Georgia Library Spotlight

As a creative partner for the Georgia Institute of Technology academic community, the Georgia Tech Library stands at the heart of student learning and faculty research and teaching. Over the past decade, the Library has transformed from a building filled with millions of print materials to become a portal for digital resources and vibrant place for scholarly interaction.

Currently, the Library complex includes four buildings: the Price Gilbert Memorial Library, Crosland Tower, the Architecture Library, and most recently, the G. Wayne Clough Undergraduate Learning Commons.

The Library strives to empower and enrich the Georgia Tech community by providing academic support in both physical and virtual spaces.

2011 Statistics Snapshot

• The Library’s collection includes over 2.5 million volumes and the Library provides access to over 91,000 e-Books and 26,000 e-Journals. 
• The Georgia Tech Archives maintains a 4,332 volume Rare Book Collection, as well as a 12,000-volume Science Fiction Collection
• There were 1.2 million visits to the Library website and 3.3 million database searches in 2011.
• SMARTech, the institutional repository has over 33,500 items including more than 15,000 Georgia Tech theses and dissertations.

User-Centered Library Commons Design

Library faculty and staff actively seek the involvement of users to innovate library spaces and suggest next steps needed in library transformations. 

In 2002, the Library embarked on a series of experiments to create user-centered learning spaces, which resulted in the creation of the Library West and East Commons. The Library West Commons (LWC) opened that year featuring a Productivity Computer Cluster, Multimedia Studio, and Rehearsal Studio. The Library East Commons (LEC) is a mixed-use, flexible space designed for collaborative work and academic socializing. Within the LEC, there are a variety of learning tools, flexible furniture, collaborative computing resources, and performance and exhibit areas. Plans for user-driven designs continued in 2008 as students provided feedback for the renovation of a popular study area – 2 West. Students provided input on the atmosphere, furniture, workflow and functions, and technology. Most recently, a new Library Service Desk opened in fall 2011 to serve as a one-stop, single service point for users to obtain both research assistance and serve circulation needs.

The LWC, LEC and 2 West experiments informed the design of the Institute’s visible commitment to undergraduate academic success: the G. Wayne Clough Undergraduate Learning Commons, which opened in August 2011. 

G. Wayne Clough Undergraduate Learning Commons

The Clough Commons is a 220,000 sq. ft., sustainably designed facility created in response to Georgia Tech’s growing undergraduate student population. The facility is designed to demonstrate both academic success and sustainability at work. The Clough Commons unifies many components of undergraduate learning into a centralized location including: classes, laboratories for first-year students, study space, tutoring, advising, and technology support. Key support units from the Library and academic affairs are highly visible and accessible. In the Clough Commons, students discover undergraduate research opportunities, access tutoring help, obtain writing and communications support, and engage in cross-disciplinary experiences. The Clough Commons is physically connected to, and managed by, the Library making this complex a true crossroads of academic enrichment and innovative learning for the Institute.

For more information on the Georgia Tech Library, please visit http://library.gatech.edu/.