See the Movie, Read the Book! Cleveland Public Library's Bookmarks Programme, 1923–1972

In the early 1920s the Cleveland Public Library (CPL) in Ohio, USA, instituted an innovative programme to promote reading of quality fiction and nonfiction relating to current motion picture releases. In advance of Cleveland premieres of new films, CPL received promotional materials from the producers of the films to prepare bookmarks and exhibits that served the dual purpose of advertising the picture and drawing CPL patrons to library materials that related in some way to the films. Local movie theatre owners also sponsored the printing of bookmarks listing these related resources and helped to distribute them at their theatres and other public locations around the region. Through these ‘movie tie-ups’, the library hoped to guide Clevelanders to the best books and increase circulation. Lasting more than three decades, the programme was hugely influential on similar programmes established elsewhere and serves as a fascinating early example of private–public cooperation.