IndyIPL Earns Status as an American Star Library

Indy Chamber News Archives

In the most recent evaluation of the nation’s largest library systems, The Indianapolis Public Library has been ranked among the top 15 urban libraries with expenditures of at least $30 million annually, earning a three-star designation as a “2015 American Star Library,” according to the Library Journal Index of Public Library Service.

IndyPL joined the Toledo-Lucas County (OH) Public Library as the only new three-star additions this year.

The index, compiled by the Institute of Museum and Library Servicesand sponsored by Baker & Taylor’s Bibliostat, is a tool that compares U.S. public libraries with their spending peers based on per capita performance measures on patron visits, circulation, program attendance and public Internet computer use. More than 4.2 million patrons visited IndyPL locations in 2014. Circulation exceeded 15.9 million items that featured record-breaking circulation of nearly one million eBooks and other electronic materials. Patrons logged 1.1 million session hours on Library computers. More than 262,000 individuals attended free Library programs designed to assist them in achieving their lifelong learning goals, ranging from computer and job assistance workshops to author visits, craft programs and youth literacy programs.

“We are very proud of our rating as an American Star Library which not only reflects library industry recognition but underscores our vital role in the lives of local families and individuals,” stated IndyPL CEO Jackie Nytes. “As we continue to implement new ways to address the evolving role of libraries today, we will become even more responsive to individual and community needs.”

The index by the Library Journal, the oldest and most respected publication covering the library industry, focuses on actual performance measures rather than inputs such as expenditures, collection size and staffing. In the future, the ratings index will include such per capita measurements as e-circulation, Wi-Fi usage and reference transactions.

More information on the index can be found at www.libraryjournal.com.

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