CLEVELAND, Ohio – The circulation desk that once greeted patrons at the South branch of the Cleveland Public Library was so tall and bulky that librarians called it “the battleship.”

“It was difficult especially for children,” said branch manager Jaime Declet. “When you have a desk that’s so high, sometimes all you could see was the top of their fingers.”

The battleship and other unfriendly touches at the South branch, 3096 Scranton Road in Tremont, are gone.

A $4.1 million renovation completed last winter has turned the 108-year-old, Gothic Revival-style library into a light-filled jewel box.

The branch is equipped with computers, a recording studio full of musical instruments and a children’s area with a floor-level Hobbit-hole entry along with a regular doorway for grownups.

Harbinger of what’s to come

The Cleveland library system, which is celebrating its 150th anniversary this year, views the revitalization not as a stand-alone project but as a harbinger of something bigger.

It’s embarking this fall on a 10-year, $100 million-plus master plan to renew all 27 neighborhood branches, followed by a $65 million renovation of the Main Library downtown.

The goal is to turn the system’s existing buildings into what Director Felton Thomas calls “the next generation of libraries.”

“We’re not rebuilding the library that was, we’re building the library that should be for the future,” he said.

Upcoming phases of work

On Thursday, the library’s board of trustees plans to appoint architects for five of the first six projects in the $39.3 million Phase 1A of the master plan, to be completed by 2024.

Phase 1A will include new buildings for the Hough and Walz branches, plus renovated buildings for the Woodland, West Park and Jefferson libraries.

The expansion and renovation of the Woodland branch at 5806 Woodland Ave. will be accompanied by an adjacent, 20,000-square-foot central distribution facility that will replace the existing facility off East 185th Street in North Collinwood.

Phase 1A also includes construction of a new Martin Luther King Jr. branch on Euclid Avenue east of East 105th Street in University Circle, on which the library will spend $10.1 million.

The library board last year chose the New York architecture firm of So-IL to design that branch, in partnership with Cleveland architect Jonathan Kurtz.

The branch will be built as the ground-level portion of a five- to 10-story apartment building to be built above it by Midwest Development Partners, which will contribute more than $5 million to the branch, said Jeremiah Swetel, the library system’s chief of operations.

The design of the combined project should be ready for review by city agencies this fall, he said.

In a similar fashion, the Walz branch, at 7910 Detroit Ave., will be demolished and replaced by a more accessible one-story, $6.8 million facility that will serve as the ground level of a combined structure with a new apartment building on top.

The Detroit Shoreway Community Development Organization is planning to build a 40- to 80-unit affordable apartment building for seniors above the new branch, said Anya Kulscar, director of real estate development at the agency. The combined project will cost an estimated $16 million, she said.

Phase 1B of the library system’s project, also unfolding over the next five years, will cost $22.4 million.

It will involve new buildings for the Memorial-Nottingham, Rockport and Mount Pleasant branches, plus renovations and expansions for the Sterling, Lorain, Brooklyn and Eastman branches.

Phase 2 of the library project will involve $40 million in improvements for the remaining branches in the Cleveland system, taking place between 2024 and 2029.

At that point, the library plans to embark on an estimated $65 million renewal project for the Main Library and the Stokes Wing, located at 325 and 525 Superior Ave., respectively.

Public support for Cleveland libraries

Funding for the new or renovated branches is coming from bonds issued by the library, backed by revenues from a 2-mill increase in the library’s property tax levy. Voters approved the increase in 2017 by a 69% margin.

The levy increase — which came on top of the existing 5.8-mill library levy — has added $35 a year in property taxes to a house in the city with an assessed value of $50,000.

The library system hasn’t yet identified how it will fund the revitalization of the Main Library after 2029, Swetel said.

Backstory at South branch

The renovation of the South branch shows how the library system will pursue all future projects.

The branch, built in 1911, was designed by New York architect Henry Whitfield, brother-in-law of steel tycoon Andrew Carnegie, who paid for the library as one of nearly 1,700 public libraries he built across America.

Resembling a Gothic-style castle, the building had undergone modifications over the years including the “battleship” circulation desk and roof repairs that covered the big octagonal skylight over the main reading room to prevent leaks.

The library system had to shut the branch suddenly in 2013 when its heating system failed.

It relocated services to a temporary branch while designers from Kent State University’s Cleveland Urban Design Collaborative surveyed the community on what to do next.

Everything was on the table, including closing and selling the building and replacing it with a new one.

Residents in Tremont and the adjacent Clark-Fulton neighborhood were adamant: They wanted the South branch preserved and renovated.

“When they realized this building was at risk, they really spoke out, and it was powerful," said architect Peter Bolek of Cleveland-based HBM Architects, the firm eventually chosen to design the renovation.

The ensuing project included restoration of the building’s woodwork and plaster ornamentation, plus installation of LED lights above the big central skylight, creating luminosity without the high expense of a full restoration.

The renovation also includes glass-enclosed quiet study rooms for adults, colorful carpeting and easily movable furniture, ample computer areas for adults and teens, and a big central seating area with sight lines that allow librarians to see across the entire interior at a glance.

An addition behind the building provided a wheelchair-accessible entry and a large community meeting room.

Bespoke solutions for all branches

Renovated buildings in the Cleveland system will incorporate similar features. New buildings will emphasize access and transparency with glassy facades connecting one-story interiors to the surrounding community.

The library system has conducted extensive public outreach in order to create its master plan. As it embarks on each of the individual new projects, residents will continue to have a big say, Swetel said.

The goal is to create something unique for each neighborhood.

“Every different library is going to have its own story,” Thomas said. “I’m really excited about what each of them will bring.”