2023 Impact Report

In accordance with the Institute's core values of being responsible stewards and acting ethically, the Library is proud to present this look at the data driving our decision-making in 2023.

Below you will find interactive Tableau visualizations, allowing the reader insight into each data point for the last several years. Feel free to choose the views and visualizations you feel are most informative.

Under each visualization you will find more context for the data and key takeaways for the year in review.

Circulation

Key Takeaways: Circulation

• Total physical item circulation: Physically circulating items, like Gadgets and books, grew more than 26 percent in 2023, topping out at nearly 22,000 items. These statistics are bolstered mainly through the lending of Gadgets, which remains a growing service year over year.
• A closer look | Gadgets circulation: Here we see the overall growth of Gadgets circulation over 2022. With nearly 17,000 total Gadgets circulated in 2023, the service grew some 49 percent over last year. Internal studies have shown that from 2019 to 2022 Georgia Tech’s student population increased by about 19 percent, but Library Gadgets use increased by 215 percent. That equals about ten Gadget uses for every new student.
• A closer look | Library Service Center Item Requests: Items requested and delivered from the Library Service Center, the climate-controlled facility jointly operated by Georgia Tech and Emory, remained consistent. In 2023, we saw slightly more than 4 percent growth.
• Library Service Center Item Delivery Time: Average delivery time for 2023 rose slightly from 2022, from about 27 hours to just over 33. This increase is due to staffing shortages at the Library Service Center, part of a larger trend in employment since the pandemic. Please note: Months where averages jump drastically are caused by holidays during which the LSC was closed
• Interlibrary Loan: Interlibrary loan lending remained virtually unchanged from 2022 to 2023, indicating the Library continued to meet on campus and virtual user needs without resorting to outside lending.

Instruction

Key Takeaways: Instruction

• Instruction | Classes by Category: Overall instruction dropped about 4.5 percent in 2023, largely due to fewer walk-in workshops, a result of several key faculty members leaving. Despite that downward trend, course-integrated instruction, where Library faculty or staff gave specialized instruction in an existing for credit class, jumped dramatically in 2023, rising 43 percent.   
• Instruction | Attendance: Despite fewer instructional offerings overall, there was an increase in the total attendance for courses offered from just over 11,000 to nearly 12,380. This represents an increase of 12 percent year over year. The largest portion of this audience is undergraduates, which grew some 43 percent over 2022.
• Instruction | Classes by Department: English 1101 and 1102: classes represent the bulk of course integrated workshops. The number grew 87 percent in 2023, from 90 to 168.

Consultations

Key Takeaways: Consultations

• Research consultations: Research consultations decreased in 2023 about 23 percent from 651 to 504. Like the decrease in drop-in workshops, this drop is due to key faculty members leaving.
• Consultations by Department: This graph simply gives insight into the departments meeting with faculty and students.

In-person and online help

Key Takeaways: In-person and online help

• INFODesk Help: Interactions with Public Services staff (those working at the INFODesk on Grove Level of Price Gilbert or overseeing the web chat and phones) exploded in 2023, increasing more than 128 percent. The largest growth was for in-person walk-ups to the desk, meaning more students than ever are using on campus help options.
• Web Chat Help: Correspondingly, users who chose to chat with Public Services staff online decreased some 21 percent over last year. This is part of the larger trend of a post-pandemic return to campus.

E-Resources

Key Takeaways: E-Resources

• E-Resources Usage: Overall use of electronic resources increased nearly 40 percent in 2023, growing from 4.11 million to 5.838 million downloads. Recent acquisitions pushing those numbers include Historical Black Newspapers, the LGBT Magazine Archive, and the ProQuest Digital National Security Archive. This trend is expected to continue and was the driving factor in the decision to build the climate-controlled Library Service Center to house physical collections.
• Website Pageviews: Views of the Library’s website dropped slightly in 2023 from more than 701,000 to nearly 686,000 – a change of about 2 percent. This graph displays data for only part of 2022, as the Library changed website vendors that year.

Gate count and room reservations

Key Takeaways: Gate count and room reservations

• Public Programming and Event Coordination in Price Gilbert, Crosland and Clough: For the first time, the Library was able to track the total number of events throughout its three-building complex thanks to a transition to the LibCal booking system. Note: The Wilby Room on Crosland Grove Level was utilized by Georgia Tech’s Tutoring Services while their spaces were under construction in Clough Undergraduate Learning Commons.
• Gate Count for Price Gilbert and Crosland: Overall gate count decreased slightly in 2023, dropping around 7.5 percent from 1.129  to 1.044 million. These numbers are approximate, as the system counting daily users aged out in 2023. Starting in December, the Library launched a new occupancy monitoring system, and we expect the numbers for 2024 will be exact.

Archives

Key Takeaways: Archives

• Reading Room usage: Archives Reading Room usage decreased in 2023 by about 24 percent, largely due to truncated hours from staffing shortages.
• Archives Instruction: Despite those same staffing shortages, Archives and Special Collections faculty and staff were able to teach 10 more courses in 2023, increasing attendance for those classes by about 15 percent.

Below you will find highlights from the Georgia Tech Library's incredibly successful year. We start with our partnership with Artist-in-Residence Tristan Al-Haddad, then explore our efforts to welcome everyone to the Library, regardless of first language spoken. From there we look at how we brought new resources to students, then detail our faculty and staff achievements throughout 2023. We conclude with Archives, including our exhibits this year, and a look at how we align our portfolio management process with the Institute's Strategic Goals.

Clough Undergraduate Learning Commons by Graduate Student Trisha Mitra

Throughout 2023 the Library partnered with former Georgia Tech assistant professor and double-graduate Jacket Tristan Al-Haddad for the second installment of the Artist-In-Residence program. Al-Haddad, who also designed and implemented the Library’s seventh-floor roof terrace Crosland Chroma project, said his "RAW AIR" project “seeks to transform the written knowledge stored in the library into large-scale, interpretive drawings across the north façade of the building.”

“We are delighted to welcome Tristan into the Library once again to grace us with his unique artistry and vision,” said Dean Leslie Sharp. “I am excited to see his project take shape through the marrying of student creativity with his experience as an artist and teacher.”

For this project, robotically enabled machines translated the library’s information resources into a sprawling work of art spanning a whole side of the Judge S. Price Gilbert Memorial Library (this work took place in January, 2024). The work will be co-created by students and executed by the human-style painting robot from Ph.D. student Gerry Chen.