2022 Impact Report | Georgia Tech Library

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!

2022 At a Glance

Did you know?

Did you know the Library’s audio and video recording studios, located on the third floor of Price Gilbert, saw a 75 percent increase in use last school year?

Reserve a Studio!

2022 Spotlight: Library launches Media Bridge

On March 30 the Georgia Tech Library officially unveiled its first major media installation, the Media Bridge, to campus.

The first in a series of planned media environments throughout the Library, the large-scale digital screen spanning the area between Price Gilbert and Crosland was designed to showcase Tech’s culture of research, scholarship and creativity.

“Through the visualization of data and information, the Library will curate content emphasizing the creative culture of campus, featuring not only innovations in science and technology but also the human stories of our scholarly community engaged in making the connections between innovation, inspiration and understanding,” said Communications Manager Jason Wright.

The Georgia Tech Media Bridge with Stuart Romm and Hunter Spence

Play Video

By the Numbers

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 2022.

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 a bit of context for the data and key takeaways for the year in review.

Physical Item Circulation

Key Takeaways: Circulation

Library Item Requests: The downward trend in total lending is clear from 2016 to 2019 -- the years where the Library was under construction and all materials were in cold storage in the Library Service Center (LSC). Though construction was complete by 2020, the Covid-19 pandemic continued to suppress lending. However, now that the Core, Popular Reading and Science Fiction collections are back in the building, you can see an upward trend emerge, staying relatively steady through 2022. These numbers are bolstered by the Library’s popular Gadgets lending service, which circulated nearly 14,000 instant-reservation items like chargers, headphones, calculators and laptops in 2022. 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.

Library Service Center Item Requests: In this chart you can see the clear effect of the pandemic on physical lending of items from the Library Service Center. Despite bumps in heavy-use times (especially the beginning of each new semester), Core Collection items inside the building are historically the most used. This means fewer requests overall from the Library Service Center.

Library Service Center Item Delivery Time: Thanks to recent hires, delivery wait times from the LSC have leveled out back to their pre-pandemic averages.

Interlibrary Loan: Lending to and from other institutions remains relatively steady in the post-pandemic environment. This is a good indication of our strong partnerships with other schools in the University System of Georgia.

Instruction

Key Takeaways: Instruction

Total Classes Taught and Classes by Attendance: Despite overall numbers remaining consistent, in 2022 the Library interacted with more undergraduate students than ever before as a result of in-person course-integrated instruction. These numbers were also bolstered by one-off, drop-in sessions for classes and options like GT1000, which were not available during the pandemic-affected years of 2020 and 2021. We expect these numbers to grow to pre-pandemic levels as the trend continues.

Reference

Key Takeaways: Reference

Perhaps the clearest sign of the post-pandemic return to campus, in-person help at the INFODesk grew from around 1,500 sessions in 2021 to more than 13,000 last year. These numbers are also reflective of a more rigorous reporting system for in-person help metrics. Online help leveled off after its tremendous growth in 2021—a result of the pandemic – while chat help dropped due to the availability of in-person assistance.

Consultations

Key Takeaways: Consultations

With life returning to normal, overall consultations are dropping as students and faculty spend most of their time on campus. In 2020 and 2021 there was a huge increase in the number of virtual consultations conducted by librarians. In 2022, what would have been a formal virtual consultation is likely converted into informally talking with faculty, walking up to the INFOdesk, using the Library’s 24-hour chat, or visiting the updated online catalog to find the resource.

Web Usage

Key Takeaways: Web Usage

Website usage remained relatively steady in 2022, with growth in the number of mobile devices accessing the web site. An interesting trend in the data is the Library’s refresh of its popular LibGuides reference materials. In 2022 a task group of librarians and archivists vetted every LibGuide, paring them down to the most used information for a more efficient experience. This means that while the guides saw less hits overall, the ones they did receive were more fruitful for the user.

Facilities

Key Takeaways: Facilities

Gate Count and Room Reservations: Life is back to normal in the Library’s physical spaces. More than 1.1 million people visited the Library in 2022, up from about 700,000 the year before. Room reservations in both the Library and Clough are also up substantially. Interestingly, the Library’s room reservations remain steady – because they were almost immediately at full capacity. Clough use, however, exploded last year, going from about 18,000 separate reservations in 2021 to more than 143,000 in 2022.

2022 Spotlight: Gadgets

This summer, the Library's gadgets program overhauled its ordering system, making it easier than ever for students and faculty to request equipment for their projects. Then, in November, the process got much easier for users when a new, 24-hour contactless delivery locker service opened on the Grove Level of Price Gilbert.

Learn more about the impact of the Library's gadgets program in the video to the left.

Did you know?

Did you know that Georgia Tech Library’s gadgets service grew more than 200 percent in 2022, circulating nearly 14,000 instant-reservation items (chargers, headphones, calculators, laptops)? That's a savings of more than $100,000 in fall 2022 alone.

Join the crowd

Our Story

Below you will find highlights from the Georgia Tech Library's incredibly successful year. We start with the Library's first Artist-In-Residence program and artist, Deanna Sirlin, then check out Crosland Chroma from Tristan Al-Haddad. Further down we cover our efforts in community building. 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.

Have you experienced Artist-in-Residence Deanna Sirlin's piece, Watermark, at Crosland Tower's Grove Level entrance? It bathes the Grove Level in color, adding a unique perspective to the space.

Learn more

Inaugural Artist-In-Residence Deanna Sirlin

In January 2022 the Georgia Tech Library announced the first partnership in its Artist-in-Residence program, tapping world-renowned, multi-media visionary Deanna Sirlin to conceptualize, plan and execute a series of student-focused workshops throughout the Spring semester.

Additionally, she created Watermark, a major artwork in dialogue with the Library’s collection and new building.

Sirlin, whose work ranges from large-scale, gestural paintings and monumental in situ installations, to small-scale collages, is perhaps best known for her 1999 installation at the High Museum of Art, Retracings.

Sirlin worked with students both virtually and in the Library’s second-floor Artist-in-Residence (AIR) space.

“We were absolutely thrilled to kick off our Artist-in-Residence program and collaborative space with a talent of Sirlin’s caliber,” said Library Dean Dr. Leslie Sharp. “Tech’s students have long had a passion for the arts, and we are proud to help bring their visions to life.”

Artist-in-Residence Deanna Sirlin kicked off her residency at the Georgia Tech Library Jan. 24 with an open collaborative workshop entitled “Mapping the Text.”

In this video, Sirlin introduces you to the concept of collage.

In April Sirlin hosted an artist talk to celebrate her new Crosland Tower site work: Watermark.

2022 Spotlight: Mbed kits and myDAQ loans

In May 2022, the Library, in partnership with ECE Cares, began offering free myDAQ loans to students in the college of Electrical and Computer Engineering (ECE). A myDAQ — which costs about $220 — is a portable data acquisition device that gives students the power to prototype systems and test circuits. It is utilized in ECE courses 2020, 2040, and 3710.

The Library continued the partnership by starting circulation of nearly 450 mbed kits to students in September. The kits are owned by ECE and circulated by the Library as part of its new Course Reserves Equipment Lending service. Each kit includes an mbed, a ulcd display module, and a 5-way tactile switch. The kits have a 120-day loan period and can be checked out from the INFODesk on the ground floor of Price Gilbert.

“The program actually started with one student saying that the purchasing of a myDAQ was causing a financial hardship,” said Joy Harris, inaugural director of Diversity, Equity and Inclusion Initiatives in Undergraduate Education. “Three hundred dollars is a lot to a college student, so we knew it had to be affecting other students, and we began to look into how we could reduce that hardship.”

Did you know?

Did you know that in fall 2022 the Library’s partnership with ECE for myDAQs and Mbed kits saved students more than $142,206?

Get yours today

Crosland Chroma

In March the Library unveiled Crosland Chroma, the brainchild of two-time Tech graduate and longtime faculty in the School of Architecture Tristan Al-Haddad. Below, you can learn more about the “intersection of public safety and art” through videos exploring its creation, installation, and an interview with Al-Haddad on WABE Atlanta.

Hear Lois Reitzes interview Tristan Al-Haddad on WABE

2022 Spotlight: New electronic resources

More resources for you

With the generous support of the Institute, Provost, and Executive Vice President for Research, the Library was able to expand Georgia Tech's access to scholarly content and primary source collections. You can make recommendations for Library purchases online, which the Library’s Content Management Group will review and prioritize to ensure faculty and students have the resources they need for teaching, learning, research, and scholarship.

See the new acquisitions

Did you know?

Did you know that in 2022 the Library entered into Read and Publish ebook agreements with Cambridge University Press, ACM Open and MIT Press that allowed Tech researchers to make their work open access, saving campus up to $49,000? And in 2023 we are adding the American Chemical Society and Cold Spring Harbor Lab Press so faculty and students won't pay the Article Processing Charges (APCs) for those journals, either.

Learn more

A focus on community building

Throughout 2022, the Library enacted and supported programs to increase the diversity of its collections, services and employees, ensure equitable access to everyone we serve, and create a safe, inclusive space for everyone on and off campus.

In September, the Library hosted an all-female Title IX Panel featuring prominent Georgia Tech letterwinners and coaches. Panelists included: Monique Mead (volleyball team); Bernadette McGlade (former women’s basketball head coach); Kristi Miller-North (women’s tennis team); Jenny Lentz Moore (swimming and diving/track and field teams); Aileen Morales (softball team and current head coach); and Dianna Shelander (diving team). This event was presented by Georgia Tech Athletics and Adidas.

The Library hosted a screening of the Emmy-nominated documentary Picture a Scientist in November. The documentary highlights gender inequality in science and tells the stories of prominent female researchers.

The screening was followed by a panel discussion featuring members of the Georgia Tech community sharing their own stories and experiences as women in STEM.

Karen Manning chosen as BIPOC Networking officer

In 2022, Karen Manning, longtime Metadata Repository Specialist for the Georgia Tech Library, was selected as the inaugural Association of Southeastern Research Libraries (ASERL) Visiting Program Officer for Black, Indigenous, and people of color (BIPOC) Networking.

Learn more

Introducing the Mayor Ivan Allen Digital Archive

In April the Library hosted Revisiting and Archiving Civil Rights and Atlanta in the 1960s: Introducing the Mayor Ivan Allen Digital Archive, a hybrid symposium with the Ivan Allen College of Liberal Arts.

The symposium formally introduced the Mayor Ivan Allen Digital Archive and explored the intersection of archives, Atlanta history, and art.

Learn more

Atlanta Futurism & Black Science Fiction

In November the Library hosted Science Fiction Professor Lisa Yaszek in welcoming the authors of Terminus 2. Authors read selections from their work at the Crosland Tower Stairs then participated in a meet-and-greet afterwards.

Learn more

Did you know?

Did you know Georgia Tech students saved nearly $38,000 last school year by using the Library’s audio and video recording studios (assuming an average cost of $180 per 2-hour session)?

Book your reservation now

Archives secures two 17th century Galileo books

In this video you'll join: Alison Reynolds, Research Services and Instruction Archivist at the Georgia Tech Library; Jim Sowell, Astronomer and Observatory Director at Georgia Tech School of Physics; and Nick Wilding, Professor and Associate Chair of History at Georgia State University, for a virtual exploration and conversation about the Dutch edition of Joan Blaeu’s Grooten Atlas, which was published in Amsterdam between 1662-1665.

Did you know?

Did you know that in 2022 Lost in the Stacks, the original Research Library Rock N' Roll Radio Show produced 40 new episodes, which were download 31,294 times?

Listen Now!

Exhibits

Extension of Self: what it means to be human in a digital age

From August to October, 2022, the Library hosted Extension of Self: what it means to be human in a digital age. Curated by Birney Robert, event coordinator for Tech’s College of Computing, Extension of Self was an accessible art exhibit at the intersection of science and technology.

Design and Making in the Trinidad Carnival: Histories, Re-imaginations, and Speculations of Computational Design Futures

From November until early 2023 the Library hosted Dr. Vernelle Noel’s first physical exhibition, Design and Making in the Trinidad Carnival: Histories, Re-imaginations, and Speculations of Computational Design Futures..

The exhibition is funded by the Graham Foundation for Advanced Studies in the Fine Arts and showcases wire-bending through traditional and technological forms of making.

2022 Spotlight: Wellness Room Opens in December

The Wellness Room, located on the fourth floor of Crosland Tower, opened as a new Library service in December. A private space meant to serve as a temporary escape from the rigors of campus life, the Wellness Room is organized to comfortably accommodate a single person and well-suited to serve a variety of self-care needs. Some common uses include:

serving as a lactation room for nursing mothers;
acting as a reflective space for prayer and meditation;
providing a temporary respite for those with other health or wellness needs.

The room, which is available first-come, first-served, can be booked by seeing a Public Services Associate at the INFODesk on Grove Level of Price Gilbert.

Portfolio Management

Library Portfolio engagement continued to show the value of aligning focus on projects to further the Mission and Vision of the Library, as well as our contribution to the Institute strategic plan. In 2022, 31 new projects were initiated to improve user experience and extend our reach to students and faculty.

Highlights include the partnership with the schools of Architecture and Industrial Design in the College of Design to increase interactivity on the Media Bridge, the Association of Research Libraries Leadership Fellows visit and program, textbook affordability and open educational resource initiatives, and implementing ORCID to support the Executive Vice President for Research's Office initiative around federal research guidelines NSPM-33.