Starting October 3, students will be able to study 24 hours a day, Monday through Friday in Hale Library.
“On average during the semester, between 10 p.m. and 2 a.m., there are more than 500 people coming in to study. The building is very crowded and we felt the need to extend hours,” said Laurel Littrell, head of general information services department for Hale Library.
Summer hours will still be shorter, checkout desks will still close at 10 p.m., and weekends won’t be 24-hour, but the library staff said they believe this is a step in the right direction.
“The idea is to provide a quiet place to study. At this point, our main goal is keeping the building open, materials accessible, even if not checkout,” said Roberta Johnson, director of financial services and facilities.
With the extension of library hours come bigger expenses. The largest expense will be providing for security and custodial services.
So far, no estimate is available regarding how much more the library will be paying for these extended hours, but the amount paid to campus security is estimated to double.
Students can take part by helping to keep costs as low as possible.
“Students can help by cleaning up after themselves, respect the library,” Johnson said.
Saturday hours will be 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. The library will be available 24 hours a day starting 1 p.m. Sundays through 8 p.m. Fridays.