Student disfavor with crowded libraries grows

By Jill Silverman

Two years ago, Cross Campus Library extended its hours of operation on weeknights to 2 a.m. in order to meet the demands of students. As the need for library space continues to grow, the university is considering another demand-based extension of library hours.

CCL staff members have begun counting the number of students using the library during extended hours. According to one member of library security, a tally is taken of the number of students leaving CCL between the hours of midnight and 2 a.m. If there is a great enough demonstrated usage of the library during these late hours, the library could extend its hours of operation, he said.

An extension of CCL's hours would please students upset over the lack of library studying space as the busy midterm season approaches.

"I wish the hours were longer. I think people would definitely take advantage of it," Kathy Choi, BK '00, said.

Other students agreed. "We should have a 24-hour library; a lot of other universities do. This place [CCL] gets pretty crowded at night," Paul Dover, GRD '00, said.

This concern has been heightened in the wake of the Law School's decision to restrict undergraduate access to its library. "It's a pain that on the weekends we need a pass to get in [to the Law Library]," John Swansburg, SY '00, said. Despite student concern over the cramped conditions, Danuta Nitecki, associate university librarian, said that CCL has no plans to extend its operational hours.

Students said longer hours at CCL would help alleviate the chronic shortage of study space on campus. Swansburg said extra hours in CCL are invaluable for research, as the residential college libraries, which are open 24 hours a day, contain mostly "abstruse books that aren't helpful."

Not all under-graduates are unhappy with the library system. "I think the hours are okay, because a lot of people don't like to study past two," said Aram Lee, BR '00.

Popular campus opinion, however, favors longer hours for the library system.

"I wish [CCL] were open 24 hours a day, because the college libraries are usually really crowded," Choi said.

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