Transforming Campus Libraries into Digital Learning Hubs

The campus library has become one of the busiest technology spaces at many institutions. Students arrive with their own laptops, move between group work and individual study, and expect the software behind their coursework to move with them.

But this flexibility is not built into the design of libraries as we know them, and instead of enabling students to do their best work, create and collaborate, the rows of fixed computers, can be the source of frustration.

So, how do you turn an aging media center into one of your most valuable digital learning hubs without paying for a full rebuild?

The answer starts with two changes to your campus library technology. Make academic software easier to access through AppsAnywhere, then use LabStats to understand which devices, applications, and spaces students use. These tools help you improve access and gather the evidence to keep improving the environment around it.

The traditional library lab is holding you back

The old model was straightforward: fill the library with identical Windows computers, install the same image on each one, and send students to the row(s) that held their course software.

But in practice it doesn’t quite work: seats are limited, specialist applications may only exist on a handful of machines, students queue for the right computer while other devices sit idle nearby. IT teams maintain large images and license pools, “just in case” even when usage data show that demand is uneven.

The University of Western Australia observed this for a while, and the data confirmed it: students were using only around a quarter of its overall desktop fleet at peak times, while usage of library computers was about 10 percent at any one time. Most students preferred to use their own devices. Through a wider modernization program, UWA used AppsAnywhere with virtual infrastructure so students could reach course applications from home, the library, a café, or another campus rather than finding a specific lab.

With students’ preference for BYOD and CYOD so widespread, institutions can no longer afford to keep replacing, reimaging and maintaining thousands of unused devices that occupy such a large premium space in the institution’s real estate. Not to mention the impact on student satisfaction and outcomes, that are closely linked to access and digital experience.  

Before replacing or buying more computers, institutions need to know which machines are busy, which are ignored, what software is in demand, and when those patterns change. LabStats brings hardware, software, lab, and remote-access data together, helping teams distinguish a real capacity problem from a placement, discoverability, or delivery problem.

Measure demand before redesigning the library

Any library redesign should be informed by evidence.

LabStats can track computer and software usage, concurrent demand, historical trends, and availability across locations. LabMaps can help students find available physical computers, while the Remote Access Dashboard can show which campus machines are available to access remotely. Deeper reporting can identify zero-login computers, underused software costs, and applications that may be better eliminated, virtualized, consolidated, or expanded.

That visibility gives higher education institutions a clearer basis for deciding which fixed computers to keep, where to place them, and what could replace the rows they no longer need.

Southern Cross University used LabStats across more than 1,000 student-facing computers and shared hot desk spaces. Its team used the data to repurpose rooms, reallocate computer stations, and adjust software budgets around student needs. They learned that lesson a digital learning hub does not have to remove every campus computer, but instead have the right number of computers, in the right places, carrying the right applications.

The same approach works for community colleges with limited resources. St. Louis Community College uses LabStats as a consistent source of usage evidence across a multi-campus environment. The team can move devices from rooms running at 40–60 percent utilization into spaces that regularly reach capacity, identify computers students avoid, consolidate underused spaces, and adjust licenses when use drops. That gives the college a practical way to protect student access while making each technology investment work harder.

What changes when the library becomes a digital learning hub

The answer is a lot.  

Imagine a student opens AppsAnywhere on a Chromebook and launches the engineering application required for an assignment. Across the room, someone using a Mac accesses a Windows-only statistics package. Another student sits at a university computer because their personal device is being repaired. Each person starts from the same software portal, have the same experience, even though the delivery method behind the experience may differ.

And that’s how IT can afford to create a modern digital learning hub and an equitable and consistent digital experience for all students. AppsAnywhere centralizes software access and lifecycle management and lets IT combine local endpoints, application virtualization, web apps, servers, cloud delivery, and existing VDI services.

Access can be configured around the student, course, device type, operating system, hardware, and location. Capable devices can do more of the work locally, while those incompatible or underpowered, revert to cloud or virtual resources to handle the application. Students do not have to understand which technology was selected, they sign in, find the software, and launch it.

AppsAnywhere turns any room into a flexible teaching and learning space

Campus library technology works best when it expands what every seat can do.

AppsAnywhere gives IT one place to deliver, configure, access, monitor, and control the software estate. Applications no longer have to be tied to one fixed image or one room. Teams can use physical endpoints where they make sense, keep specialist devices for workloads that require them, and use cloud or virtual delivery where compatibility or performance would otherwise block access.

Middlesex University followed this path in stages. Its AppsAnywhere rollout began with 500 users in selected computer labs and open learning spaces in Sheppard Library, then expanded to 3,000 student-facing computers, followed by BYOD and extended access to Macs. AppsAnywhere eventually became its default delivery method. As students stopped depending on specific labs for specific software, teaching spaces became more flexible and more suited to collaboration.

Middlesex knew that this work doesn’t succeed overnight, so it started in controlled spaces, learned from adoption, and expanded what worked. The library became a practical launch point for wider change.

AppsAnywhere can also reduce dependence on a one-size-fits-all VDI model. Instead of sending every application through virtual desktops, IT can use the student’s own device where appropriate and reserve higher-cost infrastructure for the applications that need it. This helps teams right-size virtual desktop costs while maintaining access to demanding software.

LabStats keeps the hub aligned with student behavior

Once software is easier to reach, LabStats tracks student preferences and behavior. Are fewer students waiting for specialist machines? Has demand shifted from fixed labs to personal devices or remote access? Which applications justify their current license count? Do students avoid a certain part of the library because of its location, layout, or hardware? Are some computers heavily used while similar machines remain untouched? The answers to these questions keep the library and the IT function an environment that is keeps adapting to meet student needs.  

Boston University Medical School uses LabStats to understand software use in public-access labs and identify which applications should be made more widely available and where IT budget investments can have greater impact.  

Together, AppsAnywhere and LabStats create a continuous improvement cycle:

• Measure how students use the library’s computers, software, and spaces.
• Identify the applications and access points creating the most friction.
• Deliver those applications through the method that best fits each device and user context.
• Monitor demand, availability, licensing, and adoption.
• Reallocate hardware, software spends, and floor space using evidence.

Benefits for students, staff, and IT

A well-designed digital learning hub pays off for three groups at once.

For students, the gain is choice. The laptop they can afford no longer has to determine the software they can use. They can work in the library, between classes, or through online learning from home, while physical computers remain available for anyone who needs them.

Faculty and library staff gain consistency. The route to an application stays familiar even when teaching moves between rooms, devices, or delivery formats. Staff can also direct students toward available technology.

IT teams gain control and evidence. Centralized software access reduces the dependence on large, fixed images, while usage data help teams streamline campus labs, optimize licensing, plan refresh cycles, and reclaim underused space.  

Getting started: from computer lab to learning hub

The move from traditional computer lab to digital learning hub is more manageable when it begins with one clear problem.

Start by measuring current use. Review library computers, application launches, concurrent demand, license consumption, and peak periods. Look for idle machines, oversubscribed resources, and high-value applications that are difficult to reach from personal devices.

Next, choose a focused pilot. That might be one open learning area, a small set of high-friction applications, or a student group with a clear BYOD requirement. Use AppsAnywhere to centralize access and select the right mix of local, cloud, virtual, and browser-based app delivery. Use LabStats to establish the baseline and measure what changes.

Then use the results to guide the physical space. Keep specialist workstations where the evidence supports them. Replace underused rows with collaborative tables, charging points, loan devices, or flexible teaching areas. Extend the approach into other campus labs only when the data shows where it will help.

AppsAnywhere and LabStats give higher education institutions the two capabilities to enable this change: flexible software delivery and reliable usage intelligence. Together, they can transform an aging media center into one of the most useful digital learning hubs on campus.

Arrange a demo to see how AppsAnywhere and LabStats can support software access, resource planning, and the next stage of your campus library technology strategy.