Do you want to emboss your initials on champagne flutes for your wedding? Make your own toys? Engrave wooden coasters? Then 525 Superior Ave. is the place to go.
People can do all that and more at the TechCentral and MakerSpace at the main Cleveland Public Library. The library system offers classes on all sorts of computer topics at its neighborhood branches, but it’s the downtown space that really wows with its options for creating. You can bring your own materials or buy items from the library at cost.
TechCentral is on the lower level of the Louis Stokes Wing of the Cleveland Public Library downtown. The striking 10-story building, dedicated in 1997, honors the civil rights pioneer who was the first Black U.S. representative from Ohio. It sits east of the main building, next to the Eastman Reading Garden. (Linda Anne Eastman, director of the library from 1918 to 1938, was the first woman to run a major American library system.)
Stunning views of Lake Erie and downtown
A tunnel connects the Stokes Wing to the main building. Brightly colored tile in the Stokes lobby can light up any dreary Cleveland day. Take an elevator to the top floor, sit in a comfy chair and savor views of Lake Erie and Public Square. You can also look down the spiral staircase. The blue cylindrical air duct creates an optical illusion that almost makes it appear to float, calling to mind Hogwarts.
The sixth floor houses thousands of maps, charts, atlases and globes. The collection dates to 1884, when Trustee John G. White donated 122 maps.
The photograph collection on the fourth floor features 1.5 million local photographs from as far back as the 1850s.
Wonder what your house looked like in 1950?
On a recent tour conducted as part of Cleveland History Days, librarians Don Boozer and Mark Tidrick demonstrated how the collection works. A woman on the tour said she grew up on Grovewood Avenue in Collinwood. She gave the address and, within a minute, Tidrick produced a 1950s-era photo of a house next to the one where she grew up. The tour group ooohed and ahhed.
Tidrick said patrons can call or email librarians to request information. “Please bother us,” he said, adding that patrons can request information via email at photos@cpl.org.
Wonder what your house looked like in 1950?
Boozer loves to show off all that the library has to offer: chess sets, Superman memorabilia, best-selling books and 3D printers. “Everything in our collections is available for everyone,” he said. “You don’t need special research credentials. … The library truly has something for everyone.”
If your creative juices are flowing, check out Maker Mondays. The free, 1-hour workshops are held at 11 a.m. each Monday. No registration required. The library system offers a huge ranges of classes across its nearly 30 locations.
