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For the scond year in a row Des Plaines Public Library has been named one of America’s Star Libraries on the 2021 Library Journal Index of Public Services.

This award places DPPL in the top 4% of libraries nationwide. DPPL is one of just 261 libraries across the country and 15 in the state of Illinois awarded this designation.  5,846 public libraries nationwide were surveyed in the 2021 report.

This comes at a time when DPPL's 2021 circulation has just surpassed over 1 million items, an 18% increase from 2020 at this time.

Virtual traffic to the DPPL.org website is approaching 2 million, a 47% increase from 2020 to date.

DPPL Library Director Jo Bonell says:

“We are so pleased to again be recognized as an America’s Star Library. Now, more than ever, the library is committed to providing residents of Des Plaines the top-notch service and physical and e-resources they need and deserve. 

We’ve been awarded for providing services comparable to those offered by much larger, heavily funded libraries. We are proud we’ve been able to accomplish this without burdening residents with an increase in the library’s portion of the tax levy for the past 11 years.”

Star Library status was awarded based on seven major service measures per capita in 2019:physical material circulation, e-circulation, number of visits, program attendance, public computer users, wi-fi sessions, and e-retrievals.

See the full report here.

DPPL scored highly in all categories, but especially in circulation of physical materials and e-retrievals.

The e-retrieval category measures the use of online resources like

• Ancestry.com,
• New York Times Cooking (paywall free),
• New York Time (free unlimited access),
• Washington Post (paywall free access),
• Wall Street Journal (paywall free access)
• Consumer Reports,
• Creative Bug art/craft instruction, 
• Libby/Overdrive and Hoopla movies, music and books,
• and Mango Languages

All are available to Des Plaines residents at no cost 24/7 from the library’s website dppl.org.

In recent years Des Plaines Public Library has prioritized providing, promoting and teaching residents how to access and use these resources.

All are part of one of the largest and most expansive collections of “e” resources, database and online learning resources in the state.

Find a complete roundup of all these collections HERE and HERE.