Libraries
Anisfield-Wolf Book Awards Collection Unveiled at Cleveland Public Library
Andrew Venable & Stephen Carter
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The first-ever complete Anisfield-Wolf Book Awards Collection was unveiled at a ceremony on June 16, 2003 at the Cleveland Public Library.
Cleveland Foundation program director Kathleen Cerveny, library director Andrew Venable and 2003 award winner Stephen L. Carter unveiled the 150-plus book collection, marking the first time all the winning books have been brought together in one permanent location.
Andrew Venable and Stephen Carter Cerveny noted the appropriateness in establishing the collection at the Cleveland Public Library, as Edith Anisfield Wolf, the awards founder actively worked to ensure that the library had books from all cultures.
Carter spoke passionately about the written word and significance of the Anisfield-Wolf Book Awards collection. He said that while this is an exceptional collection of influential works, including many personal favorites, the mere existence of the works – the words, permanently placed on paper – is as important as the messages they carry. The value of books and libraries, he noted, should not be lost in this age of the Internet and fleeting experiences with a written work.
To end the ceremony, Carter and Venable, pictured at right, added Carter's The Emperor of Ocean Park to the Anisfield-Wolf Book Awards Collection.
The official Anisfield-Wolf Book Collection is housed in the Special Collections room of the Cleveland Public Library. The collection features rare and first edition copies of many of these significant texts and offers copies for public borrowing. Although many of these compositions are now out of print, the Cleveland Public Library has assured that, whether for research or personal enjoyment, future generations will have access to the best that the literary world has to offer on the subject of diversity. The Cleveland Public Library’s Unique Collections can be viewed at http://cpl.org/collection-connection.asp.
Additional Anisfield-Wolf Book Awards and Cleveland Public Library resources can be found at http://www.ohiocenterforthebook.org.
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