The University’s office of Institutional Research and Assessment launched a new assessment tool last fall, and the libraries was one of the first departments to try it out. It’s called a Quick Poll, and we used it to gather data on the use of study rooms at Charles.
These polls are short 1-2 question surveys that appear when students, faculty or staff log onto their Temple portal. The visibility and ease of completion mean that participation rates are very high. Our poll was fielded between November 8 and November 22 2025, and in that brief period, we received 4954 responses! As those responses roll in, they are available immediately to the research team (myself, Caitlin Shanley, Jackie Sipes, Steven Bell, Justin Hill and Evan Weinstein).
The expectation for quick polls is that we take quick action too – our team has already put together some next steps to improve the student experience with study room
Our poll was just three questions. We first asked whether or not students use the study rooms at Charles.
Of the 4954 students responding to the poll, about 2/3 do use the study rooms at Charles. That’s good news.
| Do you use the study rooms? | Count | % |
| Yes | 3246 | 65.52% |
| No | 1708 | 34.48% |
| Grand Total | 4954 | 100.00% |
For those that do not use the study rooms, we asked why not. This was a fixed response question, and provides some insights towards improvements we might make.
| Why not? | Count | % |
| Do not use the library | 393 | 28.46% |
| Other study spaces are sufficient for my needs | 374 | 27.08% |
| Did not know about them | 217 | 15.71% |
| Other | 199 | 14.41% |
| The reservation system is too confusing | 198 | 14.34% |
| Grand Total | 1381 | 100.00% |
For instance, over 15% of the students responding say they don’t use the rooms because they don’t know about them. There’s a messaging opportunity. About 14% don’t use the study rooms because the system is too confusing. Here’s an oppotunity for Jackie Sipes, our User Experience Librarian to collaborate with Justin Hill in Access Services to streamline the process – to the extent possible in Springshare’s reservation software system.
Our third question had students tell us how they used the rooms. This information aligns with what we observe. About 43% use the rooms as part of a group, and a large portion also use the spaces for quiet study.
| Activity in Study Room (Up to 3) | Count | % |
| Studying alone in a quiet space | 1745 | 27.65% |
| Working on class assignments with others | 1496 | 23.70% |
| Working independently alongside friends (co-working) | 1211 | 19.19% |
| Using special features in the rooms (for example, whiteboard, large monitor, electrical outlet) | 794 | 12.58% |
| Participating in online classes or meetings (for example, via Zoom) | 644 | 10.20% |
| Meeting with a student organization | 207 | 3.28% |
| Eating | 191 | 3.03% |
| Other | 23 | 0.36% |
| 6311 | 100.00% |
As noted, the poll has provided us with solid numbers to guide us in tweaking our reservation system. In addition to communication and clarifying the reservation process, we will tighten up the reservation system by reminding students of upcoming room reservations and use QR codes in the individual study rooms to make reservations easy.
Concrete changes that should maximize our space utilization and enhance the student experience at the same time.