Telling the student library story: Florida’s libraries turn content usage statistics into data that shows impact

Florida Virtual Library (FLVC)’s centralized library system underpins learning and research at all 40 of the state’s public colleges and universities. The system includes OpenAthens Compass and our Reporting API tool, which is helping libraries add value for users and prove their worth to funders.

Florida State College at Jacksonville, for example, has worked with content usage statistics and other data from OpenAthens for several years to make informed decisions about subscriptions and where to target user support. More recently it started exploring the Reporting API tool, and two terms later it was uncovering insights that have implications across the college.

As director of library services Shannon Dew explains it, “this is only the start, but we are beginning to tell the student library story”.

Turning content usage statistics into actionable data 

The Reporting API lets libraries push their OpenAthens usage data into their institutional analytics platform, and in Florida State College’s case this is Power BI.  

Getting the OpenAthens data into the library’s local systems means staff can map it against non-personally identifiable information (PII) like graduation date, grade point average, demographics, any library interventions made, and more. FLVC has built a user-friendly Reporting API dashboard so libraries can visualize and work with their data easily. 

The college’s library began working with the Reporting API using student attributes and data the college already collects. In less than a year they are confident they can now: 

• Identify high impact resources that are used by successful students 

• Analyze the impact that library instruction has on student use of digital resources 

• Look at demographics, to make sure they reach out to support all populations fairly 

Privacy protecting

We also heard from Brian Erb, director of library support and training at FLVC, and also one of our Athenians.

“At consortium level users can’t see various student attributes, but within their own college they can,” says Brian.

“Even at college level we’re looking at user groups and trends, not individuals,” says Shannon. As one example, she has looked at the total number of students enrolled at the college in summer 2025 and found that 17.74% had accessed their library’s digital resources during the semester. From there, she drilled down into which resources specific programs are using, and even which courses or parts of courses – and then looked back at library instruction to see where it has had an impact. 

The data has also helped to identify pockets of good practice that can be shared across the institution. The library found some classes have had 100% take-up of the prescribed course materials even when there has been no library intervention, and staff have spoken to those tutors, learned what they’re doing to encourage students and shared that more widely. 

Improving student retention and attainment 

“We’re looking into connections between library resource use, student retention and grade point averages,” says Shannon.

“We are already using the data visualizations in presentations to college managers and tutors to show the value of the library’s resources and support, and our work with the Reporting API is only in its early stages. 

“Our next steps will be to build out the dashboard so others within the university – like the deans – can make use of it themselves for outreach. They are very interested in understanding how they can help our students do well and demonstrate the value of college programs to federal bodies.”