Exonians Question Short Saturday Library Hours
Courtesy of Kaylee Gong
By AARYAN PATEL, CARLY CANSECO, JAYDEN OH, and KEVIN THANT
Saturday evening is often a time for Exonians to relax after a grueling week of classes, clubs, and sports. While some students are out in town with their friends or sleeping in, others can be found in the library, getting ahead with their homework or studying for an upcoming test. However, the same question arises every Saturday: Why does the library close so early? The library is open throughout the week until 8 p.m. or 9:30 p.m., except on Saturday when it closes at 4 p.m.. This has aroused much confusion from Exonians.
“Our opening hours are determined by the traffic that we have in the library,” explained on-call librarian Sue Riley. When students often see librarians walking around, it is not to patrol the floors; instead, they count how many people are in the library. “We then record that data and use it to determine when the library is effective when open.”
The library staff tries to open the library when it is most effective to be open. “There isn’t enough traffic to be open for Saturday nights,” a library staff member commented. However, despite the data and statistics, student sentiment seems to tell otherwise.
Lower Chris Spencer said, “I think the opening hours are fine, but many students, myself included, find that we go to the library in the afternoon only to be kicked out at 4 p.m., disrupting weekend studying.”
The library is usually crowded at the end of a term, with history students probing its shelves for sources. With many students taking the same courses, such as U.S. History and European History, the demand for the same books poses an issue for students and librarians. The early closing time of the library exacerbates this issue, as there is limited time for students to access their books. Although the course reserve system somewhat alleviates this, several students still mention issues.
“Sometimes I feel like the closing hours are a little early considering the number of students wishing to use the library resources for the day—especially when everyone is working on their library research project,” Lower Lynnwoo Hong, enrolled in HIS301, noted. “Often, my friends and I try to finish our work on Saturday but are often kicked out of the library earlier than we would like to.”
Others taking the same course reflected a similar sentiment. “I had Saturday and Sunday to finish my research notes for my history class’s research project, and I was forced to squish most of my work into Sunday as Saturday library hours are extremely short,” lower Bryan Cho agreed. “Sometimes, several students want to borrow the same books, and a shorter library open hours means that fewer students can get their hands on the books they need.”
Spencer, currently enrolled in HIS308, agreed: “Especially since I am doing a history research project and will be spending more time in the library, the closing time will be something I have to work around.”
Prep Daniel Lee, enrolled in HIS200, added, “Saturday or Sunday evenings are when I actually have to often spend a lot of time in the library.”
Lee further suggested, “Students should have more time to use the library, especially when there is a history project when we cannot take books to the dorms to spend extra time reading for taking notes.”
“I think the library should be open till 9:30 p.m. on Saturdays,” said upper Neal Veeranna. Given that all students have check-in at 11 p.m. on Saturdays, a majority of the studious population finds themselves unable to do their homework due to the constraints that library hours give them.
When the library staff was asked about whether there would be staffing issues if the library hours were extended, On-Call Library Staff member Sue Rilley commented, “I don’t know if that would be a problem. On the weekends, we have what is called on-call people like me, while on the weekdays, we have full-time librarians. Although we occasionally bring in a full-time librarian to answer reference questions.”
It seems that the librarian staff would not have too many qualms about the library remaining open for longer on weekend nights. The real question, though, is whether or not students would use it. “I never really go to the library on Friday nights and definitely not on Saturday nights when I’m hanging out with my friends,” lower David Liu said.
Liu’s sentiments reflected the general student population and their views on a Saturday night library outing, as the 11 p.m. check-in time is often used for more social gatherings. “An extension in the library hours, possibly 6 or 7 p.m., would be appreciated,” Cho remarked.
The early closure of the library on Saturdays brings numerous challenges to many Exonians, particularly those who rely on the library’s resources for projects or assignments. While the Academy’s library has followed a very similar schedule for many years as they try to find a balance between staffing efficiency and student needs, a reevaluation may be beneficial.
