Here are some of the best questions for a college undergraduate student survey about library and study spaces, along with practical tips for building them. If you want to generate a tailored survey in seconds, you can create one using Specific’s AI survey builder.
Best open-ended questions for a college undergraduate student survey about library and study spaces
Open-ended questions are your friend when you want honest, detailed feedback. They help you uncover motivations, habits, frustrations, and aspirations that multiple-choice questions simply miss. When you’re exploring new territory or looking to understand “why” behind student choices, open-ended prompts spark rich responses. Here are 10 of the best to ask college undergrads about library and study space use:
What motivates you to choose the library over other study spaces on campus?
Can you describe your ideal study environment and how it compares to spaces currently available at your library?
Tell us about a recent positive or negative experience you had while studying in the library.
What features or amenities do you feel are missing in the current library study areas?
How do you balance studying alone versus with friends in library spaces, and what influences that choice?
Describe how technology (Wi-Fi, charging outlets, computers) impacts your library study sessions.
What is the main reason you visit or avoid certain areas of the library?
How could group study rooms be improved to better support your academic work?
What role does noise level play in deciding where you study in the library?
In what ways could the library better support your academic success?
Recent studies show that 58.6% of students use quiet study spaces and 32.2% use group study rooms, highlighting the importance of asking nuanced questions about both environments. [1]
Best single-select multiple-choice questions for a college undergraduate student survey about library and study spaces
Single-select multiple-choice questions are perfect when you want to quantify trends or make it easy for students to respond quickly. These shine for benchmarking favorite spaces, frequency of visits, or common pain points—and they’re often a great icebreaker before digging deeper with open-ended or follow-up questions.
Question: What is your primary reason for visiting the library?
To study alone
To study with friends
To use computers or printers
To access books and resources
Other
Question: Which area do you use most often when studying in the library?
Quiet study space
Group study room
Computer lab
Café or lounge
Reading room
Other
Question: How satisfied are you with the current library study environment?
Very satisfied
Satisfied
Neutral
Dissatisfied
Very dissatisfied
When to follow up with "why?" After each multiple-choice answer, asking “Why did you choose that?” or a context-specific follow-up helps uncover deeper reasons behind their selection. For example, if a student selects "Group study room," ask, “What do you value most about group study rooms?” or “What could make group study rooms better for you?” This approach transforms flat data into actionable feedback.
When and why to add the "Other" choice? Always add "Other" when you expect unique use cases or want to avoid boxing respondents into limited options. When a student picks "Other" and explains, you might discover new trends—like demand for outdoor study patios or feedback about overlooked library features. Follow-up questions here often yield the unexpected gems that steer your library’s next upgrade.
It’s worth noting that 40% of students used at least one library service each semester, but the majority (83.54%) relied on just one—so clarity and flexibility in questions matter. [4]
NPS-style question: Measuring student satisfaction and advocacy
Net Promoter Score (NPS) is a simple, powerful way to gauge overall satisfaction and loyalty: “How likely are you to recommend the library’s study spaces to another student?” This classic 0–10 scale helps track not just satisfaction, but likelihood of advocacy over time.
This makes particular sense for libraries, where positive word of mouth drives use and engagement. Monitoring NPS alongside qualitative feedback helps align library improvements to what actually wins fans. You can instantly generate an NPS survey for this audience and topic.
Research even hints at a link between higher library use and better GPA—so satisfaction here isn’t just nice to have, it can impact academic achievement. [6]
The power of follow-up questions
AI-powered follow-up questions are a game-changer for survey quality. Automated, dynamic probing lets you dig past surface-level answers and clarify gray areas—without the endless cycle of emailed clarifications. Specific’s automated follow-up feature uses AI to ask smart, context-aware questions on the fly, just like a well-trained interviewer would.
Student: “I don’t use the group study rooms.”
AI follow-up: “Can you share what kept you from using them, or if there’s something that would make them more appealing?”
Student: “The Wi-Fi isn’t great.”
AI follow-up: “How has unreliable Wi-Fi impacted your ability to complete assignments, and what specific changes would make the biggest difference?”
How many followups to ask? Asking two or three targeted follow-ups strikes the right balance—enough to clarify and deepen responses, not so many that it feels burdensome. Specific lets you configure follow-up depth, and can skip ahead once the insight you need is captured.
This makes it a conversational survey: follow-ups shift the experience from filling out a form to having a real, back-and-forth conversation—unlocking richer feedback with less effort.
Effortless analysis, even for open text: AI survey response analysis tools make sense of all this qualitative data. Specific’s AI analysis feature helps you summarize, find patterns, and even chat with the data as if you had an in-house insights team.
Follow-ups are a new standard—give it a try with Specific, and see how much deeper your next survey can go.
How to prompt ChatGPT or other LLMs for great survey questions
If you want to use ChatGPT or another AI to brainstorm questions, the secret is in your prompt. Start simple:
Suggest 10 open-ended questions for college undergraduate student survey about library and study spaces.
The more context you give, the better your results. Try this extended prompt for deeper quality:
I’m a university research coordinator looking to improve our library’s study spaces. Suggest 10 open-ended questions for a survey of undergraduate students, focused on daily usage habits, technology needs, group vs. solo study, and overall satisfaction.
Once you have a list, organize insightfully:
Look at the questions and categorize them. Output categories with the questions under them.
Then, drill deeper into categories that matter most to you:
Generate 10 questions for categories “technology needs” and “group vs. solo study preferences”.
This layered approach sharpens both the questions you ask and the types of feedback you’ll attract.
What makes a survey conversational (and why go AI?)
A conversational survey goes beyond ticking boxes. It means students feel heard, and their answers shape the flow—thanks to AI-powered follow-ups and natural chat-like interactions. Manual survey tools force you to script every question (and guess every possible follow-up) in advance. With platforms like Specific’s AI survey generator, you move faster and smarter—let AI handle segmentation, wording, follow-ups, and analysis so you can concentrate on the insights that matter.
Manual Surveys | AI-Generated Surveys |
|---|---|
Scripted, static forms | Dynamically adapts to each respondent’s answers |
Lots of admin and editing back-and-forth | Create or edit surveys by chatting, update structure instantly |
Analysis is labor-intensive, text responses are hard to sift | AI clusters, summarizes, and finds themes in seconds |
Follow-ups are manual or missing | Automated, expert-style probing for deeper context |
Why use AI for college undergraduate student surveys? You get faster survey launches, nuanced probing, and easy analysis—all while giving students a frictionless, conversational experience. Specific is at the forefront of this, offering a best-in-class user experience for building and sharing conversational surveys. To see how easy it is, check out our guide on how to create a college undergraduate student survey about library and study spaces.
Whether you want an AI survey example to inspire your own, or a seamless way to analyze results, AI-powered survey makers like Specific let you focus on what students are really telling you—not just tallying numbers.
See this library and study spaces survey example now
Ready to uncover actionable insights? Build a conversational survey that adapts to every response, asks smart follow-ups, and makes analysis a breeze with AI—all while ensuring students feel genuinely heard.