Students looking for peaceful study time during finals week should be able to find exactly that at Hale Library.
Hale Library is offering a place for studying and quietness beginning at 1 p.m. Sunday and continuing through Friday, May 12 at 5 p.m. The library will be open 24 hours every day and certain areas in the library will be zoned off for different study areas.
Laurel Littrell, head of general information services at Hale, said signs will be posted throughout the library instructing students where to go and how quiet they should be. The second floor study area is for group study, while the rest of the library will be for quiet studying time.
“Some students need to study in groups, and some need to study alone, so dividing the library into zones will help students know where they should be for silence or quiet conversation with study partners,” Littrell said.
The library staff also will brew hot coffee and tea for any students who need a boost of energy.
Sara Kearns, instruction librarian at Hale, said the library encourages students to bring their own mugs, but foam cups also will be available. The coffee and tea will be served around 10 p.m. from Sunday until Tuesday as long as supplies last, she said.
“Librarians are fairly altruistic by nature, and we all remember the stress of finals,” Kearns said. “We’re just trying to lessen some of the stress felt by K-State students.”
Extra measures will be taken to ensure that students receive the appropriate amount of time and quietness to study at Hale, Tara Coleman, science librarian at Hale, said.
She said librarians will be monitoring the quiet zones, but students also will need to watch themselves.
“Besides designating signs for quiet and group study areas, we ask students to self-police each other when it comes to noise,” she said. “Most times people do not realize they are too loud, but usually an angry glare or shushing will quiet them down.”
The same opportunity was available last semester, and many students utilized the opportunity, Littrell said. She said they received several ideas from students’ questions at Hale and on the Web site, including the implementation of the quiet zones.
“Sometimes the smallest things are the most welcome and the most needed for someone working as hard as our students work,” she said. “We want to provide those things.”
The librarians said they will be available to answer questions and assist the students, along with doing their normal jobs.
“We hope to supply students with the type of environment that is comfortable and conducive to study,” Coleman said. “We want students to know we are here to help, be that a comfy couch, hot coffee, or getting the right research article for a last-minute paper.”
For more information, contact the reception desk at Hale Library at (785) 532-3014