Lakewood Library Commended by City Council

The City Council has commended the Lakewood Public Library for the five-star rating it received from the publication, Library Journal. It was the third year in a row the library was awarded the five-star rating.

On Monday, the commendation was presented to James Crawford, director of Lakewood Public Library. The library is also celebrating its centennial.

"What a gem Lakewood Library is in our city," Councilwoman Cindy Marx said, according to Cleveland.com. "The library continues to shine under the direction of Mr. James Crawford. We are pleased to acknowledge the staff’s dedication and commitment to service in our community.”

The Lakewood Public Library was one of 10 libraries nationwide to receive a five-star grade in the Expenditure Range $1,000,000–$4,999,999 category. In the Library Journal’s methodology, LIbraries are graded on four per capita indexes: visits, circulation, public access computer use, and program attendance.

Here’s how the Lakewood Public Library scored:

• Population: 51,983
• Visits per capita: 16.1
• Circulation per capita: 29.3
• Public access computer use per capita: 14.2
• Program attendance per capita: 1.9

Other five-star libraries in the area included this year were Cuyahoga County Public Library, Cleveland Public Library and Cleveland Heights-University Heights Public Library.