Digital Commons Network^™

Purpose – The purpose of this paper is to quantify recent changes in students' use of laptops in one academic library and to consider the potential role of new high‐tech library spaces on laptop use.

Design/methodology/approach – Instead of relying on standard library exit and entrance counts, this study was based on brief, structured observations of library spaces, including counts of laptop use. By conducting such observations over regular intervals in both new and pre‐existing library spaces, the authors were able to observe changes in laptop use across both time and type of library space.

Findings – The growth in …