Overview
Selected as one of four branches in the first group engaged through the Community Vision Plan, South is an important component of CPL’s branch network. Located between the Tremont and Clark-Fulton neighborhoods, the South Branch serves a diverse community on Cleveland’s near west side.
Special Features
South Branch has a very large collection in Spanish of movies, fotonovelas, magazines, music, novels, and informational books, as well as a great selection of English language materials. Our programs are always free and open to the general public.
South Branch Relocation
First opened in 1897, the South Branch was initially located on the corner of Clark Avenue and Joseph Street (now known as Twinkie Lane) in a building rented by the library. But for most of the branch’s history, services were provided at the Carnegie South Branch building on Scranton Road. Completed in 1911, this building is one of only 15 Carnegie libraries built in Cleveland.
In response to concerns about building envelope deterioration and non-functioning mechanical systems, in 2012 CPL hired local architecture firm Westlake Reed Leskosky to conduct an assessment of the facility.
Read the South Branch Assessment completed by Westlake Reed Leskosky.
Due to the extensive repairs required to continue the building’s public use, the Carnegie South building was temporarily closed in March 2013. In the meantime, actions taken to discontinue further deterioration of the Carnegie building include:
- exterior wall repair,
- tuck pointing,
- a new roof,
- installation of flashing,
- scupper/downspout replacement,
- installation of new thru wall emergency scuppers,
- foundation waterproofing at the south wall, and
- the installation of portable dehumidifiers and heaters.
South Branch has been temporarily relocated to 2704 Clark Avenue. This bright and comfortable location has more computers and the types of materials, books, and collections most used by patrons at the South Branch. The vast and deep collection of the entire Cleveland Public Library is, as always, available to all.
Future intentions for the South Branch are still being considered and no decisions have been made by CPL regarding the Carnegie building.
Community Vision Plan
In 2014, CPL initiated the Community Vision Plan to gather the necessary input from library patrons to ensure that South and all branches will offer appropriate services by 2019.
Engagement Process
The South Branch visioning process includes three levels of engagement:
- Advisory Committee
- Stakeholder Focus Groups
- The Community At-Large
Advisory Committee
The South Branch Advisory Committee includes the following members, representing local residents, neighborhood organizations, CPL staff, and library patrons:
- Jaime Declet | Branch Manager, CPL South Branch
- Adam Gifford | SCFBC Neighborhood Development Office
- Trevor Hunt | Cleveland City Planning
- Dr. Irene Javier | Lincoln-West High School
- Rebecca Kempton | SCFBC Neighborhood Resident
- Mark Pratt | Tremont Neighborhood Resident
- Jeff Ramsey | SCFBC Neighborhood Development Office
- Cory Riordan | Tremont West Development Corporation
- Scott Rosenstein | Tremont West Development Corporation
- David Roth | Luis Muñoz Marin Elementary School
- Jesús Sanchez | Esperanza, Inc.
- CoCo Sharod | SCFBC Neighborhood Resident
- Sandy Smith | Tremont Neighborhood Resident
Stakeholder Focus Groups
The focus group sessions will serve to complement the larger public meetings and online survey. By directly targeting key stakeholders underrepresented during public meetings, the focus group sessions can ensure a diversity of voices are heard and documented.
The Community At-Large
In order to engage a broad spectrum of the South Branch community, the project includes public meetings and an online survey.
- South Branch Public Meetings:
Public Meeting 1 | Overview | December 1, 2014 > - Online Survey: Take the Online Survey >