Sunday on the Stairs concert series kicks off at Downtown library

On a blistering 94-degree day in downtown Cincinnati, patrons flocked to the main branch of the Cincinnati & Hamilton County Public Library to seek refuge in the air conditioning.

But there were no shushing librarians on Sunday. Instead, a typically silent Downtown library was embracing a noisy space as part of the first iteration of its Sunday on the Stairs live music series.

The series is part of new programming from the main branch, which reopened last month after a yearslong renovation . The concert series utilizes the new bright, inviting space with musicians performing on what the library system calls its "social stairs" in the building's main atrium and recurs the last Sunday of every month.

For local rapper, poet and activist Siri Imani, the first artist to grace the makeshift stage for Sunday on the Stairs, it was commemorating a space where she's spent much time growing up. She later went on to volunteer teaching services to children of a younger generation at the library.

Another reason why the main library is special to her? Like many other Cincinnati musicians, she was surprised to find three panels commemorating her solo albums on the handrails of the facility's three-story stairway. A quirk of the new library design is a series of hundreds of vertical panels displaying the album names of local artists.

"That was an amazing feeling," Imani said of discovering the panels. "It was a real full-circle adult moment."

Dozens flocked around the stage as the music of Imani and her band reverberated throughout the facility. While some were curious onlookers, she also brought out a loyal group of friends and family, many of whom just came from a community potluck at nearby Piatt Park.

One of them was Gregg Graves. He met Imani in 2016 and has since been working with her creatively and volunteering through the foundation. He's seen her music career grow from small gigs and open mic visits, to Imani curating her very own open mics and events − and several permanent plaques honoring her work on the library's walkway.

"Just to see everything she's doing, to curating these events, and just being a stamp on the city – it's amazing," Graves said.

Sunday on the Stairs will feature live performances the last Sunday of each month at 2 p.m. Next artists to perform are MADQUEEN on Sept. 29 and Patterns of Chaos on Oct. 27.

More information about branch programming can be found on the library system's website .

This article originally appeared on Cincinnati Enquirer: Sunday on the Stairs concert series kicks off at Downtown library