Where this year's star libraries are located and what states are missing

STARS ON THE MAP

The 2018 Star libraries are found in 42 states scattered across the country. The five states with the most Star Libraries are New York (31), Ohio (23), Illinois (21), Massachusetts (13), and Kansas (12). The top ten are rounded out by a tie for sixth place between Alabama and California (11 each) and a three-way tie for places eight, nine, and ten among Iowa, Nebraska, and Texas (nine each).

Seven states had no Star Libraries despite having facilities included on the LJ Index. Those states are Delaware, North Carolina, Georgia, Tennessee, Mississippi, Wyoming, and Hawaii. For the reason Vermont also has no Stars, see below.
 

MISSING STATES

Most of the Star-less states have one notable thing in common: public library jurisdictions covering the largest geographical areas. At the greatest extreme is Hawaii, which has a unique statewide system. In two of the remaining Star-less states—North Carolina and Wyoming—all jurisdictions are countywide. In two others—Georgia and Mississippi—the most prevalent types are county and multijurisdictional. Delaware jurisdictions are predominantly either countywide or library districts, while Tennessee jurisdictions are most often countywide, followed by municipal systems.

As reported in last year’s article, library jurisdictions that cover larger geography—particularly countywide and multijurisdictional systems—are at a disadvantage in the Star Library rankings because they tend to be more poorly funded on a per capita basis than other legal basis types (i.e., city, library district, nonprofit association) and, likely as a result, tend to generate lower per capita service outputs.

Notably, for the 2018 edition of the LJ Index, the only state for which there are no scored libraries is Vermont, where circulation of electronic materials is still not reported for any public library, despite that measure being adopted nationally two data cycles ago.

To Access STAR Libraries 2018 Home page - click here

—Keith Curry Lance