will be conducting a community survey from February 25 through March 18.

If  BWU calls you, please take the time to participate in the phone survey! If you do not receive a call, please feel free to take the survey online or in person at any of our branches. 

The Library has contracted with the Community Research Institute at Baldwin Wallace University (BWU) to conduct the survey by phone with residents of Cleveland Heights, University Heights, and selected areas of surrounding communities. Residents, library customers and non-customers alike, will be called at random, but residents who do not receive a call are encouraged to fill out the survey online at www.heightslibrary.org or on paper at any of Heights Libraries four branches.

The community survey is the follow-up to a large community study conducted by Heights Libraries in 2012. In April 2012, the Library contracted with NODIS (Northern Ohio Data and Information Service) at Cleveland State University’s Maxine Goodman Levin College of Urban Affairs to perform a comprehensive analysis of demographic and socioeconomic conditions, and the borrowing patterns of residents and patrons in our community.

“This is the first time the Library has undertaken such a comprehensive study of our community,” says Heights Libraries Director Nancy Levin. “We provide great service to our customers, but we can always improve, so we want to hear from our residents. What do you like? What don’t you like? We want to know.”

The NODIS report covers the Cleveland Heights-University Heights community, using the CH-UH School District boundaries. Demographic and socioeconomic data were gathered from the 2010 Census and the Census Bureau’s 2006-2010 American Community Survey. Data on patrons and borrowing were obtained from CLEVNET records and cover the year 2011 and the first quarter of 2012.

Heights Libraries received the report in July 2012, and soon after the public service managers formed the NODIS Report Action Committee to analyze the data, find actionable items, and determine what further information could and should be gathered from a related community survey to be conducted by BWU. Services provided by BWU will include designing and conducting the survey (by phone, online, and in-person), tabulating and analyzing the results, and writing a final report, which will be made available to the public.

The decision to collect and study this information was prompted by a desire to make data-driven decisions about programming, collections, services, outreach, and marketing, thereby ensuring the system’s resources are being used in the most efficient way possible to benefit the members of the community.  The timing of the study and survey coincides with the system’s strategic planning process for 2014-2015.

The National Endowment for the Humanities (NEH) announced January 9 that Heights Libraries will be awarded the Muslim Journeys Bookshelf, a collection of books, films, and other resources designed to introduce the American public to the complex history and culture of Muslims in the United States and around the world.

Heights Libraries is one of 842 libraries in the nation to win this award, and one of only two in Cuyahoga County–Lakewood Public Library also received the award. Sam Lapides, Heights Libraries special projects coordinator, wrote the grant and is overseeing the project.  Librarians, including Adult Services Librarian Carole Wallencheck, will be designing future programming around the new collection.

“We’re looking forward to offering programs that showcase the many ways that Muslim culture has shaped and enriched civilizations across the globe” says Wallencheck. “Lectures, films, book discussions and art tours will be in the mix.”

Developed by the NEH and the American Library Association (ALA) based on the advice of scholars, librarians, and other public programming experts, the Muslim Journeys Bookshelf is intended to address both the need and desire of the American public for trustworthy and accessible resources about Muslim beliefs and practices and the cultural heritage associated with Islamic civilizations.

“This collection will give our community the opportunity to learn about different aspects of the Muslim experience and culture, including literature, poetry, history, and art,” says Lapides. “The Heights community is diverse in just about every way and truly embraces learning opportunities, so we know these new resources will be popular.”

All four branches of Heights Libraries will receive a Muslim Journeys Bookshelf set, which consists of 25 books, three films, and access for one year to the resource Oxford Islamic Studies Online.  Books will include such titles as the graphic novel Persepolis by Marjane Satrapi, Dreams of Trespass by Fatima Mernissis, and The Children of Abraham: Judaism, Christianity, and Islam by F.E. Peters. Films will include Prince among Slaves and Islamic Art: Mirror of the Invisible World.

Programs are tentatively slated to start in summer or fall of 2013. Check www.heightslibrary.org for details.

The Cleveland Heights-University Heights Public Library is pleased to announce the appointment of its newest board member, Jeffrey Eummer. His term began in January 2013.

Eummer, who has lived in Cleveland Heights for four years with his wife and son, replaces outgoing Board President Esther Moss, who retires at the end of 2012 after a total of 14 years of service, beginning in 1999.

Eummer is currently a lab coordinator in the Chemistry Department at Ursuline College and has taught chemistry at both Lakeland Community College in Ohio and Martin University in Indiana. He has worked as a chemist for a variety of companies, including Bristol-Myers Squib in Connecticut and has also served as president of the National Organization of Black Chemists and Chemical Engineers (NOBChE), an organization devoted to encouraging minorities to pursue careers in chemistry and engineering.

His background in science and passion for science education is part of what inspired him to apply for a position on Heights Libraries’s board. “I’d like to be the Library’s liaison to the community, especially as it relates to STEM education—science, technology, Engineering and math,” says Eummer, adding, “With bookstores, newspapers, and other sources of information going out of business, our Library is becoming an even more crucial source of education and information for the community, adults and children alike.”

In addition to his involvement with NOBChE, he has also coached his son’s Cleveland Heights Recreation league baseball team.

Eummer was selected for the Heights Libraries board by the Cleveland Heights-University Heights Board of Education at its December 6, 2012, meeting. Ohio law requires that the local school board be the tax authority for a community’s public library, so library trustees are therefore chosen by the school board.

Fulfilling a promise made to the community in 2005 to fully renovate the old YMCA building on Lee Road, Heights Libraries will turn the old YMCA gymnasium space into the Heights Knowledge and Innovation Center, or HKIC, a flexible 4,000 square-foot space designed to support the technological and workspace needs of local businesses, nonprofits, and individuals.

The gymnasium space is the last part of the old YMCA building, now known as the West Wing, to be renovated. The building currently houses Dobama Theater, Family Connections literacy playroom, and Heights Libraries computer lab and computer classroom. The gymnasium is directly above Dobama Theater. Architects from Studio Techne designed the new space and Sterling Professional Group was chosen as the contractor. Construction started in November and is to be completed in April 2013 for a total of $485,300 from Heights Libraries Building and Repair Fund.

“The workspace and technological needs of our customers have increased enormously since our Lee Road branch was renovated in 2005,” says Heights Libraries Director Nancy Levin. “In 2009, we asked community stakeholders how they wanted us to use the gym space, and the response was overwhelmingly in favor of expanded work and technology space.”

Highlights of the new space include:

• An improved computer lab with 26 roomy work stations and computers featuring Microsoft Office Software
• Expanded wireless access in the HKIC lounge area
• An additional small study room
• iPad rental (iPads must remain at HKIC)
• A special collection of business- and technology-related books and magazines
• A production work area with office supplies such as copier, printers, scanner, fax machine,  binding machine, and laminating machine
• A video, sound, and digital media lab

“People can come to HKIC to work on a resume, apply for a job, relax and do some creative writing, try out an iPad, meet with their colleagues, put together a presentation, just about anything,” continues Levin. “Studio Techne designed the space to be very flexible, allowing it to change and grow as technologies change and our customer’s needs change.”

In addition to the new HKIC space, the current computer lab space will also be renovated with a new false ceiling, lighting and carpeting, and will become the new home of Family Connections Little Heights Literacy Playroom, which is currently on the second floor of the West Wing. Dobama Theater will not be affected by the renovation.

Cleveland Heights-University Heights Public Library system has once again received the highest possible rating in the Library Journal’s 2012 Index of Public Library Service. The five-star rating is given to the top U.S. libraries each year.

Height Libraries has earned five stars in four out of the five years that Library Journal has published the ratings, starting in 2008. Libraries are categorized by yearly expenditure and rated on four criteria: circulation, visits, program attendance, and Internet terminal use. Heights Libraries circulation rated a 32.6 per capita in our service area, meaning that 32.6 items were circulated for every resident in the Cleveland Heights-University Heights service. Visits are up since 2011, 19.8 in 2012 vs. 19.4 in 2011; and library program attendance is also up: 0.91 in 2012 up from 0.8 in 2011.

“This just shows us what we’ve known all along: more and more people in our community are using the library,” says Heights Libraries Director Nancy Levin. “We are always busy, and I don’t see that trend reversing anytime soon. Our community depends on us more than ever for everything from free entertainment with books and DVDs and fun programs, to more crucial things like access to the Internet and free computer classes.”

Heights Libraries wasn’t the only Other Cuyahoga County area library receiving Star Awards; other area libraries to win are Cleveland Public (4), Cuyahoga County (5), East Cleveland (5), and Rocky River (3).

“Residents of Northeast Ohio are truly lucky to have such incredible libraries at their fingertips,” says Levin.

A crowd of roughly 175 fans, friends, and family of the late Harvey Pekar attended the program “Harvey Pekar: A Literary, Library Life” on Sunday, October 14 at the Lee Road branch of Heights Libraries. The event included the unveiling of the highly anticipated Harvey Pekar statue, which was donated to Heights Libraries by Pekar’s widow, Joyce Brabner. The unveiling followed a presentation by JT Waldman, the illustrator who collaborated with Pekar on Pekar’s posthumously published book Not the Israel My Parents Promised Me.

The piece reflects the man it honors. Instead of a life-size depiction of Pekar striking a heroic pose, Brabner and local artist Justin Coulter designed a warm, humble, and interactive sculpture that invites the viewer to consider Pekar’s down-to-earth diligence as well as his creativity: the base of the piece is a real wooden desk, with room for people to sit and draw using supplies in the desk drawer. On top of the desk is a larger-than-life comic book panel rendered in bronze, with Pekar (approximately 2 feet high) stepping out of the bottom of the panel onto the desk.

Waldman’s presentation focused on the professional and personal relationship he had with Pekar, which grew while they worked on the book together. Waldman, who completed the book on his own after Pekar’s death, found the event deeply moving, and a little bittersweet: “When Harvey died I was isolated,” says Waldman, who lives in Philadelphia. “But being here today with all these people who knew him and cared for him and shared the same grief I had felt—it was very comforting. It gave me closure.”

In addition to Waldman and the unveiling, local musician Marissa DeSantis performed an original song, “American Splendor,” that she wrote as a tribute to Pekar and his celebration of everyday life and ordinary people.

The large crowd responded enthusiastically to each presenter, with lots of applause, laughter, and even a few tears. With their daughter Danielle by her side, Brabner spoke movingly of Pekar’s attachment to the library, concluding that theirs was a family  “that always believed a library card was more important than a charge card.”

Shaker Heights resident Samantha Baskind, a professor of art history at Cleveland State University and editor of the anthology The Jewish Graphic Novel: Critical Approaches, had been looking forward to the event for some time. “I got a babysitter so I could be here today,” she said, smiling broadly.

Heights Libraries Director Nancy Levin summed up the program this way: “We all miss Harvey. But with this tribute and the statue, it’s like he’s back with us.” “

“Ordinary life is pretty complex stuff,” said author and comics pioneer Harvey Pekar.

Heights Libraries and the Friends of the Heights Libraries will be honoring Pekar, the ordinary and complex son of Cleveland, with a Literary Landmark plaque and statue dedication ceremony on Sunday, October 14, at 2 p.m. at the Lee Road branch of Heights Libraries. The event, “Harvey Pekar: A Literary, Library Life,” will include a presentation by JT Waldman, the artist who collaborated with Pekar on his posthumously published graphic novel, Not the Israel My Parents Promised Me.

The Literary Landmark plaque was funded by the Friends and presented to Heights Libraries by the Association of Library Trustees, Advocates, Friends and Foundations, to honor and recognize Pekar’s special relationship with the library system. “That library was Harvey’s first love and second home,” says Brabner. The statue is being created by local sculptor Justin Coulter with funds raised by Brabner last year through a Kickstarter campaign that raised $38,000.

Pekar’s relationship with the library is a big part of Not the Israel My Parents Promised Me. The book’s illustrator, JT Waldman, met Pekar in 2005 and gave him a copy of his first graphic novel, Megillat Esther, a retelling of the biblical story of Esther. Pekar liked the book so much he invited Waldman to illustrate Not the Israel. The collaboration began in 2008 and included trips to the Lee Road branch of Heights Libraries, which is featured in the book.

Waldman continued working on the book after Pekar’s death in 2010.  “Finishing the book without Harvey over the last two years was heavy,” says Waldman. “I missed my collaborator and friend, and I was drawing him every day, so it was a particularly bizarre process of mourning and creativity.”

Waldman continues, “Although Harvey cultivated a curmudgeon character on screen and in print, the man himself was quite kind and surprisingly encouraging. Harvey expressed complete faith in my creative vision and was always telling me to ‘do my thing.’ ”

Waldman’s talk at the Lee Road branch of Heights Library will focus on his collaboration with Pekar and the role the library played in their research for the book.

“My Pekar years were full of crazy amounts of joy and sadness, and taught me a lot about the type of person and artist that I am. I was lucky to be in the graces of a comics legend and be given the opportunity to be myself and represent another person through comics. I trust that Harvey would be proud of the way the book turned out,” says Waldman.

The event is free and open to the public. Copies of the book will be for sale and light refreshments will be served. The Lee Road branch is located at 2345 Lee Road in Cleveland Heights. For more information call 216.932.3600 or visit www.heightslibrary.org. For more information on JT Waldman, visit www.jtwaldman.com.

Heights Libraries has become part of a small movement with big potential: Little Free Libraries.

Little Free Libraries are just that — small, dollhouse-like structures containing books for people to borrow or exchange. The concept is similar to those “take a penny, leave a penny” bowls you see by cash registers. If you take a book, bring another book to replace it. Or just return it. They are located on yards, tree lawns, street corners– just about anywhere they can fit.

Heights Libraries will be putting up three Little Free Libraries in the Cleveland Heights-University Heights community over the next few months. The project is yet another way for Heights Libraries to encourage reading and literacy, and encourage members of the community to engage with one another.

“Little Free Libraries are a great way to get people excited about books and talking about them at the neighborhood level,” says Heights Libraries Special Projects Coordinator Sam Lapides. “The people who live in Cleveland Heights and University Heights are passionate about reading and literacy, and also  passionate about their neighborhoods, so this project fits in to our community  perfectly.”

A big part of the charm of the Heights Little Free Library is the little library itself. Built by Cleveland Heights business Silsby Stained Glass and Woodworking, who donated the labor and used mostly recycled materials, the roughly 3’ x 3’structure brings to mind an elegant dollhouse, with solid wooden walls and real roof tiles to keep books dry and snug in all kinds of weather, and elegant leaded glass doors that invite the community to “Take a Book, Leave a Book.” In an age of eBooks and online communication, the Little Free Library is refreshingly low-tech.

“Now we just need homes for them,” says Lapides. “We’re fortunate that there is a former children’s librarian who lives near the Noble branch, and she volunteered to be a steward for the very first one, which is located on her tree lawn at the corner of Sylvania and Elmwood. She’ll work with Constance Dickerson, branch manager at Noble, to keep the box well stocked with gently used children’s and adult books that have been donated or weeded from our collection.”

According to the Google map created by the Little Free Library organization (www.littlefreelibrary.org), Ohio currently has five of the structures, including one in Cleveland on West 82^nd Street. Once installed, the Heights Libraries Little Free Library will be the second in Northeast Ohio, and will be submitted to the website for inclusion on the map.

“There are many exciting options for how we can use them,” says Lapides. “We can develop themes for each box depending on where they’re installed. We can create programming tie-ins. We can involve the community in new ways.”

The Cleveland Heights-University Heights Public Library is pleased to announce the appointment of its new Youth Services manager, Brian C. Hare, who replaces outgoing Youth Services Manager Susan Black, who retires this month after nearly 34 years with Heights Libraries.

“I am so grateful to have had the opportunity to be part of this library system,” says Black.  “I learned something new every day from my co-workers and my customers.  I will miss everyone. But I am looking forward to travel, adventures and family time in my retirement.”

Black began working at the Cleveland Heights-University Heights Public Library in 1978 as a Children’s Services Librarian for the University Heights branch. Since then, she helped the community raise a generation of babies by introducing them to the power of language and reading through her inspiring story times and programs at preschools. She also supported the implementation of many industry changes, from a card catalog to a computerized catalog system and photographic checkout to automated checkout; from vinyl records to CDs; from books to books on tape and Playaways and eBooks. Black has hired and mentored many talented staff, some of whom have been promoted to higher positions within and outside of the Heights system, including current Heights Library Director Nancy Levin. Black was promoted to Youth Services Manager in March 2011.

“The word ‘No’ was never in Susan’s vocabulary,” says Levin.  “When it came to customer service such as helping seniors with their mail or taking time to just listen to customers, Susan was always ready and willing to do whatever it took to make sure customers got what they needed. We will miss her.”

Black’s replacement, Brian C. Hare, who starts in early August, has six years of library experience including his most recent position as director of the Liberty Center Public Library in Liberty Center, OH, which is a small rural library located near Toledo. Hare has a bachelor’s of science in Visual Communications Technology with a focus in marketing from Bowling Green State University and a MLIS from the University of Pittsburgh.

Hare specializes in youth services and was instrumental in increasing both adult and youth programming and attendance in the communities. Before serving as director at Liberty Center, he was a teen specialist with the Wood County District Public Library and a law librarian for the Barco Law Library located in Pittsburgh, PA.

“I am very excited about getting to know the staff and community of Heights Libraries,” says Hare.  “It’s clear that the Library’s services very clearly reflect the interests and values of its patrons.”  Continues Hare, “I think technology will continue play an ever-increasing role in our communities and we need to figure out how it can be integrated into what we do with youth and young adults. My immediate goal is to understand how my department supports the quality, cutting-edge services and programming that lie at the heart of the Library.”