Library Suggestions
Tuesday, August 17, 2004
Library Needs to Stay Open Longer
SUGGESTION:Stay open 24 hrs. MTSU, UT, etc. all stay open 24 hrs. MTSU even has a computer lab that stays open 24 hrs.
ANSWER:
I checked with the UT Libraries (Knoxville, Chattanooga, Martin) and the TBR Libraries (MTSU, APSU, ETSU, TSU, and UM.) Only UT-K keeps a library open 24 hours. It is open 24 hours from Sunday noon to Friday when it closes at 10:00 p.m. UT-Martin keeps a study room open 24 hours.
TTU kept a study room open from the 2:00 a.m. building closing until the building opened at 7:45 a.m. during final exams starting in fall, 1990. This practice ended at the beginning of the school year 2003/04 when Chartwell’s Food Service planned to put a coffee shop in the Extended Hours Room.
Before Chartwell’s, we were considering not opening this room during finals when the building closed at 2:00 a.m. It simply was not used. We also had difficulty finding people to supervise the room during those hours.
At the request of the SGA, we kept the Extended Hours Room open during the regular semester from midnight when the building closed until 2:00 a.m. We did this for four years from fall, 1992 through spring, 1996. These hours attracted very few students, so we stopped.
We will not keep the building open 24 hours. The reasons are:
1. We do not anticipate adequate use to justify the cost. This has been reinforced by our experience with the Extended Hours Room.
2. We have difficulty staffing until 2:00 a.m. during finals, and it was almost impossible to staff hours after 2:00 a.m.
3. Many of the library resources that students, both on and off campus, use are available through the Library’s Website.
4. Security concerns mean we would have to have better security, which costs. Many libraries in research universities, like UT-K, are open 24/7. Many of these have a security guard or guards in the building. Some have video surveillance.
We have expanded hours to meet student needs without being asked. Since fall, 1998, the Library is open until 2:00 a.m. the week before finals. We call this “Projects Week” because this is the time students need the Library for their semester projects. The number of students in the building during these hours has justified our maintaining this change.
TTU Information Technology Services provides a 24-hour PC lab in Room 313 of Clement Hall.
Winston A. Walden
Director of the Library
