Library seating capacity - your participation is appreciated!

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Martha Kyrillidou

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Jan 26, 2026, 3:14:19 PMJan 26
to ARL ASSESS, Hoseth,Amy
We invite you to participate in the following survey: 


Amy Hoseth, Colorado State University Libraries, and Martha Kyrillidou, QualityMetrics LLC, are collaborating to explore changes to the seating capacity of research libraries. We are launching this survey to gather data from US and Canadian research libraries related to the seating availability in library buildings and the shift among different types of space. 

Some of the data collected by this survey serves as an update to the ARL facilities inventory data collected in 2015, in a more streamlined and simplified fashion. The survey is configured to be completed in one seating so feel free to print the page and come back to it with the data at hand (pdf survey form is also attached).

We plan to share the results with participating libraries.  If libraries are interested in collecting and comparing data at the building  level, we will also capture this interest for future work with that subset of libraries.

Responses are due no later than Tuesday, March 31. 

We will hold a webinar on Tuesday, April 28, at 3:00 ET / 2:00 CT / 1:00 MT/ 12:00 PT to discuss the results with all the participating libraries.

Thank you in advance for your participation!

Amy Hoseth, Colorado State University Libraries
Martha Kyrillidou, QualityMetrics LLC


Martha Kyrillidou, PhD, MEd, MLS | QualityMetrics, LLC | Helping Libraries Achieve Success

I work flexibly - so whilst it suits me to email now, I do not expect a response or action outside of your own working hours.


ResearchLibrarySeatsSurveyForm.pdf

Janet Clarke

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Feb 12, 2026, 2:01:59 PMFeb 12
to Martha Kyrillidou, ARL ASSESS, Hoseth,Amy, Xian Bak
Hi Martha and Amy:  Stony Brook University is interested in participating.

We have a few questions:

-For #5: What is meant by "user seats managed by non-library units within library facilities"?  We share the main library building with other tenants but they are not "within" library-designated spaces.  For example, the School of Communication and Journalism is in our main library building, but they are in a non-library managed floor.  Does that space info get counted for this question?  Or do we only report non-library spaces within library spaces we control in this building?  (#7b and 7d will depend on your answer to this question for #5.)

-We have libraries in multiple campuses and buildings.  Do they all get counted, or just the main library building use?

I think those are our questions initially.  I've included Xian Bak, Data Librarian, who is preparing to help with this survey.  Xian, please add any questions you may have.

Thank you all.
Janet

* * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * *
Janet H. Clarke
Associate Dean, Research & Learning
Stony Brook University Libraries
W-1518, Melville Library
Stony Brook University
Stony Brook, NY 11794

Clarke, JH., Kretz, C., and Fena, C. (2025). "It's not scary: A university-high school collaboration to rethink approaches to information literacy." Journal of Academic Librarianship 51 (103146).

Stony Brook colleagues: Did a member of University Libraries do something amazing for you? Please consider sending them a Gratitude Gram today! 


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Hoseth,Amy

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Feb 18, 2026, 4:52:52 PMFeb 18
to Janet Clarke, Martha Kyrillidou, ARL ASSESS, Xian Bak, Hoseth,Amy
Hello Janet (& Xian, too!)

Thank you for your note, and your patience while we circle back around to reply. Too many things going on!

In response to your questions:

  • For #5, you should report only user seats within officially assigned library spaces. So in your case, you should not report data for the School of Communication & Journalism space, since it is not managed/assigned to the library.
  • Yes, please report the total number of seats and square footage across all library locations. If it is easier to complete a separate survey for each location, please feel free to do so!

I hope that answers your questions. If you need further clarification, please let us know!

Thanks,
Amy



From: Janet Clarke <janet....@stonybrook.edu>
Sent: Thursday, February 12, 2026 12:01 PM
To: Martha Kyrillidou <martha.k...@gmail.com>
Cc: ARL ASSESS <arl-a...@arl.org>; Hoseth,Amy <Amy.H...@ColoState.EDU>; Xian Bak <xian...@stonybrook.edu>
Subject: Re: [ARL-ASSESS] Library seating capacity - your participation is appreciated!
 

** Caution: EXTERNAL Sender **

Janet Clarke

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Feb 19, 2026, 8:00:11 AMFeb 19
to Hoseth,Amy, Martha Kyrillidou, ARL ASSESS, Xian Bak
Hi Amy:  This is very helpful.  Thank you.

* * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * *
Janet H. Clarke
Associate Dean, Research & Learning
Stony Brook University Libraries
W-1518, Melville Library
Stony Brook University
Stony Brook, NY 11794

Clarke, JH., Kretz, C., and Fena, C. (2025). "It's not scary: A university-high school collaboration to rethink approaches to information literacy." Journal of Academic Librarianship 51 (103146).

Stony Brook colleagues: Did a member of University Libraries do something amazing for you? Please consider sending them a Gratitude Gram today! 

Martha Kyrillidou

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Mar 6, 2026, 9:43:48 AM (8 days ago) Mar 6
to ARL ASSESS, Hoseth,Amy
Just a gentle reminder that the deadline is at the end of this month. - Martha


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