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Cited by 239Library Science and Information LiteracyHigher Education Research StudiesLibrary Science and Administration

Library Use and Undergraduate Student Outcomes: New Evidence for Students’ Retention and Academic Success

Open access
Soria, Krista M., Fransen, Jan, Nackerud, Shane·2013·portal: Libraries and the Academy
DOI 10.1353/pla.2013.0010
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Abstract

Academic libraries, like other university departments, are being asked to demonstrate their value to the institution. This study discusses the impact library usage has on the retention and academic success of first-time, first-year undergraduate students at a large, public research university. Usage statistics were gathered at the University of Minnesota during the Fall 2011 semester for thirteen library access points. Analysis of the data suggests first-time, first-year undergraduate students who use the library have a higher GPA for their first semester and higher retention from fall to spring than non-library users.

Integrity signals

Registry

Crossref · 10.1353/pla.2013.0010

Cites

29 of 29 references verified0 citation errors · 0 not checkable

Statistics

Claims the paper makes

3 of 7 cited sources checked · 2 supported · 0 flagged · accuracy not yet measured

  • Premisecitation

    Seventy-five percent of non-returning students withdraw during or immediately following their first semester.

    “Colleges and universities have a very small window of opportunity to establish strong connections with students, as 75 percent of non-returning students will withdraw during or immediately following their first semester.”
    Quote in the paperNot a substantial claim1 of 1 sources checked
    • cites [21] 21. Florence A. Hamrick, John H. Schuh, and Mack C. Shelley, "Predicting Higher Education Graduation Rates from Institutional Characteristics and Resource Allocation," Education Policy Analysis Archives 12, 19 (2004), Elizabeth M. Mezick, "Return on Investment: Libraries and Student Retention," Journal of Academic Librarianship 33, 5 (2007): 561-566. source

      The Introduction and Conceptual Framework discusses retention and first-year persistence, but does not give a percentage or say when non-returning students withdraw. Searches for the 75 percent figure and first-semester withdrawal found no passage supporting the claim; the References list a study of first-semester persistence without reporting this statistic. (LLM, conf=0.76)

      Experimental — accuracy not yet measured
  • Findingown data

    The types of library services used by first-year students were differentially associated with their academic achievement and retention.

    “Further, we discovered that the types of library services that first-year students used were also differentially associated with their academic achievement and retention.”
    Quote in the paperSubstantial claim
    • Rests on an assumption: The library usage measures (logins, loans, workshop registration, and other recorded interactions) accurately identify which students used library services and distinguish them from non-users.
  • Findingown data

    In the second logistic regression, students enrolled in Intro to Library Research Part 2 were 7.08 times more likely to return for spring semester.

    “The odds ratio suggests that students who enrolled in the”
    Quote in the paperSubstantial claim
    • Rests on an assumption: The library usage measures (logins, loans, workshop registration, and other recorded interactions) accurately identify which students used library services and distinguish them from non-users.
  • Findingown data

    Each one-unit increase in book loans was associated with a .01 increase in GPA.

    “Every one-unit increase in a book loan was associated with a .01increase in students' GPA”
    Quote in the paperSubstantial claim
    • Rests on an assumption: The library usage measures (logins, loans, workshop registration, and other recorded interactions) accurately identify which students used library services and distinguish them from non-users.
  • Findingown data

    Among first-time, first-year students at the University of Minnesota Twin Cities in Fall 2011, those who used at least one library service during their first semester had a higher cumulative first-semester GPA than those who used none (3.18 versus 2.98).

    “Analysis of the data suggests first-time, first-year undergraduate students who use the library have a higher GPA for their first semester and higher retention from fall to spring than non-library users.”
    • Also stated in: § Results · plain
      “Students who use the library had an average GPA of 3.18 compared with the average GPA of students who did not use the library, which was 2.98.”
    • Also stated in: § Discussion · hedged
      “The data suggest that first-year students who used the library at least once in the fall semester had higher grade point averages compared to their peers who did not use the library at all during their first semester.”
    Quote in the paperSubstantial claim
    • Rests on an assumption: Restricting the sample to first-time, first-year students and controlling for the listed demographic, pre-college academic, and college-experience variables eliminates confounding influences on the relationship between library use and student outcomes.
    • Rests on an assumption: The library usage measures (logins, loans, workshop registration, and other recorded interactions) accurately identify which students used library services and distinguish them from non-users.
  • Classified as probably not a substantial claim. 7
  • May combine two claims. 13

  • Probably not a substantial claim: may not pass S2 (checkable), S3 (load-bearing).

    Premisecitation

    Academic libraries are essential to the core mission of colleges and universities across the nation.

    “Academic libraries are essential to the core mission of colleges and universities across the nation.”
    Quote in the paperNot a substantial claim1 of 1 sources checked
    • cites Kuh and Gonyea, 2003 source

  • Probably not a substantial claim: may not pass S2 (checkable).

    Premisereasoning

    More contemporary evidence of associations between library use and students' academic achievements is needed.

    “While both articles are important contributions to the literature, more contemporary evidence of associations between library use and students' academic achievements is needed.”
    Quote in the paperNot a substantial claim1 of 2 sources checked
    • cites [12] 12. Patrick Barkey, "Patterns of Student Use of a College Library," College and Research Libraries 26, 2 (1965): 115-118. source
    • cites [13] 13. Andrew M. Robinson and Karen Schlegl, "Student Bibliographies Improve When Professors Provides Enforceable Guidelines for Citations," portal: Libraries the Academy 4, 2 (2004): 275-290. source

  • May combine two claims.

    Findingown data

    The first GPA model was statistically significant, F(12,5190)=61.32, p<.001, and explained 12.4% of the variance in cumulative GPA.

    “Our first model predicting students' GPA by whether they had used any library service was statistically significant, F(12, 5190) = 61.32,p < .001.The model explains 12.4 percent of the variance in cumulative GPA (Table 5).”
    Quote in the paperSubstantial claim

  • May combine two claims.

    Findingown data

    Among the same first-time, first-year students, those who used at least one library service in Fall 2011 had higher fall-to-spring retention than non-users; 2.9% of users and 4.3% of non-users did not return for spring.

    “Analysis of the data suggests first-time, first-year undergraduate students who use the library have a higher GPA for their first semester and higher retention from fall to spring than non-library users.”
    • Also stated in: § Results · hedged
      “Further, the data suggest a significant association between library usage and students' first to second semester retention (χ 2 (1) = 6.86, p < .01).”
    • Also stated in: § Results · plain
      “In our sample, 2.9 percent of the students who used the library services in their first semester did not return for the spring semester compared with 4.3 percent of students who did not use any library services.”
    Quote in the paperSubstantial claim
    • Rests on an assumption: Restricting the sample to first-time, first-year students and controlling for the listed demographic, pre-college academic, and college-experience variables eliminates confounding influences on the relationship between library use and student outcomes.
    • Rests on an assumption: The library usage measures (logins, loans, workshop registration, and other recorded interactions) accurately identify which students used library services and distinguish them from non-users.

  • May combine two claims.

    Findingown data

    The second GPA model was statistically significant, F(24,5178)=34.28, p<.001, and explained 13.7% of the variance in GPA.

    “Our second model predicting students' GPA by type of library services used was statistically significant, F(24, 5178) = 34.28,p < .001(Table 5).The model explains 13.7 percent of the variance in GPA.”
    Quote in the paperSubstantial claim

  • May combine two claims.

    Findingown data

    Most correlations among students' use of all available library services were weak and positive; the strongest were between databases and e-journals (r=.454), databases and Intro 1 instruction (r=.342), and Intro 1 and Intro 2 instruction (r=.474).

    “The majority of correlations were weak and positive; however, the strongest correlations were observed between the number of databases and e-journals accessed (r = .454),the number of databases accessed and enrollment in Intro 1 library instruction (r = .342),and enrollment in Intro 1 and Intro 2 library instruction (r = .474).”
    Quote in the paperNot a substantial claim
    • Rests on an assumption: The library usage measures (logins, loans, workshop registration, and other recorded interactions) accurately identify which students used library services and distinguish them from non-users.

  • May combine two claims.

    Findingown data

    The associations between library use and both GPA and retention remained after controlling for demographic, pre-college academic, and college experience variables.

    “Both of these findings held when controlling for demographic characteristics, pre-college academic characteristics, and college experience variables.”
    Quote in the paperSubstantial claim
    • Rests on an assumption: Restricting the sample to first-time, first-year students and controlling for the listed demographic, pre-college academic, and college-experience variables eliminates confounding influences on the relationship between library use and student outcomes.
    • Rests on an assumption: The library usage measures (logins, loans, workshop registration, and other recorded interactions) accurately identify which students used library services and distinguish them from non-users.

  • May combine two claims.

    Findingown data

    The second logistic regression model was statistically significant (χ2=99.01, p<.001, df=24) and correctly classified 96.7% of observed cases.

    “A test of the full model against a null model was statistically significant, indicating that the predictors are reliably distinguished between returners and non-returners (χ 2 = 99.01,p < .001,df = 24) and the model correctly classified 96.7 percent of the observed cases (Table 6).”
    Quote in the paperNot a substantial claim

  • May combine two claims.

    Findingown data

    In a multiple linear regression that controlled for demographic, pre-college academic, and college experience variables, library use was positively associated with first-semester GPA; students who used the library had a GPA .23 points higher than non-users.

    “The model suggests that library usage is positively associated with students' GPA, with first-year students who used the library reporting a .23 higher grade point average over students who did not use any library services holding other data constant in the model.”
    • Also stated in: § Discussion · plain
      “Both of these findings held when controlling for demographic characteristics, pre-college academic characteristics, and college experience variables.”
    Quote in the paperSubstantial claim
    • Rests on an assumption: Restricting the sample to first-time, first-year students and controlling for the listed demographic, pre-college academic, and college-experience variables eliminates confounding influences on the relationship between library use and student outcomes.
    • Rests on an assumption: The library usage measures (logins, loans, workshop registration, and other recorded interactions) accurately identify which students used library services and distinguish them from non-users.

  • May combine two claims.

    Findingown data

    The first logistic regression model was statistically significant (χ2=85.90, p<.001, df=12) and correctly classified 96.7% of observed cases.

    “A test of the full model against a null model was statistically significant, indicating that the predictors are reliably distinguished between returners and non-returners (χ 2 = 85.90, p < .001,df = 12) (Table 6).Additionally, the regression correctly classified 96.7 percent of the observed cases.”
    Quote in the paperSubstantial claim

  • Probably not a substantial claim: may not pass S3 (load-bearing).

    Study design and conductnone given

    Twelve outliers were removed from the descriptive and inferential analyses.

    “We removed twelve outliers from the descriptive and inferential analyses in this study.”
    Quote in the paperNot a substantial claim

  • Probably not a substantial claim: may not pass S3 (load-bearing).

    Study design and conductreasoning

    Interlibrary loan transactions were not recorded for users who created unique ILLiad IDs rather than using their University Internet ID.

    “At the time of this project, ILLiad users created their own ILLiad account.Most people used their University of Minnesota Internet ID, but a small number of users created unique ILLiad IDs.Therefore, their transactions were not recorded for this study.”
    Quote in the paperNot a substantial claim

  • Classified as probably not a substantial claim. May combine two claims.

    Study design and conductown data

    The analyses controlled for demographic characteristics (gender, race/ethnicity, international status, Pell grant, first-generation, veteran status), pre-college academic characteristics (ACT/SAT, AP credits), and college experiences (living on campus, freshman seminars, ATS program).

    “We controlled for the influence of demographic characteristics on students' academic outcomes, including gender, race/ethnicity, and international status.We also controlled for whether students had received Pell grants, were first-generation college students (that is, neither parent had earned a bachelor's degree), and had military veteran status.”
    • Also stated in: § Library usage. · plain
      “Additionally, we wanted to control for the effect of students' pre-college academic characteristics.For these measures, we used students' ACT composite scores.”
    Quote in the paperSubstantial claim

  • Probably not a substantial claim: may not pass S3 (load-bearing). May combine two claims.

    Study design and conductreasoning

    Workshop attendance data were limited because students could walk in without registering or not attend without canceling.

    “Because the one-to two-hour library workshops are free, students often walk in without registering or choose not to attend without canceling their registration.”
    Quote in the paperNot a substantial claim

  • May combine two claims.

    Study design and conductreasoning

    Reference data were limited to online interactions where an Internet ID was provided because reference staff almost never recorded identifying information.

    “Reference desk staff and liaisons focus on the patron's question rather than their identity, and identifying information is almost never recorded.Therefore, the data used in this study are limited to online interactions where an Internet ID was provided.”
    Quote in the paperSubstantial claim

  • May combine two claims.

    Premisecitation

    Many libraries do not collect data on students' use of services to protect privacy, leading to a shortage of studies on library use and student outcomes.

    “Additionally, many libraries do not collect data related to students' use of services to protect library user privacy; consequently, the lack of data collection leads to a shortage of studies examining the association between library use and student outcome.”
    Quote in the paperSubstantial claim0 of 1 sources checked
    • cites [11] 11. Patricia B. Knapp, The Monteith College Library Experiment (New York: Scarecrow Press, 1966).

  • Probably not a substantial claim: may not pass S3 (load-bearing).

    Study design and conductreasoning

    Workstation use data did not include computers in the Libraries SMART Learning Commons because they did not use CybraryN.

    “At the time of this project, computers within the Libraries SMART Learning Commons did not yet utilize CybraryN and were not included in this study.”
    Quote in the paperNot a substantial claim

  • May combine two claims.

    Study design and conductreasoning

    Digital resource use was not fully captured because on-campus users could access licensed resources without logging in, so some use was not tied to an Internet ID.

    “Due to IP based authentication, users on campus do not need to log in to access licensed resources.The logging script can often log an Internet ID even while on campus if the user has logged in through central authentication for some other purpose, but some portion of digital resource use was not tied to an Internet ID.”
    Quote in the paperNot a substantial claim
18 of 18

  • The paper relies on this without support.

    Restricting the sample to first-time, first-year students and controlling for the listed demographic, pre-college academic, and college-experience variables eliminates confounding influences on the relationship between library use and student outcomes.

    “To isolate the potential impact of library usage and eliminate the potential for confounding influences to affect student outcomes, we examined only first-time, first-year students and their library usage during their first semester (Fall 2011) of enrollment at a large, public research university.”

  • The paper relies on this without support.

    The library usage measures (logins, loans, workshop registration, and other recorded interactions) accurately identify which students used library services and distinguish them from non-users.

    “Data were gathered on students' use of a variety of library services in two primary ways: the first group of data was automatically collected by virtue of student log-ins to central databases and websites.”
    “The second group of data was developed by building lists of patrons who engaged with library staff through instruction sessions and reference interactions.”
2 of 2

Claims other papers make about this one

Each is checked against this paper’s own text: does it say what the citing paper says it does?

  • A reference visit had a more significant impact upon students at Lewis & Clark Community College than for the students in the University of Minnesota study.

    “It is interesting to note that a reference visit had a more significant impact upon students at Lewis &amp; Clark than for the students in the University of Minnesota study.”

    From Assessing the Impact of Reference Assistance and Library Instruction on Retention and Grades Using Student Tracking Technology (2018) · cites this paper as Soria, Fransen, & Nackerud, 2013

    The Library usage and Reference sections say the University of Minnesota study recorded chat reference transactions but could not track most in-person reference visits. The Results section lists the library services significantly associated with GPA, and reference is not among them. The paper provides a basis for the Minnesota side of the comparison, but it does not assess students at Lewis & Clark or establish that a reference visit had a greater impact there. (LLM, conf=0.78)

    Experimental — accuracy not yet measured

  • Students' GPAs were positively associated with library use (database use, electronic journals, and book loans).

    “Using student database login information and student instructional and reference interactions, they demonstrated that students' GPAs were positively associated with students' library use (e.g., database use, electronic journals, and book loans), but students' GPAs were negatively associated with course-integrated instruction sessions.”

    From The Library’s Impact on University Students’ Academic Success and Learning (2019) · cites this paper as Soria et al., 2013

  • Students' GPAs were negatively associated with course-integrated instruction sessions.

    “Using student database login information and student instructional and reference interactions, they demonstrated that students' GPAs were positively associated with students' library use (e.g., database use, electronic journals, and book loans), but students' GPAs were negatively associated with course-integrated instruction sessions.”

    From The Library’s Impact on University Students’ Academic Success and Learning (2019) · cites this paper as Soria et al., 2013

  • Correlational evidence links student retention and academic success with academic libraries, as published by the University of Minnesota.

    “Correlational evidence linking student retention and academic success with academic libraries published by the University of Minnesota (Soria, Fransen, &amp; Nackerud, 2013) was also instrumental in the Student Success Team's decision to investigate the impact of Reid Library upon student grades and retention.”

    From Assessing the Impact of Reference Assistance and Library Instruction on Retention and Grades Using Student Tracking Technology (2018) · cites this paper as Soria, Fransen, & Nackerud, 2013

  • First-year students at the University of Minnesota who used the library had a higher grade point average and fall-to-spring retention rate than their peers who did not use the library.

    “Findings from this research suggested that first-year students that used the library had a higher grade point average and fall-to-spring retention rate than their peers that did not use the library (Soria, Fransen, &amp; Nackerud, 2013).”

    From Assessing the Impact of Reference Assistance and Library Instruction on Retention and Grades Using Student Tracking Technology (2018) · cites this paper as Soria, Fransen, & Nackerud, 2013

Statistics recomputed

Every reported test result, recomputed from its test statistic and degrees of freedom. A result shows as not adding up only once an independent check has confirmed it.

  • ConsistentF(12, 5190) = 61.32reported p < .001 · recomputed p < .001

    “F(12, 5190) = 61.32,p < .001”

  • ConsistentF(24, 5178) = 34.28reported p < .001 · recomputed p < .001

    “F(24, 5178) = 34.28,p < .001”

2 of 2

Self-check

Percentages, sums and reported differences re-computed from the paper’s own numbers.

Self-check results appear here once an independent check has confirmed them.

Cites

Flagged first, then by citations

2 of the 31 references couldn’t be matched to a known paper.

Research works printed but not linked: 1

  1. [17]17. Marie Caitlin Kelly, "Student Retention and Academic Libraries," College & Research Libraries News 56, 11 (1995): 757-759;

Cited by

Sorted by citations

Related

Authors
Soria, K. M., Fransen, J., & Nackerud, S.
Affiliations
University of Minnesota, Duluth (US)
ORCID
Venue
portal: Libraries and the Academy
Publisher
Project MUSE
Published
2013-04
Volume
13
Issue
2
Pages
147-164
ISSN
1530-7131 (ISSN-L)
DOI
10.1353/pla.2013.0010
OpenAlex
W2099511442
Cited by
238
References
31
Citations by year
2026: 4 · 2025: 9 · 2024: 14 · 2023: 7 · 2022: 8 · 2021: 9 · 2020: 32 · 2019: 21 · 2018: 26 · 2017: 29 · 2016: 29 · 2015: 25 · 2014: 19 · 2013: 6
FWCI
175.89
Type
journal article
Language
en
Open access
Locations
  • portal Libraries and the Academy (publishedVersion)
  • University of Minnesota Digital Conservancy (University of Minnesota) (submittedVersion)
  • Project Muse (Johns Hopkins University) (submittedVersion)
Topics
  • Social Sciences › Library and Information Sciences › Library Science and Information Literacy
  • Social Sciences › Education › Higher Education Research Studies
  • Social Sciences › Library and Information Sciences › Library Science and Administration
Keywords
academic libraries, library use, student retention, academic performance, first-year students, library usage statistics, grade point average

About these checks

Registry, retraction, Cites and statistics results are computed, not judged, with one exception: a printed reference that no index lists is read once by a model before it counts as a citation error. Claims are extracted by a model and kept only when their quote appears verbatim in the text; each cited source is then checked, with a model’s help, for whether it says what the claim relies on. Those verdicts can be wrong — read the claim’s quote and the cited source before relying on one.

Claims read by deepseek-v4.1-flash under definition version 3 (extract-v3) on 2026-10-02.

Classified by jev-1.13-20260917 (gold-guideline-v0.2) on 2026-10-02.

Cited sources are checked by gpt-6-sol.

Statistics and arithmetic are recomputed, not judged.

Confidence bands are shown only for fields calibrated on our annotated test set. None is calibrated yet, so no band is shown.

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