For thousands of years, the library was the only way to connect an imagination to the world. Up to the 1980’s the library represented an opportunity for growth, education, and community. It was a place where everyone went for enlightenment and understanding, it bridged the gap between money and influence, and it leveled the playing field for anyone who wanted more.
Today, the library still represents opportunity, but it has had to adapt to the internet, politics, and the public’s appetite for information. Jamar O. Rahming, the new Chief Executive Officer for Cuyahoga County Public Library (CCPL), understands the mission ahead and has a plan for the organization’s twenty-seven branches.
CCPL has been in business for over one hundred years, having been established by a voter referendum on November 7, 1922. This created Ohio’s first county library district, and the library officially began serving the public with its first branches opening in 1924.
It was ranked the number one public library in the United States among libraries serving populations of more than 500,000 by Hennen’s American Public Library Ratings 2010. In 2022, more than ten million items were borrowed by its 737,702 cardholders, and 2.99 million visits were made to branches.
Today, the CCPL has nearly four million visitors enter its doors and spans over 47 communities.
“The opportunity to come here and continue the great work the organization has done is exciting for me,” Rahming said.
Rahming comes from Wilmington, Delaware, where he was the CEO of the library system there.
In 2023, Rahming received the Movers & Shakers Community Builders award from Library Journal for his innovative efforts in facilitating some of the most impactful programs the library industry has ever seen. He was named the 2024 CEO of the Year by the Delaware Business Times and is a recipient of the 2025 I Love My Library Award by the American Library Association, which recognizes library leaders who go above and beyond for their communities.
Last month, Rahming was elected president-elect of the Public Library Association, the largest association dedicated to supporting the unique and evolving needs of public library professionals across the United States and Canada.
Rahming has previously served as the Library Director of the Jackson County Library District (Oregon), Regional Library Manager of the Austin Public Library (Texas), and Regional Library Manager of the Charleston County Public Library (South Carolina).
“Libraries are community connectors; they are a place to build community, and we do such a good job at doing that.” Rahming continued, “In this post-pandemic America, communities are fragmented, and we are starting to reap the consequences of that fragmentation.”
Rahming sees the issues that plague society when people rush to judgment, decision-making, and have a limited understanding of their fellow man.
“The library is a place where culture is preserved, it is a place where community is built, and it is a place where the arts and humanities are elevated through our programming,” Rahming said. “One of the things that our programming does is that it breeds empathy.”
Through literature, people are exposed to other cultures and other worlds. Rahming feels like when you have a better understanding of other people, your ability to show mercy and have compassion for your fellow man impacts how you make decisions when you are stressed.
He is not wrong. Evidence shows that the more educated and informed people are, the more likely they are to appreciate the differences that people have.
America has always been a melting pot of different cultures. However, in the last several years, those differences have come under attack from the politics of today. Funding has come under attack as well.
In response to an Executive Order issued on March 14, 2025, to reduce the federal Institute of Museum and Library Services (IMLS), the Department of Government Efficiency has begun cutting existing grants, including funding to states in California, Connecticut, and Washington.
Ohio’s libraries have not seen any reduction in funding, but Rahming and his team are paying attention to the climate and work every day to make CCPL as relevant as possible.
With the world getting more of its information from social media, it is becoming harder and harder to decipher what is real information and what is false information. The library understands these challenges and has entered the digital age.
“The public library is the gatekeeper of information. Our role now is to cater to the intellectual fitness of our continents so that they can decipher between fact and fiction on the internet,” Rahming said.
With programming services for each of the twenty-seven locations of CCPL, each branch offers something different based on the communities that it serves. The organization offers such a vast number of offerings that no branch is the same, which makes the entire system special.
“We do such a good job at helping those who need help. We make sure that each location serves the needs of the people who live around each branch that we have.” Rahming continued, “We are building a new Parma Heights location that will have an early childhood center there because we recognized the needs of the community.”
CCPL wants to ensure that children have an early start as soon as possible, developing a relationship with books and reading.
The United States faces a significant childhood literacy crisis, with alarming numbers of fourth graders unable to read at a basic level, a trend worsened by pandemic-related learning disruptions.
“With kids not reading at grade level, literacy is our brand, so we are hoping that this will be the start of having the aspirational goal that every child in Cuyahoga County gets to the right reading level for their grade. So, this is a viable partnership for us and our partners,” Rahming said.
Rahming also sees a shift in the library system with artificial intelligence becoming a staple in society. He wants to ensure that anyone who wants to better understand and use AI can do so within the library system.
“We need to make sure that we are in the driver’s seat when it comes to AI. With it about to dominate every industry, we need to make sure that our constituents are at the forefront of using it and understanding it at a high level.” Rahming continued, “We want to ensure that no one will be left behind, so the mission of the library is to be a place where people can come and trust that their needs will be met.”
The future of society seems to go hand in hand with the responsibility of the public library. With so much change, it seems like an incredible task to be such a major factor in how a community thrives.
Rahming and his team have welcomed the challenge of being that source for the communities they serve, and they are excited about where CCPL is headed.
Libraries in the future will adapt to shifts in how society interacts with information and technology, ensuring safe access to a digitized landscape. They will serve as trusted partners, providing support and resources to their communities and acting as liaisons and change agents for a brighter future.
If Rahming has his way, the forty-seven communities that he serves will continue to get the very best that CCPL has to offer. Bold ambitions for a bold thinker. Welcome to Cleveland!
