You don't know what you've got til it's gone

A friend and I were talking about the HAPRL ratings... ratings about public libraries around the country that are published annually in American Libraries, which is the journal of the Americal Library Association. The compiler uses data including circulation, funding, staffing, hours, etc... to determine the "best" libraries in the nation. I have said this to anyone who will listen in the last year since I've been in library school, but it's shocking to me how lacking the public libraries are in Syracuse. Even those in Virginia, where I was this summer, were less than stellar compared to what I'm used to. Little did I realize that I'm used to the best. Ohio ranks first as a state and a great number of Ohio libraries that I've been to throughout my life rank highly in their specific categories. They divide the libraries by population served and in their respective categories, the Cuyahoga County Public Library ranks 4th and the Porter Public Library in my hometown of Westlake ranks 1st. Hooray for them!