UW-Parkside Library More Popular than Ever

SOMERS – The UW-Parkside Library has seen a dramatic increase in student activity and traffic over the years. And in the 2018-2019 academic year, another record has been set: the highest number of study room bookings to date. There were 5,453 study room bookings in 2017-2018, a significant increase over the 4,007 bookings the previous year. In fact, it’s an over 280% increase from the 1,943 bookings recorded in the 2012-2013 academic year.

Anna Stadick, Library Director at UW-Parkside, attributes this dramatic increase in student traffic to a number of things. “Personally, I think that is due to marketing and to the new design of the new rooms: Wisconsin, Study, Basement, 1968, color-themed rooms, and literature genre rooms on the 3rd floor,” said Stadick. One important distinction to note is that the general public cannot reserve the study rooms. They are for student-use only. Parkside students also use them frequently without a reservation, so the numbers listed are on the conservative side.

Parkside students aren’t just visiting the library to engage in their studies, however. The library has remained an important fixture in the campus community because of everything it offers.

The Library houses a collection of over 356,000 volumes, 11,000 audio visual titles, over 100,000 electronic books, and maintains subscriptions to 1200 e-periodicals or e-journals. In addition, the Library offers access to over 200 databases; all are available remotely to UW-Parkside faculty, staff and students. Special library collections include rare books, periodicals, first editions, artist books, collections of works by noted local authors including Irving Wallace and David Kherdian, and a collection of 18th and 19th century British and American plays collected by the late H. O. Teisberg. The University Archives houses the collections of the Wisconsin Historical Society relevant to Racine and Kenosha counties and local manuscript collections, all open for research by any member of the public. Its Digital Collections include over 11,500 images online.

In addition to an impressive collection of materials and excellent amenities, the UW-Parkside library offers a variety of events, including Community Read, which includes activities such as escape rooms, book discussions, art shows, bingo, trivia, and more. This year’s Community Read is all about Stephen King’s ‘Joyland.’ The general public can use the open spaces of the library, get a community borrower card for an annual fee, use available computers, and take part in Community Read events.

In fact, more people are being driven to the library than ever before. According to a Gallup poll cited in Smithsonian Magazine, Americans went to the library more often than the movies in 2019. In a poll conducted in December of last year, with a sample of 1,025 adults across all 50 states and the District of Columbia, Gallup asked participants how many times they had engaged in nine different leisure activities over the past year. Of the activities listed, going to the library emerged as the winner, with an average of 10.5 trips.

For more information about the UW-Parkside Library, please visit the website: https://libguides.uwp.edu/community

For more information about Community Read, please visit the website: https://libguides.uwp.edu/communityread.

For more information about library visits in 2019, follow this link: https://www.smithsonianmag.com/smart-news/americans-went-library-more-often-movies-2019-180974091/

**

Media Contact
Anna Stadick
Library Director
University of Wisconsin-Parkside
stadick@uwp.edu
262-595-2167