The State of America's Academic Libraries: Things are Looking Up

While reading the ALA Newsletter recently I came across an acrticle about the current state of America's libraries. While I did expect to see a reported increased usage of public libraries due to the current economic and job market states, I was surprised to read that America's academic libraries were also experiencing an increased usage. According to the article,

America’s academic libraries are experiencing increased use, both physical and virtual. The National Center for Education Statistics (NCES) reports academic libraries have more than 20.3 million visits per week (1.5 million more than two years earlier), answered more than 1.1 million reference questions, and made more than 498,000 presentations to groups. Almost 95 percent of students use their academic library’s website at least once a week, according to one study of students and technology, and nine out of 10 college students surveyed in another study said they turned to libraries “for online scholarly research databases . . . for conducting course-related research, valuing the resources for credible content, in-depth information, and the ability to meet instructors’ expectations.”

Although I expected to see an increased usage of the libraries online websites, seeing that students are still using the physical building as well is comforting to me. This means that more and more academic libraries are providing more services for students and services that students actually want to take advantage of. This also means that students aren't viewing the library as a negative place. They are beginning to see the library again, and the librarians, as portals to information and reserach. Academic libraries and librarians should be proud of this and should continue to improve their services, both phyiscal and virutal, and continue to entice students to come to the library.

"Recession drives more Americans to libraries in search of employment resources; but funding lags demand" American Libraries Direct 4/14/2010