Cleveland Heights-University Heights Public Library system has once again received the highest possible rating in the Library Journal’s 2012 Index of Public Library Service. The five-star rating is given to the top U.S. libraries each year.
Height Libraries has earned five stars in four out of the five years that Library Journal has published the ratings, starting in 2008. Libraries are categorized by yearly expenditure and rated on four criteria: circulation, visits, program attendance, and Internet terminal use. Heights Libraries circulation rated a 32.6 per capita in our service area, meaning that 32.6 items were circulated for every resident in the Cleveland Heights-University Heights service. Visits are up since 2011, 19.8 in 2012 vs. 19.4 in 2011; and library program attendance is also up: 0.91 in 2012 up from 0.8 in 2011.
“This just shows us what we’ve known all along: more and more people in our community are using the library,” says Heights Libraries Director Nancy Levin. “We are always busy, and I don’t see that trend reversing anytime soon. Our community depends on us more than ever for everything from free entertainment with books and DVDs and fun programs, to more crucial things like access to the Internet and free computer classes.”
Heights Libraries wasn’t the only Other Cuyahoga County area library receiving Star Awards; other area libraries to win are Cleveland Public (4), Cuyahoga County (5), East Cleveland (5), and Rocky River (3).
“Residents of Northeast Ohio are truly lucky to have such incredible libraries at their fingertips,” says Levin.
