By Lezlee Gutierrez, Student Reporter
The pressure of the end of the semester and finals week may be on students’ minds, but the Brown Library is offering some extra help.
The library will extend its hours of operation during the last two weeks of the semester to assist students as they prepare for final exams. The new extended hours began Sunday and will conclude May 7. The library will be open Monday through Friday from 7 a.m. until 3 a.m., including Wednesday evenings from 6-8:30 p.m. It also will be open Saturdays from 9 a.m. until 3 a.m. and Sundays from 1:30 p.m. until 3 a.m., including 5 -7 p.m. on Sunday evenings. The library will close May 8, the last day of finals week, at 5 p.m.
“The most important aspect of this idea is to provide a response to the request for additional hours at the library from the students,” said Dr. Mark McCallon, assistant director of the Brown Library and associate professor of library science.
The addition of the extended hours initiated as a request from the 2007-08 Students’ Association Congress for the library to offer more hours for students to study and use the computers in the facility during finals week. The library then began offering more hours last semester, but only during finals week as compared to this semester’s two-week extension.
“It will definitely help me get more work done in a timely manner,” said Alvina Scott, sophomore social work major from Mansfield. “The computer availability is especially important to me because I need to make time to study that will comply with my work schedule.”
The new hours are designed to help the library accommodate students who will study earlier and later during the final weeks of the semester.
“We hope the extra use of the library can give us some feedback as to how we can further accommodate our students,” McCallon said. “We can use this information to make adjustments in the future semesters if needed.”
Other amenities available at the library, such as Starbucks and Team 55, will not extend their hours but will continue to be available during their normal hours of operation. The circulation desk, as well as all other library services, will be available during the extended hours.
The library is typically open from 7 a.m. to midnight on every weekday except Friday, when the library closes at 5 p.m. The library also is usually open until 6 p.m. on Saturdays and midnight on Sundays.
