If you have not heard, this semester the Schulz Library will be extending its hours on the first floor for 24-hour studying beginning Fri., May 8, and continuing through Fri., May 22, one week more than in the past.
After midnight, the second and third floors will be closed. However, the 24-hour lab will remain open during the actual finals week of May 18 through May 22.
The Charlie Brown Café will be open 24 hours as well, and it is no secret that after midnight the Charlie Brown's staff may give away free coffee, tea and bagels.
Many students are excited about the extended hours and appreciative of the Library making a change to accommodate them.
The top five "likes" of the Library for students on campus are the friendly and helpful staff, the rooms on the third floor (which are ideal for study groups and individual quiet studying time), the environment of the library, the free access to computers with internet and the wireless internet throughout the library for students who want to bring their own laptops.
"I study at the library everyday because it is too distracting at home," said biology chemistry major, Julieann Murella. "The library makes me focus because it's quiet and the tables are spacious and not crammed like my room. I will definitely take advantage of the extended hours, especially for the weekends."
Yet some students, like criminal justice major Delish Francis, rarely utilize the library each semester.
"The library is too distracting and boring," said Francis. "I get way more work done at home. I can wear my pajamas and get comfortable. If I use the library, it is for group meetings, so the extended hours doesn't affect me either way, but this is a great gesture to show that [SSU] cares about students and their grades. Even though I won't take advantage, I'm appreciative that it is still a possibility."
The frequent and common concerns of students for the extended hours at the library are the first floor being too loud and crowded, not enough computers and time limits not being enforced on students who use them for MySpace and Facebook instead of school work.
Others are concerned about paying for printing and students waiting until the last minute to utilize the extended hours for studying. This would cause the library to become chaotic around finals time. Yet overall students have been extremely receptive to the extended hours and it seems as if they will take advantage of the opportunity.
The library staff is extremely excited, because students have made many requests for the 24 hours to be extended before finals.
"We have been offering the 24 hours on the first floor of the library during finals for five years, and many students have requested for time before finals versus during and finally I talked with my staff and checked with our resources and it all worked out," said Barbara Butler, the Dean of the Library. "The library tries hard to be a student service center and we are here to promote academic success. We try to do the best we can do, especially during the tough economic times, but we strive to keep our finger on student requests and concerns and we are consistently interested in finding out comments and concerns of students."
The library staff has decided to open up the room 1121 for students that need a quieter studying atmosphere and have moved more tables and chairs for studying nooks. Usually during the hours of 12:00 a.m. to 2:00 a.m., it will be more crowded, but after these hours it tends to quiet down, because students are more likely to return home.
Students are also encouraged to bring laptops and to take advantage of the open hours of the library before and during finals.
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