Champaign Library Rating Improves as Usage Grows
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE 7/22/09
Contact: Marsha Grove
Library Director
217/403–2050
mgrove@champaign.org
The Champaign Public Library moved up in the latest Hennen’s American Public Library Ratings, also known as the HAPLR Index, announced earlier in July. Champaign’s score of 875 was the highest among Illinois libraries in its population category of 50,000 to 99,000. Up from 866 last year, Champaign’s rating far exceeds the statewide average of 532. The score also puts Champaign in the 98th percentile among the 545 public libraries serving similar populations nationwide.
The new Hennen ratings are based on 2006 data measuring 15 input and output measures including collection size, cost per circulation, visits per hour and checkouts per capita.
The Champaign library was also among 18 public libraries from across the country chosen for the Alliance Library System (ALS) 2009 Watch List, which was released this month. Peoria-based ALS describes the annual list as “libraries we admire and/or wish we were.”
For the fiscal year that ended June 30, 2009, Champaign had total circulation of 2,492,033, up 26% from last year — and 40% from the final year in the library’s previous building (2006–2007).
Circulation per capita reached 33, compared to a nationwide average of 9.5 for populations of similar size. Other usage measures for the year include 167,551 computer sessions, a 75% increase over the previous year, and 6,841 meeting room uses. This June, circulation of 233,608 items set a new monthly high for the library.
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