Abstract

In this 2025 interview, East Cleveland native and Executive Director of the East Cleveland Public Library, Mr. Carlos Latimer, reflects on his childhood in the city during a period of thriving schools, recreational facilities, and dense family-centered neighborhoods. He describes the educational path that included Shaw High School, followed by college and an early career at the Cleveland Public Library, where he gained administrative experience and later pursued a master’s degree in library science. Latimer explains the library’s evolving mission, emphasizing expanded technology access, early literacy, performing arts programming, and social-service functions that fill gaps left by the absence of other local nonprofits. He details partnerships with the school district, Tri-C, and the Cuyahoga Land Bank, as well as the library’s role as a trusted institutional anchor during periods of economic decline and demographic change.

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Interviewee

Latimer, Carlos (interviewee)

Interviewer

Mays, Nicholas S. (interviewer)

Project

East Cleveland

Date

10-9-2025

Document Type

Oral History

Duration

60 minutes

Transcript

Nick Mays [00:00:00] Okay. My name is Dr. Nicholas Mays and today is October 9, 2025. We are here at the East Cleveland Public Library. For the East Cleveland Oral History Project, I am joined by Mr. Carlos Latimer, Executive director of the East Cleveland Public Library. In this conversation, we will explore both his personal journey and the story and the. [00:00:26] In this conversation, we’ll explore both his personal journey and the story of the library as a cornerstone of civic life, education and programming in East Cleveland. Welcome, Mr. Latimer. How you doing?

Carlos Latimer [00:00:40] Great. Thank you. Thank you for having me.

Nick Mays [00:00:43] So can we please begin with your name, date of birth and age?

Carlos Latimer [00:00:48] My name is Carlos Latimer. My date of birth is […] 1964. I am 61 years old.

Nick Mays [00:00:57] Mr. Latimer, my first question is I’ve been in East Cleveland for a couple of months now and what I’ve learned in my research and in my discussions and just being in the city is that the East Cleveland Public Library is one of the most or is the most respected and trusted institutions in East Cleveland. [00:01:24] Can you speak to that?

Carlos Latimer [00:01:26] Absolutely. Being the executive director of East Cleveland Public Library, we are in an information age and just being in the center of the city of East Cleveland during a time when our community there’s so much need for information, resources, support. I look at us as a progressive library system, not only offering traditional services, which we all know is books reference information, but we go beyond to meet our community where their needs are technology. [00:02:01] We invest in our infrastructure around high speed Internet, the latest gadgets, technology and computers. We have a makerspace which allows individuals to be creative. Our children’s space is very innovative with touchscreen monitors for our children to reach their highest level of literacy, including having fun in the library. We have partnerships with the Cleveland Food bank to offer services of food to those that need it. [00:02:36] We also have a creative print center because there’s no Kinkos or FedEx or operations that offer print services. We offer those services at a reduced count to meet the community where they’re. So we do a lot here and it’s very well received in our community. One thing that makes us different, we have a performing arts center where we’re able to do bring performing arts to our city and we get support From Cleveland Foundation KeyBank that all supports those initiatives.

Nick Mays [00:03:11] So you brought up services and programming. What about the trust? Where do you think that trust comes from?

Carlos Latimer [00:03:21] The trust comes from the top on down. East Cleveland Public Library is a school district public library where our trustees are appointed from the school board. So we are a Political subdivision in the state of Ohio. And the school board is our taxing authority. So they appoint our trustees. It’s unpaid, it’s volunteer, those who want to be part of the library. [00:03:45] And our trustees set the tone. They’re very easy to work with. They understand our mission and our vision. They understand the community that we serve. They’re over the physical director and me the executive director. So we work closely with them for our expenditures, to set our appropriations. But what we have done for this community is we make sure every dollar is valued and is reached within the community and the services that we provide. [00:04:17] So. So I think our community, they see that. They trust that we’re doing the right thing. When you come into our building, it’s a high level of customer service, and it starts from the top, which is very important to me, that we greet everyone. When we see someone just roaming around, we make sure that they. [00:04:37] For a reason they come here, whether to direct them to the restroom or information or. Or some other resource or service that they need. So it’s top down, and we take pride in that.

Nick Mays [00:04:51] Thank you. Mr. Latimer, can you tell me about growing up in East Cleveland, your family neighborhood, what it was like as a kid growing up?

Carlos Latimer [00:05:02] Actually, I am. Was born in East Cleveland, attended East Cleveland school district in the late. Can you say that statement one more time? Gotta remember what I’m saying. Yeah, yeah. Okay. So I was. I was born and raised in East Cleveland, Ohio. I attended the East Cleveland school district during a time when the community was a lot different than it is today. [00:05:27] One of the major things was the children were the dominant culture in the community. You would see children at the parks when schools let out on every street. There was always activities, there was always things to do. At the time, we had swimming pools, tennis courts. There were three libraries in the community. [00:05:47] There was a YMCA in this community. And there were multiple schools from high school, middle school, and a bunch of elementary schools. So you never really saw adults because all the parents were either at work or they were volunteering in the community. Everyone knew everyone from blocks and streets. Everyone would ride bikes from winter, summer. [00:06:11] There was always something to do. So coming up in that community, it’s a community that I remember, but it’s not the same community that we currently exist in today.

Nick Mays [00:06:24] Can you talk about where your family originated from? If it’s from the south, you know, what state did they come from? You know, as, you know, there was, you know, huge. The great Migration, as historians call it, with African Americans leaving the south anywhere from after the Civil War, reconstruction, you know, on up. [00:06:51] Where’s your family originally from? And when did your. When did your people first moved to Ohio?

Carlos Latimer [00:07:01] Okay, yeah. My parents came from upstate New York, Catskills, New York. From there they had migrated from the south to upstate New York, then from upstate New York to East Cleveland, Ohio in the 60s, where we parents ended up purchasing a home. And this is kind of where we lived all the way up until early 80s. [00:07:28] We left East Cleveland, I took off and I did graduate from Shaw High School, attended college locally, David Myers College, ended up taking a position with Cleveland Public Library, where I gained all of my experience working in libraries. Going into the field was a lot of my experiences in East Cleveland, because East Cleveland Public Library, the north branch, was where I grew up as a kid was introduced to literacy and reading and programming. [00:08:00] On top of right around the corner on Shaw High School, we had basketball courts, tennis courts, swimming pools. So there was a multitude of opportunities when we grew up here in East Cleveland when we were small.

Nick Mays [00:08:15] Can you recall? Thank you for that. Can you recall why your family moved from or not moved from or left the state of New York, but why they moved to East Cleveland? Did you have family in East Cleveland or Cleveland?

Carlos Latimer [00:08:33] That’s a great question. I never got the answers, but I believe it was during a time when job opportunities in Northeast Ohio. We come from two parents working at the time they were employed. East Cleveland was considered an upper middle class community at that time. So it was. We were moving up within, you know, the family. [00:09:01] You know, we had other family members that moved into East Cleveland as well.

Nick Mays [00:09:05] Okay, good. Thank you for that. You, you mentioned you graduated from Shaw High School. Can you tell me what year you graduated from Shaw High School? But I want you to start at the beginning of, you know, from the first school you started in East Cleveland all the way to Shaw High School.

Carlos Latimer [00:09:30] So growing up in East Cleveland, my earliest memory of education was Chambers Elementary School. It was a very diverse school at the time. I remember as a kindergarten first grader, there were black and white children in our classrooms. But as we moved up through the grade level, it became predominantly African American. I think by the time we reached fifth grade. [00:09:58] At that time, East Cleveland did a small redistricting. My street had to go to Prospect Elementary School, which is behind the current Shaw High School right now. So graduating from Prospect Elementary School, which was Pre K through 6, we moved to middle school, which is over behind Forest Hill Park. That was seventh and eighth. [00:10:22] At middle school, I had the opportunity to participate in sports and also play in the band. So I was a very busy child. Never really had time to really get in trouble because there was always things to do.

Nick Mays [00:10:39] What year did you graduate from Shaw High School? And can you talk about your experience at Shaw?

Carlos Latimer [00:10:45] Okay. I was graduated of shaw High School, 1982. It was a time when there was a lot of student population in the district. I believe my class had 900 students. So it was a place where, as a ninth grader, you just go up there and get lost. Just a lot of kids with a lot of programs. [00:11:11] Teachers was very connected. They were you. You felt them watching you, every move. They protected you. They steered you in the right direction. They encouraged you to participate in some levels of activity. Basketball was my thing at that time in the ninth grade. But academics was very important. There were so many different career choices, from vocational to academics to the arts. [00:11:41] Wherever you felt that where you belong is kind of the direction that you move through. So it was a great experience educationally at Shaw. Socially, it was just, you know, it had its old segment of the cool kids, and you had the academia kids and you had the arts. So it was very fluid at the time. [00:12:05] But everyone got along. Everyone respected each other. It was a great time.

Nick Mays [00:12:14] So in my research, I found that historically, there’s been a pride about, you know, East Cleveland coming up. In East Cleveland, even today, can you. Can you reflect on or talk about the pride of being in or living in East Cleveland in the days you were coming up?

Carlos Latimer [00:12:35] Okay, yeah. One thing about East Cleveland, I always reinforce that there was a lot of children, so everybody was very connected with each other. So which means there was a whole other level of family. So we always looked at each other as cousins across outside of the city of East Cleveland. So within East Cleveland, we’re just, you know, East Cleveland residents. [00:12:56] But outside, even in other states, there’s that connection that this is family. Even today, you have every year, I believe it started in the 90s. They do the annual All Shaw graduation At Forrest Hill park, where many of us grew up. It’s a comfort zone and safe space for everyone. So whether you still live in the community or you moved outside, everyone looks forward to that Labor Day weekend to come out and just have a good time and see their classmates, see the children that they grew up with on their streets, and also network and just have positive moments.

Nick Mays [00:13:44] I did attend this year. I’ve never seen anything like that. And, you know, I was able to. To chat with people, engage people, talk to people who are willing to engage me Back and just kind of talk about why, you know, they were at the picnic. And you know, I learned that folks come every year, folks come from, you know, Idaho and wherever they at Chicago to come back that weekend and how important it is and significance to the community. [00:14:23] I’ve been asking all of our interviewees about the Shah reunion and you just brought it up. In fact, I have a question later on, but I guess we’ll just kind of talk about it right now. What is it about that, about Shaw, that this reunion became almost like an entity, you know, a holiday event.

Carlos Latimer [00:14:54] It’s hard to explain, but it just organically happens. When you have children over decades who and their children and families who are connected within the city of East Cleveland. Back in the day, there was never any reason to leave the city of East Cleveland. There was car dealerships, there was banks, there was grocery stores, bowling alleys. [00:15:15] All of the amenities and quality of life things were in this community. I, and you know, my classmates and the children that I grew up in the community, we had the opportunity to experience a lot of those positive things. But on the flip side of all of that, being a close knit community, the first suburb of Cleveland, having our own police department, school district, independent, there was a lot of trauma that we all experienced together too. [00:15:45] So people coming together, especially people of our culture, some of that could be trauma bonding as well. When you look at mental and psychological as you grow up, you kind of always go back to your childhood. And those experiences, whether they’re positive and negative, is kind of what we, how we are built. [00:16:08] There was a lot of tragedies that happened. There was tragedy within the, the students, the children within the school district, within our own streets that were murdered, come up missing. As the crack cocaine era came in during the late 70s, early 80s, we experienced not only some of our bad choices, of those who chose to make a lot of money, who were institutionalized through the prison system, or those who murder who didn’t come out of that. [00:16:45] The displacement of families, dysfunction of families that happen because of drug abuse. So there’s a lot of connection through the early generations of, I would say the 80s, 70s, 80s where there was those positive experiences, then you have the 80s and 90s where things kind of decline. So I look at a lot of that as the trauma bonding as well. [00:17:10] But collectively it just created a stronger community, whether those who stayed or those who moved out.

Nick Mays [00:17:19] One more question and we’ll pivot out of your childhood and youth. When you look back, what lessons or values from growing up are still with you today or guide your work today?

Carlos Latimer [00:17:37] Yeah. What’s always important? You know, people always ask me because they look at the negative. You know, you’ve had a successful career in library science. You could have went anywhere in the country. You worked at some of the bigger, better, high paying library systems. Why did you come to East Cleveland? There’s always some, there’s always a connection and there’s always always looking out for the next person, always taking your skill set, taking your sensitivity, taking your understanding and serving people who need you. [00:18:12] We all are aware of the changes that has happened in the community and no one else is going to come save our community unless we, you know, tap into people who have an understanding. Those who are fortunate to have came out of there and have a decent life and bring resources need to come back and give those children and adults and seniors, give them opportunities as well.

Nick Mays [00:18:42] Wow. Thank you. So we’ll pivot now. And I want to talk about a little bit about post. You graduate from Shaw and then you enter college or the university. How or excuse me, after graduating from Shaw, what was your path? College, early jobs or experiences that shaped you?

Carlos Latimer [00:19:13] Yeah, it’s kind of interesting too because when I grew up in East Cleveland, I already had my mind that I was going to attend college. I knew I wanted to work in some type of government, government entity or some type of agency. I always had in my mind I wanted to be city manager of the city of East Cleveland. [00:19:31] And because I used to see the city manager drive around in the car, he had this big light that would just light up on the children and families being very visible. So I took an understood government, civic. So I majored in public administration. My goal was to work in a local, municipality or state level or maybe federal government. [00:20:00] However, I took a part time job working in the Cleveland Public Library where I had the opportunity to go into marketing and promoting. Because I had a passion for marketing and promotions as well. So they asked me to help market the summer reading club to Cleveland school district. So my goal was to to hit every school within certain branch regions and promote reading among young people. [00:20:24] Those numbers just took off. Cleveland Public Library offered me a full time position, gradually moved up and I was in management within three years. That gave me the opportunity to get a master’s of library science degree. I couldn’t not take on an opportunity to get a free master’s degree. So I took that opportunity and from there I was administration. [00:20:52] I was over all of the branches within the city of Cleveland. I had the opportunity to work on Levies do a lot of things that my skill set that allowed me to. I moved up to one of the highest level administrative positions. Then I decided to step out of library science to do some other things. [00:21:18] And then I ended up coming back to East Cleveland Public Library part time, then knowing the director’s position was going to open up.

Nick Mays [00:21:28] Where did you do your undergrad and where did you graduate?

Carlos Latimer [00:21:31] Okay. I did my undergraduate at Myers College. It’s a small business school that no longer exists. It’s been annexed, and everything has been taken through Cleveland State University. I did my master’s of library science at Kent State University and I did some certificates of leadership at Howard and at Cleveland State University.

Nick Mays [00:21:51] When you graduated high school, did you move out of East Cleveland or did you. Had you already moved out before you graduated with your family?

Carlos Latimer [00:22:01] No, we graduated from high school, then we moved out a couple years later. I was already in college at the time.

Nick Mays [00:22:12] What ultimately brought you back to East Cleveland? Well, let me ask this. Do you. Do you currently live in East Cleveland?

Carlos Latimer [00:22:21] No, I do not currently live in East Cleveland.

Nick Mays [00:22:24] What, was there a moment that you realized, I want to give back to the city that I was born or, excuse me, that I was raised in.

Carlos Latimer [00:22:37] I always indirectly knew I would come back to East Cleveland Public Library to work. I always indirectly follow the activities, things that would happen during tough times here in East Cleveland. There was financial issues with the library system. They did have a moment where there was support from the Cleveland foundation and help building the performing arts center and also the Deborah and November children’s area. [00:23:07] There was always challenges getting funding in East Cleveland because of the bond rating. We couldn’t do additional levies, can’t do bond issues. So this library had always had to be grassroots and trying to secure funding. I knew I would come back here based on the skill set, the relationships I had established through Ohio, through Cleveland Park, Ohio Library Council, American Library Association. [00:23:32] So just. It was always fluid with never any stability. So in the back of my mind, during my career path, I knew my pathway would be here in East Cleveland to help stabilize the system. Which two, three years in, when everyone counted this library out, looking at closure, possibly annexation and regionalization, the East Cleveland Public Library came out of that during the pandemic. [00:24:01] It hit five star, the highest rankings for small library in the country, and we were ranked number 10 in the entire United States for small libraries. Wow.

Nick Mays [00:24:11] Congratulations. And I’ll just restate that question. What moment did you realize I want to contribute to the city that. That raised me? Okay, You know, I’m gonna, I’m gonna ask this question. I didn’t see it here for, for a moment, but I’ll ask because I think this is a really good question. Did you ever imagine as a student, young, young kid, you know, coming up, that you’ll be leading one of the key institutions in your own time?

Carlos Latimer [00:24:50] Yes. I remember at Shaw High School being in the. I forget which careers it was law careers. And I wasn’t the best student when it came to legal and the law classes. Actually, Shaw High School went on to win the legal award for the state of Ohio. For students, it’s just like a mock trial contest. [00:25:15] But I never participated. And one of the teachers, she came to me and said, you know, you’re a very bright kid. You didn’t participate, but I think you’re going to really be a great leader one day. And that kind of always touched me about the path that I would choose. I was thinking more politically. [00:25:34] However, since I had already gained so many skill sets within the library world, I did have in my mind that I would will come back to East Cleveland to lead this institution at some capacity.

Nick Mays [00:25:48] Thank you. Thank you for that. Well, pivot again. I want to talk about leadership and the library’s mission. First question, how would you describe the mission of the East Cleveland Public Library both historically and in your time during your tenure as executive director?

Carlos Latimer [00:26:12] The mission of East Cleveland Public Library has always initially been about providing access to books and information and early literacy during the changes, how the world has changed with technology. One of the things that I had the opportunity was to increase my skill set around technology. Also have an understanding of how important early literacy is, but also through my experiences around programming. [00:26:46] Most people in urban communities, traditional library services, they will walk right by your community because although we’re an extension of schools, you have to have an understanding that the children that come through here, they’re exhausted when they’re at school. A lot of them do have some challenges, so when they come out of school, they’re looking for a break. [00:27:07] But somehow you have to find a way to massage and navigate education around learning. So one of the first things I reinforced was early literacy. Change out our children’s space, make it very welcoming for the children, programming, doing activities and things that they like, but incorporate some literacy based learning activities and also technology. [00:27:36] Knowing our community is behind in regards to the Internet because they don’t have access to. Everything is online now, applications just to get a job at McDonald’s, credit card just to pay your bills. And we are what 20 years in on the Internet and we’re still doing literacy based technology programs around using a mouse, using Windows now when the world has moved to apps. [00:28:06] So our technology program is very fluid as well, from the beginner all the way to the advanced. So we have to be kind of creative and trying to go too far, cutting edge. We just have to remember where our patrons are. We have to be very fluid with our mission, be very fluid, flexible on around our goals, very sympathetic and empathetic to the community and where they are as well. [00:28:34] So you never know who’s going to walk in the door in East Cleveland. Someone you know looking for some archives. Remember this is the first community, a suburb of city of Cleveland. Millionaires lived in this community. Now East Cleveland has a population, some of the poorest families and individuals in the entire United States States.

Nick Mays [00:28:57] Can you expand on that? So one of the things that again in my research and from my interpretation and kind of looking at what the library offers in terms of resources and programming, it seems to me that the East Cuban Public Library is doing some of the work or the programming that typically non profits would do in cities and CDCs and other non profit organizations and like that. [00:29:40] And obviously for the most part East Cleveland doesn’t have those entities right now. And so it seems like the Cleveland Public Library is actually doing it. That’s my interpretation. Can you speak to that?

Carlos Latimer [00:29:52] Yeah, that interpretation is very accurate. Because the lack of resources in the community from organizations that provide services to individuals that help out to physical resources. We have to be very strategic in making sure we’re leveraging the lives of our individuals in regards to having some of the basic things like after school some of our children won’t get a meal. [00:30:25] So we have that relationship with the Cleveland Food Bank. We know a lot of our community members when they leave the library, they do not have access to the Internet. So we have a robust collection of hotspots that we provide dollars for, which is a very expensive resource. So they can take that hotspot, check it out, have Internet at their home for two weeks, the Creative Print Center. [00:30:53] Also those who can’t afford things to print that they need our copying services, the computer services as well. But having a space where we have to invest in our infrastructure to make sure our H Vac is. The building is cool in the summertime and warm in the wintertime. There’s so many families that don’t have basic heat, running water nor air conditioning, which is a luxury in their homes because it’s an old infrastructure of housing that exists in this community. [00:31:29] So they see us so beyond. You know, we offer passport, which is, you know, we do get community members outside to come in and get their passport, but we want to encourage them to see the world differently, to visit. Voter registration happens here. We offer free notary to our community members as well. [00:31:49] That’s a new service that we offer. Most libraries don’t. The arts and the crafts that we invest in for activities, they take those things home. There’s pride with those things that they make here, and they put it up in their homes. And sometimes you can see the photos on social media and see the pride. [00:32:07] I did these things at the East Public Library during the summer. We do our Founders Day. We do our back to school event. We do line dancing outdoors. Those activities are very festive. You know, a lot of our children will never make it to Cedar Point, let alone Disney World. We create that same ambiance when we do programming outdoors. [00:32:28] So it’s a big deal when they come to East Cleveland Public Library.

Nick Mays [00:32:33] Wow. Fascinating. Beautiful thing. Yeah, it’s just amazing. So inspiring. Can you talk about. I think I was here a couple days before the back to school event. Can you talk about the event this year? But just how long have you been. How long have you been doing it? What inspired you guys to do it?

Carlos Latimer [00:32:55] Yeah, the back to school event is something that we expanded on. It’s always something that the East Cleveland Public Library will provide to the community based on resources. The expenditures to make that happen, of course, school supplies, book bags, all of those things cost money. Also, we had to really put our aggressive asking onto sponsorships and donors. [00:33:25] And we have a great group called the Friends of the East Cleveland Public Library to raise dollars to purchase book bags and school supplies and all of those things. We have a deep partnership with the East Cleveland school District, who also allow for expenditures to use to support that. This year it was a great partnership where the students were able to pick up their assignments for the school year. [00:33:52] During our back to school event, we had many sponsors. It was great food, it was great activities. It was a dj. It’s well received and expected by our community members.

Nick Mays [00:34:03] Now, how long have you been doing it?

Carlos Latimer [00:34:05] We’ve been doing it at least the last seven years. It’s gotten better each year.

Nick Mays [00:34:13] Can you. Can you talk about your. Your role in the community? Obviously here, when folks walk in with the services and the programming and the things that you have here. But what about your collaborations or partnerships with schools or other institutions outside of the library?

Carlos Latimer [00:34:34] Yeah, in East Cleveland. Okay. Yeah. Being the director of the East Cleveland Library, again, it’s a very fluid position. I have to make sure that from top on down that we’re delivering the 40 hours that we’re open during the week, everything is functioning correctly. The staff is motivated and ready to go. Computers are working, the H vac, the heat or air conditioner is working. [00:34:59] The books and DVDs are on the sources. The partners, we have a partnership with Tri C, they provide GED classes. We’ve got to make sure the space is open. We have meeting rooms that we book out every day, make sure that schedule is being met, tables and chairs, the av, all of those things. [00:35:17] Then there’s that other level from day to day, of community engagement. I own that point of contact from the mayor down to council people, down to some of the other small nonprofits. There’s always a need from us, whether it’s through our print center, whether it’s using a space, whether it’s just being an ear to listen because there’s so many things going on in the city of East Cleveland. [00:35:41] But then there’s also. East Cleveland is one of nine independent library systems in the county. So I have to engage with those directors as well to be at the table to make sure East Cleveland is not missing out on any opportunities, let alone dollars that can be used for our residents. Then Again, we also one of 600 independent libraries in the state of Ohio. [00:36:09] So Ohio Library Council that we have to make sure we’re following. American Library Association, Ohio Library Council. Then we are a political subdivision. So it’s just a lot going on to keep this library running. So people think, oh, it’s just a library with open space and books, but it’s tax supported. There’s a lot of compliance around it. [00:36:31] There’s a lot of community engagement. Being in the community that we’re in, we just have to make sure we’re delivering the highest level of services for them. Because right now, this is the best thing going in the city of East Cleveland.

Nick Mays [00:36:45] Give me, give me an example of one of the collaborations with the East Cleveland Public Library and the East Cleveland school systems or one of the schools in East Cleveland.

Carlos Latimer [00:36:55] Okay. Yeah. There’s many examples of collaboration and partnerships starting at the beginning of the school year. It’s the back to school event. A staff person sits on the planning committee. Remember, after school, we are an extension of the school district. So a lot of children do come after school. So there’s always communications going on back and forth about maybe some behavioral issues. [00:37:23] They may require space after school, there’s always conversations about with principals about disseminating information around our programs. There’s things that they want to share that goes back through either social media that we will share out the school. East Cleveland school board is very active in the community. They’re very active with our board as well as the friends of the East Cleveland Public Library. [00:37:47] So there’s a lot of parallel relationships and building strong relationship within the city of East Cleveland.

Nick Mays [00:37:54] Wow. Mr. Latimer, what are you most proud of in your time leading the East Cleveland Public Library?

Carlos Latimer [00:38:04] I’m very proud every day to come in to see our institution up and going. We have staff, considering the political climate that we’re in, that we have a very appreciative. We have a board that understands our mission and vision and what we deal with from day to day, who can come in this library from a lot of from mental health challenges all the way up to a corporate person, community stakeholders who really appreciate, who want to be part of the library, who want to be connected. [00:38:35] I’m very proud that we allow to provide resources and come to work. It’s a very healthy environment to work in and we want to make sure the community feels that way.

Nick Mays [00:38:51] Thank you. We’ll pivot again. I want to talk about East Coast Cleveland then and now. And in some of your responses earlier, you talked a lot about your childhood and what East Cleveland or growing up and what was what East Cleveland looked like. I’m wondering how have you seen East Cleveland change over years? [00:39:13] And more specifically, you know, in my research or in my conversations with folks who are from East Cleveland, live in East Cleveland or used to live in East Cleveland, they talk about a time where a lot of businesses and one of the businesses, for example, is Peter Pan’s and there’s a donut shop. [00:39:42] Can you talk about that time and what you saw growing up in terms of businesses and including in that black businesses growing up.

Carlos Latimer [00:39:56] There was a lot of memories that I always think about as a child. I do remember Peter Pan, where there was go get donuts. I do remember Mary Sweet shop on Hayden. I do remember there was a lot of businesses in the community. I can’t even remember that came through, but I knew there was the type of. [00:40:20] It was like two or three grocery stores. Save more. There was a Bondi’s. There was. You know, my most important memory was the other resources that we had. The recreation facility, basketball courts for Seal, Hastings, Mayfair, tennis courts. There were swimming pools. So as a child growing up, I just remembered all of the resources There was always an opportunity to have fun. [00:40:52] Get on your bikes and ride down the hills within Forest Hill Park. Seeing some of the businesses just coming back in the community, seeing those empty buildings, those abandoned buildings. The shock is the population decline. There was always a lot of people and that’s always the driver around. You know, have a lot of people, you’re going to have a lot of opportunities, people with money, they’re going to have businesses. [00:41:22] You don’t have businesses, you don’t have a lot of children, you’re not going to have businesses. People always say, no, we don’t have a grocery store, but we don’t have the amount of children who will support a grocery store where that need is to have food at home for those children. You know, there’s no really senior resource centers. [00:41:42] I mean, we have some great assets in the city of East Cleveland. We have McGregor and the McGregor foundation, we have Forest Hill park, we have the East Cleveland Public Library. And we still have the East Cleveland school district, which actually just most recently received three stars and wealth. Although the political climate across the country is very volatile, inconsistent and dysfunctional, it’s here in East Cleveland as well. [00:42:09] So the challenges are political, but people really just want to have a decent quality of life. They don’t want the crime, they don’t want the drugs and all the other socioeconomic negative things that are going on. People don’t want that in the community. And the people that are suffering through those communities, they need help and resources. [00:42:32] They don’t want to live in those moments. They want to have a normal life as well. And that’s where the library comes in. We don’t discriminate. We treat everyone, we give them 100%, whatever services, whether we referring them to some resources or whether we give them some of our traditional or non additional resources. [00:42:52] We just want to make sure that we’re helping, making their lives better.

Nick Mays [00:42:59] What parts of the community’s character have stayed the same since you were a young child or growing up in East Cleveland? Even as the city has changed throughout the decade?

Carlos Latimer [00:43:12] The one thing I see has changed is the heart, desire and, and the pride. You know, the people that stayed and the people that did leave, there’s still a high level of love for the city of East Cleveland. I think people really believe that it’s going to get better at some point and all of the stakeholders want to be part of that. [00:43:40] I believe everybody want to take pride in the success of what’s going to happen down the road.

Nick Mays [00:43:49] I’ve, I’ve been Asking this, this question across the, across all the interviewees. And if you need to please remember. We’Re not live and so we’re just recording. So take a second, if you, if you need to, to respond, but what do you think people, external, outside of East Cleveland, misunderstand about either East Cleveland or its residents?

Carlos Latimer [00:44:19] Wow, that’s a good question. I think the perception, people don’t understand that people are living in East Cleveland in the moment right now, that need and want those people basic life resources, A nice home with heat, water, air conditioning, a refrigerator with food. They want resources to go to. They want a walk in community where they can ride a bike or walk their dog or engage with their neighbors. [00:44:56] These are still people here that wake up, they breathe. They need resources. They want to be part of success. They want to be happy. They embrace the culture here. Everybody here is not connected to the corruption, perceived corruption in the government. The reason people trust the leaders to a fault. Maybe that leadership may have their best interest, but unfortunately, those things don’t happen. [00:45:38] But it’s permanent. People want the best for their children. They want them to participate in activities. They want them to be connected with their families and friends. Everybody want a nice quality of life. That perception is as if, you know, just throw East Cleveland away. It’s not true because people are living in East Cleveland in the moment.

Nick Mays [00:46:05] Mr. Latimer, another thing that I found in my, you know, again, engaging the city in the last couple of months, talking to folks and doing research, is that there are people who have the access or the means to leave East Cleveland or there’s folks who went to college, moved out of East Cleveland, but eventually came back, and folks with means and they come back and. [00:46:42] And one of the things that I’m hearing is that, you know, passion, pride, love, but also being a part of getting East Cleveland back to a place it was, it once was, and to be a part of that evolution. What do you. What do you think about that? What do you think about, you know, again, folks who have the means to leave but are just adamant and they stay or they come back to East Cleveland.

Carlos Latimer [00:47:18] One thing about East Cleveland, there is like different neighborhoods within the community. You do have the families that live south of Euclid, which is up the hill. Then you have the. On the other side, the knees. Streets are all the same. Everyone wants their garbage picked up. They want streets that are plowed in the wintertime. [00:47:42] They want smooth surfaces. They want good schools. They want those amenities to do outside of a home. They want a high functioning Library system, high functioning school system. But then you have all those other things people want, increased home value, people might want to resell, they want to come in. You have investors that come in. [00:48:05] But then also you have people that are families and individuals who are quietly coming back into East Cleveland, buying a home, raising a family and trying to engage with the community. And I see them come through the library because they introduce themselves, they come to our programs, they come to our concerts. But they’re not all looking to be heroes. [00:48:30] They’re not all to be some political agenda. It’s slowly but surely they’re coming back. Not in large numbers, but it’s very unsure what word I want to use. They’re slowly coming back and it is happening. One thing about East Cleveland, there’s still affordable housing. I know affordable housing means different things to different people, but across the surface and the baseline of what affordable housing is, is currently here in the city of East Cleveland.

Nick Mays [00:49:11] Could we work with that?

Carlos Latimer [00:49:13] Yeah. Okay.

Nick Mays [00:49:14] Yeah. Have a question. Yeah. I know there you talk about what people would be looking for. Why do you think the East Cleveland is suffering that way? Like what, what would be like the core problem? Like if you.

Carlos Latimer Okay, I get what you can. Yeah, yeah. One of the things for a successful community which has not happened in the city of East Cleveland, you have to have that public private partnership and development. [00:49:55] Because of some of the things that have happened at the political level. There has not been an investment from the state or the county level in bringing dollars to excite the community, to get institutions to find a way to match, to get foundations and donors to really want to believe in East Cleveland. [00:50:21] But it has to start at the federal, state and local level for that investment. But also they have to look at it from a view of you need to stabilize your political environment. So we have to really, really get progressive leaders who are really committed to the cause in the city of East Cleveland to build and bring that confidence from the state level, federal and state level to help bring dollars. [00:50:49] And then the corporate dollars will come, they will follow.

Nick Mays [00:50:53] Thank you. I want to, I want to expand on that and talk a little bit about revitalization efforts and partnerships and, and some, some of the things you brought up. We’re seeing more conversations and actions. Also revitalization redevelopment efforts taking place right now in East Cleveland and conversations surrounding it in East Cleveland. [00:51:19] What does a two part question, do you support the external revitalizations efforts coming in? And then also what does revitalization done right mean to you?

Carlos Latimer [00:51:35] Revitalization is improving all aspects of our community. There have been some strong partners. The Cuyahoga Land bank, somewhat controversial for many, has invested in parts of East Cleveland because of the negativity around it. It’s why having the Congo Land bank invested in it entire East Cleveland. But you have to look at the scope of the community where we are build on the assets which where the land bank is focusing is close to a billion dollar enterprise with a university circle. [00:52:15] So you have to start there and spread throughout the community. It’s going to take time. One of the biggest fears of usually in black communities is gentrification is when development comes, then we’re pushed out. But all of those things can be countered with effective policies that come in to protect our existing homeowners and taxpayers. [00:52:38] So we really have to have strategic leaders at the table that understand development, but also understands the community. The best interest in whether where their needs are in maintaining their homes. You know, people want to maintain their homes, but they also want to be part of a more vibrant community. So we have to meet the community. [00:52:59] Somewhere in the middle there’s always this fear developer’s going to come down, just bulldoze over my home and East Cleveland is not going to exist anymore. No. East Cleveland does have diverse populations already within this community. But when you start talking about development, the first thing people feel is I’m not a part of this, so I’m going to be pushed out. [00:53:25] We have to have more conversations. We have to educate the community on what this looks like. We also have to have strong policies to protect those who want to remain in the community.

Nick Mays [00:53:37] What role does or should East Cleveland play in or East Clevelanders play in the revitalization efforts?

Carlos Latimer [00:53:49] I think East Cleveland dirt and all of the stakeholders, including the library, the school district, the homeowners, the residents that want, that are registered voters that want to have a voice should all be a part of the revitalization of the city. Everyone’s needs should be heard. There should be an agenda for everyone. [00:54:14] The faith based community as well. So I mean that’s why we’re here at the East Cleveland Public Library. We have this 240 seat performing arts center we can use to leverage that for community conversations. The truth, transparency and solutions.

Nick Mays [00:54:35] You have, you brought up the facility. You have an event on Sunday that I look forward to attending. Can you talk about that event?

Carlos Latimer [00:54:44] Yeah. We have a tribute to the music of Tina Turner. Through funding from the Cleveland foundation and KeyBank, we’re able to do a concert series every month. Our former director Gregory L. Reese raised the money years ago to build this performing arts center, he was a student of jazz. Initially we had monthly jazz concerts. [00:55:11] They saw the demand in the community. They love music. There’s a lot of soul within the city of East Cleveland. So music is a resource to bring individuals in the library. We know every month we’re going to have 250 people that come through these doors that, you know, we take those numbers, they feel really good about it. [00:55:36] But with external resources, we’re able to provide non traditional services by providing concerts to the community in our performing arts center.

Nick Mays [00:55:44] And you do this once a month?

Carlos Latimer [00:55:46] Once a month.

Nick Mays [00:55:50] When. When you think about the next generation. And I just have a couple of more questions and we’ll wrap up here. When you think about the next generation of East Clevelanders, what role do you hope the library and its leadership will play in their lives?

Carlos Latimer [00:56:09] We are very in tune with technology here at East Cleveland Public Library. And that’s the way the world is going to. The greatest phenomenon right now is artificial intelligence. We offer courses here in AI. We are constantly learning, encourage our management team to use AI as a tool and how we manage the library. [00:56:38] A lot of us are very fluid in using that as a tool. We want to encourage our community to utilize AI, be creative. We have all the resources. We invest in all the Microsoft products for our students to be creative. One of the things we want to do is two initiatives we’re looking for funding for is we want to do a community kitchen. [00:57:02] There’s a food desert down here. Health literacy and having access to healthy foods. It’s kind of where we want to educate our children around as well as our seniors. We invested in our children’s space. We know the importance of early literacy. So we want not only our children and our adults to reach their highest level of literacy as well. [00:57:24] So from technology to basic reading skills to having a safe space to have a space where they can learn, be creative and utilize all of these cutting edge tools and resources. We have robots down in the lower auditorium to introduce robotics to our children. We’re open to any partnerships around science, technology, engineering and math. [00:57:49] We would love to expand on partnerships with Case Western Reserve University. We also have a strong partnership with the Cuyahoga Land Bank. They trust us, they utilize us. We’ve done some creative art programs with them as well. So from creative arts to math and engineering to basic reading to just providing those basic resources, our children know that we’re here. [00:58:15] During the COVID pandemic, we were able to get COVID test kits. All of the Children in the East Cleveland School District, they knew to come to this library to get those resources after school, back to school events. When we provide resources, they know where we are. So just let them know that this is a space for them.

Nick Mays [00:58:41] What gives you hope for the future of East Cleveland?

Carlos Latimer [00:58:46] I have hope while I’m here to have committed leaders who want to do and exhaust all resources to make the lives of the residents better. I believe most of the people that are stakeholders, that are still here believe, and they want to give back, and they volunteer and they give donations and they show up. [00:59:14] People have now given up. East Cleveland is still here, is very resilient, and it’s here for a reason.

Nick Mays [00:59:23] Mr. Latimer, when it’s all said and done, final question. What do you want your legacy to be. Or what do you hope your legacy is?

Carlos Latimer [00:59:36] I hope to stabilize this library system and put it in a position where it’s thriving in the future. But there’s no individual legacy around me, you know, as a person, but as a person who provided service and stability to this community.

Nick Mays [00:59:57] Well, put, Mr. Carlos Latimer, thank you for your time.

Carlos Latimer [01:00:00] All right. Thank you.

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