SJCPL has been consistently ranked among the TOP TEN public libraries (serving populations of 100,000 to 250,000) in the United States
during the past 9 years!
- Ranked 9th in 2008
- Ranked 6th in 2006
- Ranked 4th in 2005
- Ranked 4th in 2004
- Ranked 5th in 2003
- Ranked 4th in 2002
- Ranked 5th in 2000
- Ranked 2nd in 1999
- Ranked 6th in 1998
Note: In 2001 and in 2007 rankings were not tabulated since the U.S. Federal government did not report the national public library data that were needed.
- First public library in the United States to have its own web server and publish its web pages on the Internet (March 14, 1994); the second worldwide. The Helsinki City Library (Finland) was the 1st public library in the world to do so.
- First public library in the world to publish its own internally created databases (its Community Connection , now with information on over 1,200 local community organizations; and the TribIndex, an index to articles of local interest appearing in the South Bend Tribune between 1990 to 2002), making these databases available and searchable worldwide through a web browser (March 1994).
To learn more about SJCPL's early involvement with the Internet, see "The Public Library In Transition" by Donald J. Napoli, published in The Evolving Virtual Library II, Laverna M. Saunders, Editor. Gardezl Verlag Michael Itschert, 1999.
- Ranked 8th by Places Rated for the number of new books added yearly per 1,000 residents - 1993
|