It’s rush hour in Perkins Library. 

Students stream in after morning classes. Some stop to check email. Others head straight for the Perk to get their caffeine fix. Meanwhile, up in the Gothic Reading Room, the Ciompi Quartet is warming up for one of their free lunchtime concerts. And downstairs in the Link, a panel of tech-savvy professors discusses 3-D modeling applications in art history, archaeology, and chemistry.

And the day is just getting started.

Ten years ago, when we embarked on an ambitious plan to overhaul Perkins Library, we imagined scenes like these. The Perkins Project began with the construction of Bostock Library and the von der Heyden Pavilion, both completed in 2005, followed by the renovation of Perkins Library between 2006 and 2008. This year, the final phase of the Perkins Project begins with the renovation of the David M. Rubenstein Rare Book & Manuscript Library. 

But a great library system is so much more than a group of buildings. Over the last ten years, we’ve also made huge improvements to our collections and services. We’ve won grants to support innovative activities. We’ve dramatically increased online access to our holdings and introduced new digital tools for scholarly work. 

And in the meantime, a funny thing happened. We became one of the most popular destinations on campus. 

The numbers tell the story. Almost 4 million annual visits. Six million visits to our website, and 8 million searches in our online catalog. Over 540,000 books and other items checked out, and over 90,000 reference questions answered. 

But we’re not done yet. The Duke University Libraries benefit from the generosity of our friends, students, faculty, and alumni. Your support keeps us—and the university as a whole—moving forward.

If you haven’t visited us in a while, we hope you will soon. Even after you graduate, we’ll always be your library.

That’s not just smart. That’s crazy smart.

Be counted. Support Duke University Libraries and make your gift today.