A Library for Bohemians
By Mrs. Eleanor C. Ledbetter.
The Broadway Branch of the Cleveland Public Library is situated in the heart of the Bohemian section of the city, where it was erected upon petition of the residents of the neighborhood. Bohemian books had been in the library since 1897, and on request of Mr. William H. Brett, then librarian, funds for a branch building suitable to the needs of the neighborhood were contributed by Andrew Carnegie. This building, which is French Rennaissance in style, of red brick and stone, cost, with the furnishings, $53,000, and was opened for use in January, 1906.
Broadway Branch, Cleveland Public Library
There are three reading rooms, one for children and 2 for adults; one of those for adults contains only English books, the other shelves books in Bohemian, Polish, and other languages. The city library system contains books in twenty-three modern languages, and eighteen different languages have been circulated from the Broadway Branch.
During the busy winter months it is visited daily by from eight hundred to one thousand persons, while on Saturdays the average number of visitors is over twelve hundred. The stone doorstep, worn half through, has long borne eloquent witness to these figures.
About sixty-five per cent of these visitors are Bohemian people, and their American born children and grandchildren. At the beginning of the war, the library contained over four thousand Bohemian books, carefully chosen to constitute an excellent representation of Bohemian literature. It was especially rich in folk-lore and romance, as is suitable in a neighborhood where most of the reading is for recreational purposes. The books were ordered directly from Prague, and in quality of type, paper, binding and general attractiveness are much superior to the average American or English publication. The best literary experts of the neighborhood assisted in the choice of titles and the editorial staffs of the Bohemian newspapers rendered particularly valuable help. “Zlatá Praha”, “Světozor”, “Národní Listy” and other European publications were received regularly until the fall of 1914.
