successful bond initiatives spearheaded by Eastman. The library opened to the public in May 1925 with a grand public event, featuring a main address by former British Prime Minister David Lloyd George. The new building was, at the time, the third largest library in the country, boasting six floors and a main reading room that could seat 200. Special services Eastman helped devise special centers that would serve patrons’ needs for specific sorts of information. The unique Travel Section was established in 1926 and featured not only travel pamphlets, but also "selected volumes on the history, geography, and society of the major countries of the world." In 1928, the Eastman established the Business Information Bureau. This space served not only as a research facility for Cleveland's businesspeople, but also as a vocational resource center. In addition to creating special collections and services, Eastman took steps to extend the reach of the library, establishing in 1926 a service to distribute books to hospitalized readers. Services for blind patrons Eastman's attempts to improve services for blind patrons began in 1903 when she instituted Braille classes as part of the Library's offering. Her attempts to build the library's Braille collection were frustrated by the high price of the books and the difficulty of transporting them, but by 1928 the Library had a collection of six thousand Braille texts. When Eastman retired, the special service was distributing books to thirty thousand blind patrons across northern Ohio. In addition to Braille texts, the Cleveland Library was trailblazing in its use of books recorded on phonograph, initially conceived as a solution for blind patrons who were unable to read Braille. Great Depression The Cleveland Library suffered financial cuts during the 1930s, even as public demand for library services soared. Wages were severely cut and funds for new books dried up. The financial situation got so bad that in 1932 a sign had to be placed in the new book section reading, "No New Books for Display this Week Because of Curtailed Funds. Have You Read These Older Titles?" Nonetheless, library patronage soared as unemployed and underemployed Clevelanders came to the library for a variety of purposes. Eastman told the Chicago Daily Tribune that "many of the unemployed patronizing the library call for reference works which will be of benefit to them in their vocation. They are also calling for books and magazines of general culture, finding