How can the students who study in the Murry and Leonie Guggenheim Memorial Library get their work done when library hours are not the most accessible? We, as students, all have different studying habits; some can study in loud environments undisturbed, while others need the quietness of the library in order to keep their focus. Some Outlook editors like listening to music when studying while others need silence.
We acknowledge that the library extended its hours for finals, and we are thankful to the library staff for putting in the extra effort to make these accommodations for the students. The library hours during finals are as follows: Monday through Thursday 8 am – 2 am, Friday 8 am – 1 am, Saturday 9 am – midnight, Sunday 11 am – 2 am.
The standard library hours are Monday through Thursday 8 am – midnight, Friday 8 am – 6 pm, Saturday 9 am – 5 pm and Sunday noon – midnight. We find that these hours clash with our already very busy schedules. Because of this, even early morning hours can be seen as a hassle to go to the library. At The Outlook we all agree that Friday and weekend hours need to be changed, by being extended another hour, at least.
Having the library close at 6 pm on Friday night is an inconvenience. Not everyone has the option to start the weekend early and some students like to study late at night or dedicate the weekend to their studies.
One editor said, “Fridays and Saturdays are homework nights for me. Closing so early on weekends makes me feel like such a loser for even trying to do my work then.”
The Howard Hall 24-hour lab is a long distance from the residential side of campus; it is what some of The Outlook staff call a “creepy” and long walk late at night. Even if you do not live on-campus, the 24-hour lab is not always a guaranteed quiet place to hit the books.
The 24-hour lab does not have all of the resources that the library offers, such as a color printer, books or a copier. Considering that everyone gets kicked out of the library at a particular time, and there are not many options as to where to go, many people end up in the 24-hour lab where there are not a ton of computers to choose from.
Students try to find other places to work where they will not get ‘kicked out’ so that they can remain working uninterrupted and their work can be completed. One Outlook editor says having to leave the library by midnight to run over to the 24-hour lab all while in the middle of a project is a huge interruption.
It is not as if students go into school planning to procrastinate, but sometimes it unfortunately happens. More than half of the editors at The Outlook, along with many other students, admit to procrastinating. Waiting until the last minute may lead to late nights, and the library is the perfect place to bring procrastination to a halt.
Some students have classes, work or other commitments during the day, and when nighttime rolls around, the library may not be the place to go when only a couple hours can be spent there until it closes. One member of The Outlook does not even want to go to the library because she knows that her time will be limited, and she will have to leave in the middle of completing an assignment.
Of course The Outlook is not trying to say the normal library hours are inaccessible. We just feel as though our study schedules would be better off with extended hours or having the hours during finals week become the standard library hours instead. The Outlook understands that the whole student body would not be taking advantage of these new hours, but we know a large handful of individuals who would.
