Looking back, 2022 was a year of settling in to our fully functioning, newly renovated buildings within a post-pandemic -- or at least a managed pandemic -- world. Over the last 12 months the Library refined and grew its services, celebrated the incredible talent and creativity of artists through exhibitions and installations, and opened the long-awaited Media Bridge.
Our growing collections allow us to better serve the research needs of our students and faculty. Additionally, thanks to the generosity of donors we were able to kick off our Cass internships for students working in the circulating Science Fiction Collection, provide contactless lockers that save users and staff valuable time and build a secure exhibit case for astronaut John C. Young’s lunar sample to be displayed in the Library in partnership with NASA and Guggenheim School of Aerospace Engineering.
We completed the strategic planning process for the Clough Undergraduate Learning Commons, during which we received input from thousands of students, faculty, and staff across campus. Implementation is underway, and we look forward to realizing its interdisciplinary vision. We also began the process of updating the Library’s strategic plan. You may have seen our information gathering sessions this fall on the Grove Level of Crosland and the first floor of Price Gilbert. Please reach out to us at strategicplanning@library.gatech.edu to provide input – we want to hear from you.
You will see below that we continued to invest in public programming and collaborations with many groups across campus and the region. We do this to expand our reach, engage and serve different audiences, and make certain the Georgia Tech Library and Clough Undergraduate Learning Commons offer something for all members of our community.
And we think its working. This year, we saw 63 percent more people in the Library than in 2022. That led to a huge growth – nearly 800 percent -- in the number of people we helped at INFODesk, our primary point of service. We also saw tremendous growth in the number of people taking our classes and workshops – about 61 percent. It all adds up to what we believe to be a well-functioning service organization dedicated to the research, teaching and learning needs of students, faculty and staff.
With all that said, I am excited to share the Library’s accomplishments in the report below. Please notice we updated the way we present “big picture” success numbers and included several video features so you can delve more deeply into the successes we enjoyed this year with our valued partners.
I look forward to hearing your feedback and seeing you in 2023!
