It can be easy to take an amazing resource like the Toledo-Lucas County Public Library for granted. When we all have almost instantaneous access to a world of information, some may look at a brick-and-mortar establishment like the library as— dare we say?— old-fashioned.
The Literati of Toledo hopes to shatter that line of thinking. A branch of the Friends of the Toledo-Lucas County Public Library, the Literati launched in April to help inspire a younger generation of professionals and families to take a second look at all the services the TLCPL has to offer.
“This is perhaps, you could argue, the most challenging generation for libraries,” said Zachary Ottenstein, president of the Literati. “You think about our generation, we grew up with access to Google. We have cell phones in our pockets. We have Kindles. And this, for libraries, represents a serious evolution in the consumer.”
“So libraries across the country are thinking about, how do we evolve to remain relevant and valuable to this next generation?”
The key, as the Literati’s members see it, is to emphasize the remarkable variety of information and events that Toledo’s libraries can provide, as well as fostering a sense of community among those who use the library’s resources. The group’s recent events— like “Books and Brew,” a Literati gathering held last month at the Black Cloister Brewing Company— are designed to inspire enthusiasm for both.
Opening the book
When Ottenstein, a former reporter for Channel 13, was presented with the idea of beginning a local version of the Literati— which has branches in D.C., L.A. and elsewhere— he jumped at the chance.
“I had known Clyde Scoles, the Library Director, through my time as a reporter,” Ottenstein said. “And he reached out to me and said, ‘I really want to do one of these in Toledo, do you think you could start it?’”
The Literati is also a passion project for Cami Roth Szriotnyak, fellow member and next in line of succession to the Presidency. Cami is a lifelong Toledoan who sees the library like a second home.
“I wanted to find an outlet for helping my community,” Szriotnyak said. “The Library was where I grew up. … For me, this was really important to get involved with this group. Zach says there were other young professional groups in the community, which are all very active and important. But this was an opportunity I saw that wasn’t like any other opportunity in the community.”
Literati’s calendar of events and membership is just beginning to come together and Ottenstein sees nowhere but up to go for the group and the local institution it supports.
“This is not about creating a five-year thing. This is about creating a 50-year thing that helps the library to reinvent itself in this new era,” Ottenstein said.
For more information,
visit: toledolibrary.org/literati
