2008 Woodie Awards
Miller Library extends hours on trial basis
Po Yin Wong
Issue date: 2/23/07 Section: News & Features
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As a result of a motion passed at the Nov. 5, 2006 meeting of the Presidents' Council, Miller Library extended its opening hours to 2 a.m. on every Monday beginning on the first day of this semester.
The idea to extend the hours began with Merle Eisenberg '07, who had compared the hours of the College's libraries to those at other comparably sized institutions. "We passed the proposal to the Library Committee through which student and faculty members discussed the pros and cons of his proposal" Jake Leiby '09, vice chair of the Library Committee and president of Leonard Residence Hall, said. "In the end we thought that trying out the extension of hours was a good idea."
Clement Guthro, the Director of Colby libraries, said that originally Eisenberg suggested in his proposal that Miller Library be opened from Sundays through Thursdays until 3 a.m. "Some of the concerns I had included the reality of budget and the shortage of staff," Guthro said. "I surveyed the student library staff who work and their answer was an absolute no if they were to work until 3 a.m. on a regular basis. That's why the Library Committee came to the conclusion that we will try and experiment Eisenberg's proposal on one evening." The gate at the entrance to Miller generates data about the number of people walking in and out of the library at every hour on every day of the week and shows that Mondays have the most consistent and substantial late night use.
When asked about their personal opinions regarding the extension of hours, both Leiby and Guthro were not positive about the proposal. "Honestly I didn't think it would be a big success. I guess there are about 15 to 20 kids during those late nights and the staff seems reluctant to do those shifts," Leiby said. Similarly, Guthro said "the proposal addressed the concern from some students that study space at the Library is needed for late nights. In response to our comment about budget constrains and shortage of staff, Eisenberg suggested to shift the opening hours late so that the closing hours can be pushed later. However, there are students in the Library at 8 a.m. and it is not fair to favor students who like late nights to those who like early mornings."
The idea to extend the hours began with Merle Eisenberg '07, who had compared the hours of the College's libraries to those at other comparably sized institutions. "We passed the proposal to the Library Committee through which student and faculty members discussed the pros and cons of his proposal" Jake Leiby '09, vice chair of the Library Committee and president of Leonard Residence Hall, said. "In the end we thought that trying out the extension of hours was a good idea."
Clement Guthro, the Director of Colby libraries, said that originally Eisenberg suggested in his proposal that Miller Library be opened from Sundays through Thursdays until 3 a.m. "Some of the concerns I had included the reality of budget and the shortage of staff," Guthro said. "I surveyed the student library staff who work and their answer was an absolute no if they were to work until 3 a.m. on a regular basis. That's why the Library Committee came to the conclusion that we will try and experiment Eisenberg's proposal on one evening." The gate at the entrance to Miller generates data about the number of people walking in and out of the library at every hour on every day of the week and shows that Mondays have the most consistent and substantial late night use.
When asked about their personal opinions regarding the extension of hours, both Leiby and Guthro were not positive about the proposal. "Honestly I didn't think it would be a big success. I guess there are about 15 to 20 kids during those late nights and the staff seems reluctant to do those shifts," Leiby said. Similarly, Guthro said "the proposal addressed the concern from some students that study space at the Library is needed for late nights. In response to our comment about budget constrains and shortage of staff, Eisenberg suggested to shift the opening hours late so that the closing hours can be pushed later. However, there are students in the Library at 8 a.m. and it is not fair to favor students who like late nights to those who like early mornings."
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