New Hours Policy Tested

By Mallor

Anyone who has stayed up late studying in the library for a killer midterm knows the deep, calming voice echoes throughout the library, reminding you that the library is closing in 15 minutes.

"I think the library should be open 24/7," said junior Ryan Tsao, a computer science engineer major. "It's bullshit that it (normally) closes at 2 a.m. I've been kicked out so many times. Any respectable university has a library that is always open."

This quarter the library is piloting extended hours during dead week, the week before final exams. Students like Tsao have let their opinions be heard within the administration.

The discussion to extend library hours first came up in an interview with the university librarian, Jennifer Nutefall, who was recently hired. There have been requests from students for the library to have longer hours in general, but specifically the week before exams.

During this trial week, the library will gather data and information of how many students will be utilizing the extended hours and for what purposes.

"Every hour we are going to take a headcount of the number of students studying on each floor of the library," said Elizabeth McKeigue, assistant university librarian for public services. "We are also going to do some spot surveying."

To conduct a spot survey, a staff member will walk around with an iPad and ask students question such as what are they working on during those late hours and how often they have been utilizing the library during the late hours.

"We want to get a sense from students how much they would like the library to be open 24/7," said McKeigue. "Then we can configure the prices of staffing the library 24/7, compare it to the number of students utilizing the library, and see if it would be worth keeping it open."

Students working at the greeter desk, circulation desk, and Information Technology help desk will be working around the clock during "dead week" and finals week. The library staff wanted to make sure that students were aware of these work-hour extensions and made sure all employees were notified in August.

"During finals week, I usually expect I will be pulling at least one all nighter so the fact that I can work on my homework and study during the all night shift at the library is awesome," said sophomore Max Westerman, who works at the circulation desk at library. "I honestly enjoy making the extra money and the loss of sleep doesn't affect me too much. I do think that it is important that the library is open 24 hours. I think it can only help."

Contact Mallor Miller at memiller@scu.edu or call (408) 554-4852.