Credit: Courtesy Cuyahoga County Public Library

Hot on the heels of an agreement between the union representing Cleveland Public Library workers and the library administration on a new contract that avoided a strike comes more good news for the area’s library systems.

The Cuyahoga County Public Library once again topped the rankings for large systems in the Library Journal’s Index of Public Library Service for the tenth year in a row, netting another five-star rating and an overall score of 2,063 points on the ranking system.

Key numbers indicate how CCPL fared against the competition:

– 1st in per capita circulation of physical materials (e.g. books, audiobooks, DVDs, CDs)
– 1st in number of visitors per capita
– 2nd in e-circulation (e.g. circulation of eBooks, streaming video, streaming and downloadable audio)
– 2nd in public computer use per capita
– 7th in program attendance per capita
– 7th in number of Wi-Fi sessions per capita
“To have received the Library Journal Index’s highest overall score for 10 consecutive years is a tremendous achievement for our library system,” CCPL Executive Director Tracy Strobel said in a news release. “Our consistently high per capita usage is a strong indicator that we are providing the kinds of relevant materials, programs, resources and services that keep county residents coming back again and again. I am exceedingly proud of our staff. Ten years at the top could not have happened without their unmatched commitment to providing excellent services to our communities. I truly feel we have the best library staff and library supporters in America right here in Cuyahoga County.”

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Vince Grzegorek has been with Scene since 2007 and editor-in-chief since 2012. He previously worked at Discount Drug Mart and Texas Roadhouse.

5 replies on “Cuyahoga County Public Library Once Again Ranked Best in Nation”

  1. Oh yes!!! Let’s thank our local thieving politicians for placing these ma$$ive tax levies and renewals on the ballot at nearly every election cycle to fund six-figure salaries and generous pensions for all of their top heavy library administrators!!!

  2. Most of the best libraries, and the most used, are found in the Northeast and the Midwest, especially near the Great Lakes, and not in the Sun Belt or out on the Coast. Main reason…our long, dark, cold, gray, shitty winters.

    It’s not because we’re any smarter here–it’s because we stay indoors so much of the year, and after a while, even hundreds of video games and cable channels can get ho-hum.

    So people bring home BOOKS. And they READ them. Especially if you’re like many geezers in Ohio and the surrounding states, who got their library cards at six.

    No, not at suppertime…at the AGE of six. Wassamatta, cancha READ?

  3. I live in Wake County, in Raleigh, NC, which has been voted the top city to live in recent polls. But I can tell you that their library system is nowhere near what you have in the Cuyahoga County library system!! You can only check out books and download ebooks on Overdrive. NO media such as music or movies!! You can go to neighboring Durham or Greensboro counties to do that for $40 a year! You don’t know what an excellent resource you’ve got. Be grateful.

  4. The library is used by poor people who dont have resources at their home.
    And, this county has plenty of poor people to drive the numbers up.
    Is it really the library’s role to provide music cd’s and entertainment dvd to the public?
    And provide free paper and ink to print endless pages on their computers. I paid the taxes to
    float all that and I don’t think I should be covering for the indigent’s paper and ink and entertainment
    material. Maybe a book on resume writing so they can get a job and not be poor people.

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