PATRO N S TO R I E S
THE SOUND OF MUSIC
Teen Joswen Colon uses South Branch’s sound booth to learn new instruments, produce music, and make his parents proud. BY LAURA WALTER
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hen Joswen Colon began visiting South Branch last year, he was looking for a place to spend time with friends and maybe play some video games. What he found, however, amounted to so much more. Before long, he was using professional recording software, learning to play two instruments, developing leadership skills, and forging new paths for the future. It all started with a love of music—and with Cleveland Public Library. “I like coming here because I like music and hanging out with friends,” Joswen explains. “The Library is one of my favorite places. I don’t write music, but I’ll play and then remember the notes. It’s fun, and I’m proud of myself because I make the music sometimes.” Joswen’s initiative caught the attention of Joel Lefkowitz, Library Assistant-Youth Emphasis at South Branch. Known as “Mr. J.” to the kids and teens, Joel manages the branch’s sound booth and teaches the orientation class all patrons must enroll in before using the equipment and instruments. While he helped Joswen learn to use the recording software and start learning guitar, he can’t take credit for Joswen’s talents on the keyboard. “Joswen just started playing the piano on his own. He taught himself,” Joel says. “One day I saw him watching YouTube [instructional videos], and then he was playing along to a variety of pop songs. He plays Beethoven, too. I didn’t push him—he did this all on his own.” Joswen’s musical education at the Library includes participating in a Tri-C Vocal Arts Academy program and, more recently, taking 2
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guitar lessons offered by the Cleveland Classical Guitar Society. He’s also developing additional valuable skills. As the person in his friend group with the most experience with the sound booth, Joswen has taken on a leadership role, helping his friends play and create music. This love of music seems to run in the family. Joswen’s younger sister, Jazmine, enjoys playing the ukulele and writing her own music. Just as Joswen is drawn to both to the latest pop hits and classical composers like Beethoven, Jazmine’s musical tastes also run deep. When she first told Joel what songs she’d like to learn, for example, one of her answers surprised him: “Fly Me to the Moon” by Frank Sinatra. “I laughed,” Joel recalls. “That was not what I was expecting.”
Proud Parents
Joswen was 13 when he started visiting South Branch in late 2018 following his family’s move to the neighborhood from Parma. Their timing was perfect, considering the newly preserved, renovated, and expanded branch reopened in November 2018. As a Carnegie library building that first opened in 1911, the preserved South Branch retains a sense of its history and original architecture while also offering modern amenities, including the sound booth. All this adds up to a perfect place for teens like Joswen and Jazmine to visit during afterschool hours. “We’re super proud they’re finding positive choices in the world to take,” says Wendie, Joswen and Jazmine’s mother. “Paying for private lessons isn’t something we could do, so this is an awesome
