Star Libraries

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.

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.

2020 Star Library Index Scores by Spending Category.

The states with the most and fewest stars in 2020.

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.

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

The 12th edition of the LJ Index of Public Library Service rates U.S. public libraries based on selected per capita output measures. The 2019 Index derives from data recently released by the Institute of Museum and Library Services (IMLS) for FY17. This year, 6,333 U.S. public libraries qualified to be rated in the Index. In this edition, there are 261 Star Libraries, each receiving three-Star, four-Star, or five-Star designations.

The 2019 Star libraries are scattered among 40 states across the country. Here are the states with the most and fewest 2019 Stars.

In FY16, the IMLS Index of Public Library Service PLS added a new data element for successful retrieval of electronic information, as distinct from circulation of ebooks. By next year, all states will have been collecting data on the measure for at least two years, so electronic information retrievals may become the seventh per-capita statistic in the LJ Index formula next year. This will be a useful measure of how people are using library resources and what kind of content they need or want.