Has the library outlived its usefulness in the age of Internet? You’d be surprised

Iven only the above numbers, the hasty conclusion would seem to be that everything is online and nobody uses academic libraries any more. But not so fast. Even while circulation and reference transaction numbers were tanking, the data show a steady increase in the number of people actually setting foot in academic libraries. The cumulative weekly gate count for the 60 largest U.S. academic libraries increased nearly 39 percent from 2000 to 2012. Library gate count data for all U.S. institutions of higher education show a similar (38 percent) increase from 1998 to 2012.