Understanding Libraries

Understanding Collection Usage

Extensive data collection and analysis helped inform the understanding of current use and projected growth, decline of the physical and increase of digital collections, and physical space uses.

Statistics for consideration

Since 2006

• Faculty use of print down 36%
• Undergrad use of print down 54%
• Grad student use of print down 69%
• Memorial Library circulation and renewals decreased 55% from 2006 to 2017
• Memorial Library recorded browses decreased 65% from 2006 to 2017
• 75% of the monograph collection has not circulated since 2006
• 12% of the collection accounts for 80% of the total usage

The Libraries will still continue to add to our print collections. Currently, we add approximately 60,000 print volumes to our collection each year.

Strong use of Online Resources

Electronic Journals

• 6M articles views / year

Rapid increase in use of ebooks

• 2,367,934 e-book chapter views  (in 2017. A 40% increase over the previous year).
  • 36% of use (humanities titles)
  • 37% of use (social sciences)
  • 25% of use (STEM books)
  • 2% of use (Other)

Understanding Space Usage in the Libraries

Space occupied by Collections

• 327,000 square feet – current space occupied by collections
• 128,800 – proposed on-campus collections space square footage in Master Plan

Additional Library Service Statistics

The Libraries provide the campus community with several other highly-used services.

• 6,400,843 library website visits / year (second most used website on campus next to the main UW-Madison website)
• Streaming videos facilitated through the libraries
  • 534% increase since program roll-out
    • 6,900 hours (287.5 days worth) of videos watched in 2017 (humanities and social sciences were the primary title requests)
• 61,669 interlibrary loan requests,
• 212,036 research guide consultations
• 27,579 laptop computers borrowed
• 44,398 library study rooms reserved
• 362,920 items checked out