"It's like the Good Housekeeping seal of approval," said San Jose Public Library Director Jane Light. "There was a certain amount of skepticism on the part of other libraries for the joint university and city library."

The success of the Martin Luther King Jr. main library, which serves San José State University and the city, makes the system a model for national and international libraries.

"We just had a man from a province in Japan visit us to see it," Light said.

The San Jose Public Library was chosen for the award and $10,000 cash prize because it has one of the highest use rates per capita. The number of materials in circulation has tripled over the last decade, Light said.

"We've been able to triple our materials and keep the number of our staff the same," she said.

The library is also recognized for its innovation in using self-service checkout machines, which other library systems are replicating, Light said.

This is the 12th year that the award has been given.