Library Gate Count Overview

The proposed Title V activities are geared toward the improvement of  the library's services and learning environment, and are aligned with the changing habits of student information gathering.  The facility is now more conducive to 21st century collaborative learning. Title V activities also are intended to lead to increase in library gate count. Activity objectives for the development of the Library Learning Commons  focus on:  improving collaborative learning experiences, enhancing technological proficiency, improving information access, and effective communication for diverse learners and at risk students.  By providing new programs and resources in support of these goals, we have experienced an exponential increase in library usage. Objective #2 specified an increase of 5% in Library usage - we have exceeded this objective in each year of the Grant.

We are also improving how we track gate count, moving from paper in pre-2009, to counter based tracking and for fall 2011, we have installed new counters that also reflect time of day and and week.  These new counters will also be deployed in Bronx, Manhattan and Yorktown.

Objectives/Progress

2010-11:  The Dobbs Ferry Learning Commons continues to dominate campus life by providing the primary go-to location for student work, study, collaboration, relaxation and multiple combinations therein.  As a result of the integration of multiple points of service, including the Learning Center and Online Learning, the library has experienced increased gate count each year.  The headcount in 2009-2010 increased by 60K or 125% in the first year of operations.  In 2010-2011 the gate count continued to increase by an additional 52K, or 27%.  Cumulative and sample month tables are below:

2009-10: The results of the comparative gate count calculated for the period 2009 through 2010 exceeded expectations, showing  significant increases in library attendance and usage  since the transformation of our traditional library to the Library Learning Commons.The transformation involved 15,000 square feet of space that contains: areas devoted to quiet study and group work, an art gallery, the Learning Center, classrooms with state- of- the- art instructional technology and a cafe. The library facility improvements, academic activities, and ongoing service enhancements have made our Library Learning Commons a high traffic, lively location  that is reflected  in the 2009/2010 gate count as an average increase of 125%