There are a few sources of digitized primary source material online that provide free access to the June 1917 edition of The Architectural Record. The lead issue that month was the "rebuilding" of Longwood. You can read the entire article via Google Books, the Architectural Record's archive, or the full volume—including old advertisements and the covers in color—on Hathi Trust.
"The library woodwork, including ceiling beams, is of English oak, which has been finished to retain the natural color." . . .
"Especial attention may be called to one curious feature which otherwise would be unsuspected. The carved cornice moulding of the bookcases, which appears to be merely a band of rich ornament, forms in reality the fronts of a row of shallow drawers. Finger-holes are cunningly cut behind some of the leaves, and other portions of the ornament conceal the joints, so that no evidence is to be seen of the hidden receptacles."
— I. T. Frary, "The Rebuilding of Longwood, Residence of John L. Severance, Esq., Cleveland, Ohio: Charles F . Schweinfurth, Architect," The Architectural Record, vol. XLI, no. 6 (June 1917): 484, 486.
We also know, from reviewing a full copy of the Architectural Record (June 1917), who physically made the cabinets! This advertisement, from a copy available on Hathi Trust, shows that a local Cleveland firm, The W. B. McAllister Company, Builders, made the cabinets a reality. W. B. McAllister Company also created decorative work on the Van Sweringen House in Shaker Heights, and the Pathology Building (now the Institute of Pathology) in the University Circle neighborhood, among many other projects.
The advertisement is straightforward, but indicates that W. B. McAllister Co. were responsible for the look and finishes of Longwood:
The W. B. McAllister Company Builders
All of the Carpentry, Cabinet Work, Wood Carving, Finishing
Models for Stone and Marble Carving and Stucco
Ornament for Longwood, the estate of
John L. Severance, Esq., at Cleveland Heights, Ohio,
illustrated and described in this issue of The Architectural Record
were executed by us under the direction of
Chas. F. Schweinfurth, Architect
Cleveland Ohio
Gothic-revival carved oak bookcases installed in the Special Collections Reading Room were removed from the library of Longwood, the 50-room estate built for Cleveland philanthropist and Standard Oil executive John L. Severance (1863–1936) and his family in 1910.
(The bookcases are shown in the above photo.)
Longwood was remodeled in 1916, which caught the attention of the local press (as seen in the image below, from the Cleveland Plain Dealer):
It was occupied by a member of J. L. Severance's extended family until 1959. Some images of Longwood can be found in the digital collections of the Cleveland Memory Project, Encyclopedia of Cleveland History (provided by Case Western Reserve University), and the Western Reserve Historical Society.
Longwood was demolished in 1961, in order to make way for what is now called "Severance Town Center" in Cleveland Heights.
The bookcases, which date from the 1916 renovation, were donated by Mrs. Marguerite S. "Greta" Millikin (1903–1989) and Mr. Severance A. Millikin (1895–1985). The bookcases were installed as part of the "new" Grasselli Library, designed by Charles Bacon Rowley and Associates, Inc., and Ernst Payer Architects and Engineers, when it opened in 1961. Rowley and Payer, already both recognized in their own right for innovative architecture and significant projects, became synonymous with Modernist design in Cleveland.
From 1961–2024, the bookcases primarily held the Robert J. Bayer Memorial Chesterton Collection, a large number of books by and about English author and essayist G. K. (Gilbert) Chesterton (1874–1936), and his contemporaries. As of Spring 2025, the bookcases serve as storage for requestable materials from JCU Special Collections.