Impacts

This is the 13th year of the LJ Index of Public Library Service and Star Library ratings. The 2020 scores and ratings are based on FY18 data from the Institute of Museum and Library Services (IMLS) Public Library Survey (PLS). Because of that delay, they don’t reflect the impact of the coronavirus; that won’t be reflected in the data until 2022. The big news in this year’s edition is that successful retrievals of electronic information (e-retrievals)—measuring usage of online content, such as databases, other than by title checkout—joins the six other measures that determine the LJ Index.

The newest output measure in the PLS is library website visits. Even before the COVID-19 pandemic closed many library buildings to the public, websites were a major access point for many library users.

With all this year's variations in mind, it’s no surprise that this year’s Star Libraries roster contains many changes

The states with the most and fewest stars in 2020.

2020 Star Library Index Scores by Spending Category.

Every public library is a star to the community it serves. LJ’s Star Library Ratings and the LJ Index of Public Library Service spotlight the best of the best across America. The 2020 edition is the 13th. This year, 5,608 U.S. public libraries are scored on the LJ Index, and there are 262 Star Libraries.

Academic librarians are seeing more interest in open access (OA) content and open educational resources (OER) during the COVID-19 pandemic, survey respondents reported, due in part to a lack of access to physical materials and a desire to keep textbook costs low. Those are some of the findings from the Library Journal Open Access Content/Open Educational Resources in Academic Libraries Survey, released this month.

Lisa Janicke Hinchliffe and Christine Wolff-Eisenberg discuss the fourth and final analysis of their Academic Library Response to COVID-19 survey, “Indications of the New Normal,” looking at the current phases of academic library pandemic reactions.

The LJ placement and salaries survey provides a valuable professional snapshot of the job-seeking experiences of graduates and their institutions as a service to the LIS community. LJ invited each of the 52 American Library Association–accredited library and information science schools located in the United States to participate.