Library garners top honors

The Chapel Hill Public Library is the best in North Carolina.

The 2004 Hennen's American Public Libraries Rating Index ranked the library tops in the state with a score of 783 out of 1,000.

North Carolina's libraries are ranked 36th of the 50 states.

The rating index uses factors such as circulation, staffing, collection and funding levels in its annual evaluation of the nation's public libraries.

Robert Schreiner, head of the Chapel Hill Public Library's board of trustees, said he is pleased with the library's rating.

"I believe I speak for the board when I say that we are very excited that the library that we believe in and serve is recognized by a rating organization," he said.

Schreiner also added that he is not surprised by the high mark.

"We know we have an excellent staff and readership," he said.

But there was some disagreement about what exactly the ranking meant for the library.

Mark Bayles, the library's assistant director, said the index is narrow in its scope.

"The HAPLR Index is the work of one individual," he said, referring to author Thomas Hennen, who compiles the index. "Libraries across the nation put data in a database, but the statistical data that he uses is his decision."

Bayles added the library's top ranking in North Carolina probably will not influence future funding decisions.

But Bayles said the rating still has value for the library.

"Overall, this ranking reflects the interest of the community in this library," Bayles said. "It is something that Chapel Hill and Orange County residents have the right to be proud of."

Evelyn Daniel, a long-time professor and former dean at the University's School of Information and Library Science, explained what a good library means for the surrounding community.

"A good library indicates a level of culture and intellectual life," she said. "It is a mark of the level of education in a community."

She also said libraries are evolving to meet the needs of a wider demographic, citing electronic and bilingual services as two important areas that are changing the role of libraries.

Schreiner explained that the Chapel Hill Public Library is a heavily used library because the Chapel Hill area has a "reading public."

The Chapel Hill Town Council honored the library's ranking at its meeting Monday.

Bayles said that although the ranking said the library is the best in the state, more improvements still can be made using funds from bonds authorized by voters last November.

"Last year, the citizens of Chapel Hill passed a bond referendum that will enable us to double the size of the library to meet the needs of the community and provide more space for the collection," he said.

Voters approved a library facilities bond for $500,000 in November 2003.

Contact the City Editor at citydesk@unc.edu.