Libraries to extend hours in spring
In answer to student demand, library hours will be extended starting next semester.
Members of Utah State University’s Student Academic Council helped push the change through. The two USU libraries will open two hours earlier on Saturdays and stay open one hour later on Friday nights.
The change will also see the libraries open at 1 p.m. on Sundays instead of the current 11 a.m. opening.
The change will help improve the balance of library hours with library usage, said the USU Libraries Associate Director for Public Services John Elsweiler.
“The library is open 100 hours a week right now, and we have two buildings so actually it’s 200 hours a week,” he said. Now we will be open 101 hours.”
Associated Students of USU Academic Vice President Karla Petty and SAC chairwoman Mary McMullen did major work on the extension of the hours, Elsweiler said.
Petty said the new hours would be better for USU students.
“We moved hours on Sunday when we didn’t think they were getting utilized and we moved them to Saturday,” she said. “I just feel like with the culture that we have, this is soliciting a bigger group.”
Extended library hours were one of Petty’s platform goals in last spring’s ASUSU election.
Petty and McMullen said it was easy to get the hours changed as library administrators like Elsweiler and Vice Provost for Libraries Linda Wolcott were very easy to work with.
“They were wonderful to work with. I would work with Linda and John on everything if I could,” Petty said. “We basically got what we wanted, they were very open to students, they were very open to what we want and what we think is best for the students.”
Petty said Spring semester will be a trial period for the new hours and if student response is positive, the hours will become permanent.
McMullen said the hours will help put USU on the same level as the University of Utah and other peer institutions as far as library hours go. She said further extensions, like opening a library 24 hours a day, might not happen in the near future.
“I don’t think we’d really have the support for that right now, but maybe in the future,” McMullen said.
Petty said she would like to see some changes in the future for night-owl students.
“One of the things that we would like to see [would be] a 24-hour study area,” Petty said. “Especially during finals week, for sure.”
Petty said the library might not be the best place for a 24-hour study area, but said it is something students would like.
Later library hours, especially on Friday nights, is something Petty said she would like to see adjusted more in the future, but for now is happy with the changes and thinks students will respond well.
“I think students are excited about it. I had heard complaints from lots of people,” she said. “[On weekends] studying at your apartment is not going to cut it.”
Elsweiler said the plans originally called for implementing the time change this month, but scheduling created some problems.
“It became more problematic to try to work the two computer labs and three service desks in such a short time period,” he said. “We asked Karla if it was just possible for us to wait until January to do it.”
Elsweiler said the schedules for many employees had been set for the semester and couldn’t be changed easily. When the change occurs next semester, Elsweiler said, all of the services the library offers will still be available at the new hours.
He said the hours will probably remain the same when the new library opens in 2005 as well. There might be some expansion again in the future, however.
“One of our benefits of having one building is that we don’t have to have two library buildings open for 100 hours a week,” he said.
Petty said the experience of getting the changes was a good one and is proof that students can make change if they raise their voice.
Said Petty: “If you see something that needs to be changed, if you’re proactive about it, you can get it changed.”
Starting Spring semester, the Merrill and Sci-Tech libraries will be open from 7 a.m. to 7 p.m. Fridays, from 9 a.m. to 7 p.m. Saturdays and 1 p.m. to midnight Sundays.
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