Library User Survey 2026
The Library conducted its annual Library User Survey in March 2026 to gather feedback from students, faculty, and staff on the quality and effectiveness of our services and resources. Your valuable opinions helped us identify areas for improvement and better serve the university community.
Survey Period: 16 March – 2 April 2026
Result Highlights
Thank you to the 1,777 members of the HKUST community who took part in our user survey. Below is a snapshot of who responded, how the Library is making a difference for our community, how each part of the Library’s services and facilities was rated, and what users said in their own words.
Participation Snapshot
By User Group
By Primary Affiliation
Impact statements and overall satisfaction
The Library’s mission is to support your learning, teaching, and research at HKUST. The chart below shows how respondents rated the Library’s impact on their experience, plus their overall satisfaction on a 1 (strongly disagree / very dissatisfied) to 5 (strongly agree / very satisfied) scale.
Statements about study/learning were asked of students; statements about teaching/research work were asked of faculty and staff. Overall satisfaction was asked of everyone. Hover any bar for the exact statement.
How Users Rate Each Part of the Library
Average ratings on a 1 (very dissatisfied) to 5 (very satisfied) scale. The left chart summarises by service area; the right chart shows every individual statement, coloured by service area. Hover any point on the right chart to see the full statement and its score.
By part of the survey
Bars in grey indicate a service area below the survey-wide average rating of 4.13. This average is calculated across the 40 individual rating statements shown in this section. It excludes Emerging Services and Impact statements, which are reported separately above and below because their question framings are not directly comparable.
Every statement (inner = 1, outer = 5)
Some statements were asked only of specific user groups (e.g. Teaching Support of faculty, Research Support of researchers). Where a statement doesn’t apply to the selected group, no point is plotted.
Emerging Services: Importance vs. Satisfaction
For three newer Library services, we asked respondents to rate both how important the service is to them and how satisfied they are with it. The chart positions each service by its average importance (horizontal) and satisfaction (vertical). Up-and-to-the-right means highly valued and well-delivered; down-and-to-the-right means valued but where users would like more.
Three emerging library services
Importance and satisfaction were each rated on a 1 to 5 scale. The dashed lines mark the mid-point (3.0). Hover any dot for the exact values.
Where Awareness Lags Behind
For some Library services, many respondents picked N/A or Never Used, meaning they hadn’t tried the service yet and couldn’t rate it. These are outreach opportunities rather than service quality concerns: among the users who have used these services, satisfaction is 4.0 or above.
Top 10 items by share of respondents who selected N/A or Never Used
Selected Comments
We received a total of 4,561 comments from our survey. Here are some examples across the topics raised most often. Appreciated ones are marked in green and constructive ones in orange.
Lucky Draw Prizes
Lucky Draw Rules & Terms
- The lucky draw is open to all current students and staff (except library staff) of the University who complete and submit the Library User Survey by 11:59 pm on 2 April 2026.
- Each eligible participant may enter the lucky draw once only. Duplicate or incomplete submissions will not be counted.
- Winners will be selected at random. The lucky draw will be conducted on 9 April 2026, and winners will be notified by university email on 10 April 2026.
- Grand prize and second-tier winners must acknowledge receipt of the winning notification email and confirm their attendance at the prize presentation ceremony within 3 working days of being notified.
- A prize presentation ceremony is tentatively scheduled on 21 or 22 April 2026 around lunch time. Grand prize and second-tier winners are expected to attend in person. Exact date and venue will be communicated to winners directly.
- Third-tier prizes (supermarket vouchers) will be distributed separately without a formal ceremony. Winners will be advised of the collection arrangement by email and must collect their voucher within 10 working days of receiving the collection arrangement email.
- All prizes are non-exchangeable, non-transferable, and are not redeemable for cash or other prizes.
- The Library reserves the right of final decision in case of any dispute and the right to determine whether a person is eligible for the lucky draw.
If a grand prize or second-tier winner fails to acknowledge receipt of the winning notification email or fails to confirm their attendance at the prize presentation ceremony within 3 working days of being notified, or if a third-tier winner fails to collect their supermarket voucher within the designated collection period, the prize will be forfeited and reassigned to the next eligible participant on the lucky draw waiting list.
Lucky Draw Prize Presentation Ceremony
Two prize presentation ceremonies were held on 21 and 22 April 2026 to celebrate our grand prize or second-tier lucky draw winners. We sincerely thank all students and staff for participating in the Library User Survey 2026 and for joining us in this cheerful occasion.
Contact Us
If you have any questions or encounter any issues, please reach out to us:
“The library is like an oasis on campus. I’ve spent many hours studying and revising peacefully here — it wouldn’t have been possible anywhere else.”
“Its vibrancy and openness to comments. It’s not easy, but the Library did listen to all the opinions and make itself a better place throughout these years.”
“I attended a Library Research Workshop through a course and it was really useful. It would be better if it was open to all and promoted more widely.”
“The library feels like home. I come here every day — seeing the books, the art on the walls, the calligraphy and photography exhibits, switches my mood and lifts me up. It’s the pit stop on my study journey.”
“I was able to print urgently needed documents at 2 in the morning. I also found e-books from my country that I previously wouldn’t have been able to afford.”
“Some broken facilities such as screens or power sockets need to be repaired timely.”
“I would most like the Library to improve the availability and accessibility of study spaces during peak periods — more quiet individual seats, more reservable group study rooms, and clearer real-time availability.”
“Wi-Fi signal needs to be stronger and more consistent, particularly on LG4 and the lower ground floors.”
“I think the individual study pods should be frequently cleaned.”
“More room bookings per week per user, and more solo study areas (e.g. hexagonal carrels).”