Heights Libraries earns top rating for seventh consecutive year

For the seventh year in a row, the Cleveland Heights-University Heights Public Library System has received the highest possible rating in Library Journal's 2015 Index of Public Library Service.

Library Journal—a national publication with a circulation of 100,000 that reports library news, emphasizing public libraries—awards it five-star rating to the top U.S. libraries each year. Heights Libraries has earned five stars in seven out of the eight 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 (public computer) use. Heights Libraries circulation came in at 31 per capita, meaning that roughly 31 items were circulated for every resident in the Cleveland Heights-University Heights service area. Visits per capita averaged 18.5 (down from 19.5 for 2014), program attendance averaged 1.3 (up from 1.1 in 2014), and public computer use held steady from 2014, at 5 per capita.

“We just passed a levy a year ago, but we never want to take our place in this community for granted, so we are absolutely delighted by the rating,” said Nancy Levin, Heights Libraries director. “These numbers make it clear that our community continues to need our services; that’s one of the reasons we decided to upgrade and expand our University Heights branch next year. All of our buildings are heavily used by customers of all ages, and they deserve a library that will continue to give five-star service.”

Other Cuyahoga County libraries to receive five-star awards are Cleveland Public, Cuyahoga County, and Lakewood.

The entire state of Ohio did well in general, compared to the rest of the nation. Ohio was second only to New York in the number of state libraries that received star ratings: 28 for Ohio, and 39 for New York.

The entire report on America’s star libraries can be found at Library Journal’s website, lj.libraryjournal.com.