OUR LIBRARY IN NUMBERS
This year, Priddy Library received over 500 consultation and reference questions. Consultations are primarily one-to-one in-depth research assistance provided by subject specialist liaison librarians. Librarians, on average, spend 60 minutes on each consultation. Reference questions, which tend to be more informational, are answered on average within five minutes.
The University of Maryland, Baltimore (UMB) and the University of Maryland, Baltimore County (UMBC) offer programs with some of the highest enrollment numbers among USG institutions. These programs (nursing, psychology, and social work) also tend to have assignments that require library research. Generally, Priddy Library’s reference
and consultation numbers are often highest in these two institutions. However, this past year, the University of Maryland, College Park (UMCP) joined near the top of the list, with a high number of requests from Business and Communication students (two programs with strong connections to the library). Students from all nine partner institutions at USG, as well as those from Montgomery College, were served by our service desk.
All request types are higher at the start of the semesters; more so for the fall semester, when most students begin their programs. Even with some virtual and hybrid courses offered, the majority of requests were consistently for in-person services, demonstrating the demand for in-person instruction.
Instruction and Workshops
A major area that librarians serve students is by teaching in-class instruction sessions and workshops. This year, almost 1,000 students attended these instruction sessions. An additional 1,000 current and potential students were reached through just a handful of open houses and orientation sessions. Priddy Library workshops continue to be offered in a hybrid format, with the majority of attendees being virtual.
Subject Guides
Research/course guides continue to be a valuable resource for students and faculty. While there was a drop in usage during the Fall 2024 semester, numbers increased dramatically in 2025 (specifically for courses not offered in the Fall semester). Also during that time, two new guides were added: HIST 488 - Europe, 1914 to the Present (course guide), and What’s On Your Plate? (subject guide) which was created to accompany a special library exhibit.
Library Usage
In FY25, staffing constraints required a reduction in operating hours during the Fall and Spring semesters, which we accommodated by changing our standard closing time from 10pm to 8pm, and temporarily ending our Night Owls program. Despite these changes, the trend of solid library use continued, with the average number of library patrons for any given hour declining by only 4% year-on-year. Our commitment to making scheduling cuts as efficiently as possible meant that, despite a 14% reduction in hours, we only saw an 11% decline in visitors.
Research Consultations & Reference Help
Course Reserves
As always, our Course Reserves section contained physical copies of all available required texts for classes at USG, with over 445 volumes to support students who have difficulty purchasing their class textbooks, including 127 new and updated volumes for this year. This represents the overwhelming majority of our acquisitions for the year, because we have prioritized purchasing the titles that USG students need the most to succeed in their degree programs.
