The IIIT-Delhi Library and Information Centre has seen many new changes in recent months and continues to thrive. A recent addition is the Library Occupancy Software, available on  the Library website of the Institute. A highly ingenious concept and the first of its kind in any academic and research institute  in India, it displays a live chart of how many students are sitting in each area of the library block, based on the WiFi connectivity through the student mobile phone and latop. The users can use the application to make an informed decision about whether they would find a place in the Library.

While an initial version of the software displayed data textually, the recent version has many new improvements. The web application shows occupancy information on the floor map of the entire Library building. Not only that, but it also categorises areas as green, yellow, or red zones, based on availability. Green zones indicate empty spaces, yellow for partially occupied and red to indicate that space is fully unavailable. This software was created in-house, as a collaborative project between a student,  faculty, Librarian and IT division –  Aditya Lakra (2013 batch alumnus), Rajendra Singh (Librarian), Danish Parvez (IT dept.), and Ankit Agarwal (Web Manager) under the guidance of Prof. Vinayak Naik (Associate Professor, CSE).

In the next version, the library plans to add a database to the application so it can retrieve and analyse the statistics of footfall in the library. This will help generate reports and observe patterns of how many students visit which area, and thus which area is the most productive for students. It will definitely help in the strategic planning of the Library and Information Center of the Institute.

A more observable change to the Library Block is 2nd and 3rd floor which has redesigned and different types of new learning spaces crated to improve the users experience in the Library. These space are Individual study carrels, quiet study, group study, casual study, and workshop/training rooms. These rooms have been outfitted with new floor carpets and soft seating like bean bags, where students can study uninterrupted 24/7. The rooms have bigger desks and automatic door closers, making them highly efficient and comfortable spaces. The Library always looks for the suggestions and inputs from the users to make it more useful and further improvement.