Here in the Duke University Libraries, we want to know what people really think of us. Every few years, we survey the student body to understand how and why they use the library, and to get feedback on existing and potential library services, collections, and spaces. The surveys also help us identify services that students aren’t necessarily aware of, and to empower library staff with data to use in decision-making.
This year, approximately 2,100 Duke students responded to our call for feedback, divided almost evenly between undergraduates and graduate students. They also offered some 1,500 free-text comments for us to mull over. Their responses were occasionally flattering (“The Music Library staff are among the warmest, most friendly, and genuinely helpful staff I have ever worked with”) and frequently frank (“The desks are dirty and I have to carry wet wipes with me”).
What follows are a few of the more interesting highlights and insights. Over the next few months, we will be taking a deep dive into the survey data and ultimately use it to make service enhancements, expenditures, and other library improvements. Feedback is what helps libraries grow, and the more input we get, the better we’re able to renovate, rethink, and improve our offerings for the next class of Blue Devils. When libraries and students work together, everybody wins!
More Fun Facts from the Survey
When asked “Where do you typically start searching for sources for a research paper or project?” humanities students are the least likely to start with generative AI (71%: Never)
40% of male students frequently or always start with AI in searching for information, compared with 23% of females and 18% of nonbinary students
73% of students surveyed have never scheduled a one-on-one research consultation with a librarian, but those who have reported high levels of satisfaction
12% of students surveyed frequentlyoralways come to the library to take video calls, while nearly half of all students do this sometimes
Roughly half of all students surveyed never socialize or eat in the library
Changes We Made in Response to Past User Surveys
New solo study spaces: Students asked for more solo study spaces, so we added four reservable study carrels and two soundproof booths.
Artwork that reflects our student population: Students asked for improvements to the artwork in our spaces to better reflect the diversity of the Duke community. We formed a visual diversity committee and completed several projects to feature new artwork in our spaces.
Demystifying interlibrary loans: 30% of students didn’t understand how to use this service, so we made major changes to the interlibrary requests form to make it easier for users.
Increased textbook lending: Students asked for more textbooks to be available from the library. We purchased textbooks for the 100 highest enrollment classes at Duke and made them available for three-hour checkout at the library.
Easier access to online articles and research materials: Students asked for help getting access to library resources while off campus. We collected helpful tools and instructions into a single, clear page. And we licensed the New York Times and The Atlantic for all students, including full website and mobile app access.
All-gender restrooms: Students asked for more publicity around the all-gender restrooms in the libraries. We created new signage to direct people to them.
You may know that the Gothic Reading Room in Duke’s Rubenstein Library is one of the university’s most photographed spots. But did you know that all the books lining its wood-paneled walls were published by Duke University Press?
This year, Duke University Press is celebrating its centennial, marking one hundred years of interdisciplinary scholarship. Founded in 1926, the press has grown alongside the university into one of the ten largest and most influential university presses in the world. To mark the occasion, the Press is inviting readers, scholars, and the public to engage with this legacy and look ahead to its next hundred years through a series of events and programs throughout the year—including a special library exhibit opening August 19, 2026, in the Rubenstein Library’s Mary Duke Biddle Room.
Stay tuned for details, and visit duke.is/dup100 to find out more.
Showcasing Women’s Stories at Duke, Past and Present
More than 500 Duke alumnae and friends returned to campus this past February for networking, connection, and learning as part of Duke Women’s Weekend. Now in its ninth year, the three-day event opened with a special show-and-tell in the David M. Rubenstein Rare Book & Manuscript Library of rare and unique works documenting women’s history. The richness of women’s experiences are reflected in the diversity of the Rubenstein Library’s holdings, from athletics memorabilia dating from Duke’s Woman’s College to scientific works by women, one-of-a-kind artists’ books, and even a secret library of German literary classics hidden inside a sewing box. Over the course of Women’s Weekend, attendees also heard from 100 speakers covering topics such as building meaningful connections through mentorship, cultivating creativity, prioritizing health and wellness, and launching new careers.
Photo by Brian Mullins
Highlighting Black Lives in the Archives
Every April, the John Hope Franklin Research Center in the Rubenstein Library hosts an open house inviting the public to get a hands-on feel for Black history. From rare first-edition books, to published works exploring Black history in Durham, to publications by Black students at Duke, visitors are encouraged to browse, touch, and explore the richness of Black culture preserved in the archives.
Pictured here at the most recent Black Lives in Archives event in April 2026, Duke alumna Catherine LeBlanc T’71 (right) poses with an 1850 first edition of the Narrative of Sojourner Truth alongside Franklin Research Center director John Gartrell. In 1969, LeBlanc was part of a group of students who seized the Allen Building, the university’s main administration building, to bring attention to the needs of Black students. The Allen Building Takeover is an important chapter in Duke’s institutional history, a chapter that’s now preserved in the Duke University Archives thanks to LeBlanc and her peers.
Book About the Stolen Children of Argentina Wins Méndez Award
A new book about a group of women who banded together to reunite families during a dark chapter of Argentina’s history is this year’s winner of the Juan E. Méndez Book Award for Human Rights in Latin America. The Rubenstein Library’s Human Rights Archive is a co-sponsor of the award.
In the book, A Flower Traveled in my Blood (2025), journalist Haley Cohen Gilliland documents how the Abuelas de Plaza de Mayo set out to find their grandchildren, abducted by the military junta in the 1970s and 1980s. Gilliland visited Duke this April to accept the award and talk about the book.
“They were not politically influential. They didn’t have money,” Gilliland said about the Abuelas. “While individually and alone they were powerless, banding together and working together as a collective, they were really powerful… There’s a powerful lesson just about how the truth will come out if there are people dedicated to surfacing it.”
First awarded in 2008, the Méndez Human Rights Book Award honors the best current nonfiction book published in English on human rights, democracy, and social justice in contemporary Latin America. The books are evaluated by a panel of expert judges drawn from academia, journalism, human rights, and public policy circles.
Libraries Sign on to National Statement of Shared AI Practice
The Duke University Libraries is a founding signatory to a national “Statement of Shared Practice on AI and Archives,” a coalition of research libraries establishing shared principles on how to manage collection requests from artificial intelligence developers.
Drafted by the University of Virginia Library and co-signed by eleven other university library systems, including Duke, the statement aims to prevent archival, manuscript, rare and special collections materials from being misused, as AI developers increasingly seek access to them.
“The question before us is not whether to engage with AI, but on what terms, for what purposes and with what protections for the communities and collections we serve,” the statement says.
Endorsement of the statement is open to all libraries, archives, museums, and other institutions that steward unique cultural materials, which are entrusted to such institutions by donors and communities for long-term preservation.
A primary concern behind the statement is that current AI training methods “absorb” these materials into their systems irreversibly, severing the provenance connecting knowledge to its origins, and making it impossible to trace which specific archival materials informed an AI model’s response.
Ultimately, the goal of the shared practice statement is to encourage leaders of cultural heritage institutions to discuss AI and training requests in a way that contributes to scholarly innovation, but without giving away unique archival materials irresponsibly. Read the full statement online: at.virginia.edu/AIStatement.
Preserving the Legacy of Consumer Reports at Duke
In March, representatives from Consumer Reports joined Duke faculty and librarians for a panel discussion and gallery talks celebrating our semester-long exhibit in the Chappell Family Gallery, Test, Inform, Protect: The Consumer Reports Archives at Duke University. The exhibit, which is also available online, explores the history and impact of Consumer Reports over its 90-year history.
The panel included several leaders from Consumer Reports, who commented on the evolution of the organization and the impact it has had on the consumer movement. Jen Shecter, Vice President of Content for Consumer Reports, praised the library exhibit for capturing the organization’s spirit, noting that its founders were “scientists, engineers and journalists by trade, and idealists, rebels, and advocates by heart.”
Consumer Reports donated its extensive archive to the Hartman Center for Sales, Advertising, and Marketing History—part of the Rubenstein Library—in 2019. This influential record of research, investigative reporting, and advocacy is now available and open to scholars, students, and the public, documenting how the organization’s long and colorful history of independent testing has shaped a safer, more transparent marketplace for all.
Photo by Erin Scannell, HuthPhoto
Her Fight, His Name Wins 2026 Rubenstein Library Human Rights Digital Storytelling Award
The 2026 Human Rights Digital Storytelling Award, presented by the David M. Rubenstein Rare Book & Manuscript Library, has been awarded to Her Fight, His Name: The Story of Gwen Carr and Eric Garner, directed by Brad Bailey in association with Gwen Carr and the Mothers of the Movement.
The documentary centers on Carr’s enduring fight for justice following the 2014 death of her son, Eric Garner, at the hands of police. Garner’s final words, “I can’t breathe,” became a rallying cry in protests against police violence and systemic racism across the United States.
The film follows Carr’s testimony, organizing, and advocacy work, offering viewers rare access to the sustained emotional and political labor required to pursue accountability. By foregrounding Carr’s perspective, the documentary restores depth and humanity to a story often reduced to viral footage.
“While the film presents a powerful portrait of Gwen Carr’s advocacy, only a small portion of the interviews appear on screen,” said Patrick Stawski, Human Rights Archivist at the Rubenstein Library. “Through this award, the full interviews will be preserved at the Rubenstein Library and made available to students and researchers, ensuring that the deeper record of lived experience and testimony remains accessible for generations.”
The Rubenstein Library Digital Storytelling Award is co-sponsored by the Human Rights Archive and the Archive of Documentary Arts at the David M. Rubenstein Rare Book & Manuscript Library. The award seeks to support outstanding documentary artists/activists exploring human rights and social justice, while expanding the digital documentary holdings in the archive and ensuring long-term preservation and access to their work. Winners receive $2,500 and are invited to present their work at Duke.
New Unified Library Search Platform Goes Live
In early May 2026, after nearly eight months of hard work behind the scenes, the Duke University Libraries launched a new unified Library Search platform that replaces our previous online catalog for books and media and our former search engine for finding articles and online resources.
The new Library Search interface provides a simple, unified system that makes it easier for users to find items from Duke’s local, physical collections as well as the millions of online resources we subscribe to.
Library Search is Duke’s implementation of Primo, a product from Ex Libris, in use by many of our peer institutions. Because Primo integrates fully with Alma (the system we use to maintain our library catalog data), we’ll be able to add and update records more efficiently than with our previous systems, improving our ability to meet user needs.
The roll-out of the new Library Search interface not only marks a significant milestone for our library staff, many of whom contributed to the launch, but it supports a major goal in our 2024-2029 strategic plan of employing new tools and strategies to increase the discoverability, accessibility, and visibility of Duke’s library collections and licensed online resources.
Duke Grad Student Awarded Grant to Digitize Historic Slavery Records
The Duke University Libraries are partnering with a Ph.D. student in Duke’s Department of History, Jobie Hill, who recently received a grant from the Council on Library and Information Resources (CLIR) to digitize and organize records on people enslaved by the Massie family of Virginia during the eighteenth and nineteenth centuries.
Jobie Hill
The Massies were a prominent planter, military, and political family in early Virginia, and one of Virginia’s first families during the colonial period. They owned hundreds of enslaved people who worked at the family’s Pharsalia Plantation, which occupied some 10,000 acres at its peak.
The grant-funded project will result in the digitization of the Massie family’s papers, parts of which are preserved at five different institutions, including Duke’s Rubenstein Rare Book & Manuscript Library. At Duke, Hill will work with Hannah Jacobs, Digital Humanities Consultant, and a team of graduate research assistants, to compile a new database of people born into slavery and documented in the papers. The database will be shared with the public as a downloadable dataset. In addition to the publicly accessible database, the team will create a Guide to the Massie Family Archive, an online finding aid for the holistic Massie family collections held across all five institutions.
Sharing the Library Love
Students line up in Perkins Library to pick up a limited-edition Duke University Libraries tote bag, screen printed on the spot by members of Super G Print Lab.
The activity was one of the ways we celebrated National Library Week this year (April 19–25, 2026) at Duke. First organized by the American Library Association in 1958, National Library Week is a time to celebrate the many ways libraries bring people together, spark imagination, and support lifelong learning. Thanks for supporting YOUR library.
Honoring Our Best and Brightest
Each year, we celebrate our extraordinary library staff with the DULies. Bigger than the National Book Awards, more prestigious than the Pulitzer Prizes, the DULies recognize extraordinary job performance that far exceeds individual goals or expectations.
Pictured here with Joseph Salem, Duke University Librarian and Vice Provost for Library Affairs (second from right), are this year’s awardees, all of whom go above and beyond for the Duke University Libraries (left to right):
Isabella Yaguda, Stacks Maintenance Assistant, winner of the Sara Seten Berghausen Equity and Inclusion Award; Alex Konecky, Access and Library Services Assistant, winner of the Great Idea Award; and Matthew Hayes, Librarian for Japanese Studies and Asian American Studies, winner of the Florence Blakely Collaboration Award. (Not pictured: Derrek Croney, Senior Software Architect, winner of the Mentoring Award.) Congratulations to them all!
Take Us Out to the Ball Game
To wrap up the end of another academic year, Duke University Libraries staff take the field (well, the stands anyway) with an outing to a Durham Bulls baseball game. Although the home team lost, the day off work was a win.
The humidity is rising in Durham and the out-of-office emails are flying, which can only mean one thing: it’s time to share my summer reading recommendations! Here are a few titles I’m planning to check out over these next few months.
Joseph A. Salem, Jr. Rita DiGiallonardo Holloway University Librarian & Vice Provost for Library Affairs
Never Caught: The Washingtons’ Relentless Pursuit of their Runaway Slave Ona Judge, by Erica Armstrong Dunbar
When George Washington became America’s first President, he brought enslaved people with him from Mount Vernon to the executive residence in Philadelphia. Among them was a young woman named Ona Judge, who risked everything to escape to abolitionist New England. What followed was an intense manhunt led by President Washington himself, who used his political and personal contacts to try to recapture her. This summer, all incoming first-year Duke students will receive a copy of this eye-opening biography as part of the Duke Common Experience program. The book’s selection ties in with the campus-wide “We the People” initiative, marking the 250th anniversary of the Declaration of Independence.
Empire of AI:Dreams and Nightmares in Sam Altman’s OpenAI, by Karen Hao
What do librarians do when a powerful new technology starts disrupting the world economy, human society, and the environment? Read up on it, for starters. Duke library colleagues recently organized an AI book group to discuss the promises and potential dangers of generative artificial intelligence. To kick things off, they picked this award-winning book by investigative reporter Karen Hao, offering a front-row seat to the evolution of ChatGPT and the Pandora’s Box some say it represents. It’s essential reading for anyone trying to understand one of the biggest technological arms races in history, how it started, and how it could reshape our lives for better or for worse.
Degas at the Gas Station, by Thomas Beller
This collection of essays by longtime New Yorker contributor and Duke University Press author Thomas Beller offers poignant and beautifully crafted observations of ordinary life, from the author’s loss of his father at a young age to his own experiences as a father of young children. Beller and his wife, Elizabeth—author of Once Upon a Time: The Captivating Life of Carolyn Bessette-Kennedy—visited Perkins Library this spring and spoke about telling stories through biography and memoir. Ever since their fascinating conversation, I’ve been working my way through this gem of a book and its insights on parenthood, loss, and memory.
Touch of Grey, or How the Grateful Dead Became Pop Stars, by John Brackett
Anyone who knows me knows I’m an unapologetic Deadhead, and I’ve been excited to dive into this appraisal of the band’s lasting impact on American culture. John Brackett’s extensive archival research tells the story of how one song, “Touch of Grey,” became the Grateful Dead’s first and only hit to reach the Billboard Top Ten, propelling them from a group with a cult following to one of the most famous bands of all time. Duke has several connections with the Dead, who performed at the university five times over the years. Their 1978 concert at Cameron Indoor Stadium is widely regarded as one of the band’s best live shows.
The Last Great Dream: How Bohemians Became Hippies and Created the Sixties, by Dennis McNally
Continuing the “long strange trip” down my bookshelf, Dennis McNally is the definitive biographer of the Grateful Dead. His new book is a sweeping, panoramic history of the 1960s countercultural movement, when the postwar disillusionment with American mainstream values gave rise to the hippie ethos of creativity, mind-body connection, psychedelics, peace, love, and understanding. Weaving together the art, literature, music, politics, and activist scenes of San Francisco, Los Angeles, New York, and London, McNally gives a master class on how the 1960s blossomed into The Sixties.
The Land and Its People, by David Sedaris (Audiobook)
The only thing I love more than reading David Sedaris’s absurd and unfiltered brand of humor is listening to him read his stories out loud. When I need a laugh break this summer, I’ll be putting on the audiobook of his latest collection, which Sedaris recorded live on tour. If you spot me around campus with my earbuds in and chuckling to myself, you’ll know why.
Happy reading (and listening) from all of us at the Duke Libraries! Want to share your favorite page-turners with us? Tag us on Instagram or LinkedIn (@dukelibraries) and let us know the best thing you’ve read this summer—especially if you found it at your favorite library.
Every April, the John Hope Franklin Research Center in the Rubenstein Library hosts an open house inviting the public to get a hands-on feel for Black history. From rare first-edition books, to published works exploring Black history in Durham, to publications by Black students at Duke, visitors are encouraged to browse, touch, and explore the richness of Black culture preserved in the archives.
In the book, A Flower Traveled in my Blood (2025), journalist Haley Cohen Gilliland documents how the Abuelas de Plaza de Mayo set out to find their grandchildren, abducted by the military junta in the 1970s and 1980s. Gilliland visited Duke this April to accept the award and talk about the book.
Drafted by the University of Virginia Library and co-signed by eleven other university library systems, including Duke, the statement aims to prevent archival, manuscript, rare and special collections materials from being misused, as AI developers increasingly seek access to them.
The documentary centers on Carr’s enduring fight for justice following the 2014 death of her son, Eric Garner, at the hands of police. Garner’s final words, “I can’t breathe,” became a rallying cry in protests against police violence and systemic racism across the United States.
The humidity is rising in Durham and the out-of-office emails are flying, which can only mean one thing: it’s time to share my summer reading recommendations! Here are a few titles I’m planning to check out over these next few months.
Never Caught: The Washingtons’ Relentless Pursuit of their Runaway Slave Ona Judge, by Erica Armstrong Dunbar
Empire of AI: Dreams and Nightmares in Sam Altman’s OpenAI, by Karen Hao
Degas at the Gas Station, by Thomas Beller
Touch of Grey, or How the Grateful Dead Became Pop Stars, by John Brackett
