Oak Park Public Library Ranked Among U.S. Best

Oak Park's public library has just attained the gold standard for systems nationwide.

The system received the highly-coveted 5-star rating in Library Journal’s Index of Public Library Service.

The library also was ranked first in Illinois within its budget category.

This distinction is measured by service output for all Oak Park Public Library locations in four areas: circulation of collection materials, number of visits, program attendance and Internet use. Oak Park is in a category of libraries with expenditures from $5 million to $9 million. Other five-star libraries in that expenditure category include Northbrook. 

The honor recognizes how much Oak Park uses and supports the library, Executive Director Deirdre Brennan said.

“The increase in visits and materials being checked out are representative of the increased use Oak Park Public Library has seen overall in the past year. Our five-star rating is evidence that our library is adapting and offering needed services to our community,” she said.

“This is awesome!” said Rebecca Teasdale, assistant director for Public Services and Programs. “We’ve been striving for this rating and it comes as recognition of our team efforts in providing excellent library services.”

See the data behind the distinction and the complete list of libraries that received stars from Library Journal’s Index of Public Library Service 2012.  

Last year the library received a 4-star rating from Library Journal.

Both rankings were attained during Brennan's tenure as director. She intends to leave Oak Park this fall to become head of the RAILS system. A plan on how to replace her is in the very early stages, library officials said.

Get breaking news alerts and follow us on Facebook for more news:

• Get the Oak Park-River Forest newsletter and like us on Facebook.
• Get the Forest Park newsletter and like us on Facebook.