Message to the community from Luren E. Dickinson:

Excitement is building for the “Community Entrepreneurial Office” or CEO. This new library project is funded through a State Library of Ohio Library Services and Technology Act grant. The purpose of the CEO is to provide office space, along with specialty office equipment, for small and family owned businesses.

Preparations are underway to furnish and equip the newly renovated space, which is located on the second floor of the Main Library adjacent to the Library’s new public Computer Center and Training Lab facilities. The CEO will have four full-size workstation cubicles with side chairs so that users can meet with and/or interview others, and there will be a small adjoining conference area for small group discussions. In addition, there will be six carrels with computers strictly for online use.

The CEO will provide many things that midsize and larger businesses might take for granted, such as fax machines, scanners, and printers, which might be beyond the reach of smaller businesses. The CEO services will include photocopying with its high quality color printer/copier, laminating, brochure folding, and banner printing. It is expected that everything will be in place in November.

The CEO will be enhanced by the Library’s partnership with Career Transition Center (CTC), a group of experienced vocational experts, who will not only help staff the CEO, but will also provide counseling, training, and networking opportunities for displaced workers. Through this cooperative arrangement, the CTC will have access to the resources of the CEO, the Library Training Lab, and a variety of library meeting rooms, which they will use to teach people job-searching skills.

Shaker Library and its South Shaker Neighborhood partners are fortunate to share in a new $67,000 grant through the MyCom youth initiative. This money will be used to support a variety of offerings from October 2011 through September 2012, including the library’s Homework Center during the school year and expanded Teen Center hours and programs next summer.

Library programs this month feature two meet-the-author programs at Woods Branch, a new morning needlework program at Main Library to complement the popular Knit Nights at Woods Branch, and a musical program at 2 p.m. Sunday, October 23, at Main Library. The Friends Fall Book Sale will be held October 13 – 16 on the Main Library second floor. The sale will feature a large collection of children’s books and some exceptional books on the Civil War, railroading, and fly fishing.

The Library continues its community outreach efforts through its participation in Family Connections’ Fall Fest and in the city’s October 19 Senior Health Fair. Our second program in a successful series cosponsored with the City Landmark Commission and the Cleveland Restoration Society, Caring for an Older Home, is set for 7 p.m. Wednesday, October 11, at Woods Branch.

We are proud to serve our community of readers and salute the city for its fine article about the library in the October/November issue of Shaker Life magazine. Read all about us in the magazine and online at www.shakerlibrary.org, take our survey at goo.gl/R9r2f, and then come visit us and take advantage of all the library has to offer you and your family.

Luren E. Dickinson, Director
dickinson@shakerlibrary.org

Photograph by Caydie Heller