On behalf of the entire Cuyahoga County Public Library (CCPL) family, I want to thank county residents for their support during an incredibly difficult year. Our gratitude is truly heartfelt. Two-thousand-twenty brought unprecedented hardships, but our community still came together to support Issue 70, CCPL’s first ballot issue in 12 years. The passage of Issue 70 means we can look forward to providing you with the exceptional service you deserve and expect from our top-rated public library system.

Thank you!

Our 2020 annual report is a time capsule of sorts, documenting a very challenging year in CCPL’s history – and the most challenging year many of us have ever experienced. Our ability to innovate and adapt to the needs of our communities was tested. When we closed our doors last spring as a precaution against the spread of COVID-19 it was a necessary, but painful, decision. In the months that followed our staff members worked behind the scenes to reinvent our service delivery and create a thoughtful, responsible plan for a phased reopening. By June we were offering curbside and drive-through service. By July we were able to re-open our branches at limited capacity. Our road to reopening was a challenging journey at times, but I am proud of how our organization responded and kept its focus on exceptional library service.

This report looks back on the positives from a year most of us might like to forget. It is all here, from the good work we accomplished to help raise blood donations during a time of critical need, to the investments we made to help more county residents connect to the internet, to the community dialogue we facilitated on social justice, to the many innovative ways we adapted our programs and services to meet our community’s needs.

None of us ever want to experience another year like 2020, but there were many moments we can look back on now with pride. I have no doubt that we are a stronger, more resilient organization today because of the adversity we experienced. We proved to ourselves and to our community that “as your needs change, we change,” is more than just a slogan. It is a promise that we deliver on.