The University Library is changing its hours of operation for the second time within a year.
Starting in the spring, the library will close at midnight Sundays through Thursdays, rather than at 11 p.m. The library will continue to close at 5 p.m. on Fridays and Saturdays.
The change comes after Associated Students Inc. Secretary of Internal Affairs Andrew Carnes and Chief of Staff Joseph Phillips met with the dean and associate dean of library services to discuss extending the library’s hours, Associate Dean and Librarian Tracey Mayfield said.
Last spring, the library rolled back its opening time by an hour, to 6:45 a.m., after ASI officers pushed for the change to accommodate for some students’ early morning schedules.
To make the change for spring 2014, though, Mayfield said the library is cutting some time from its extended morning hours.
“We came to an agreement that would allow us to shave off 15 minutes from our extended hours in the morning and extend our evening hours to midnight,” Mayfield said.
Phillips said that he and Carnes’ original goal was to extend the library’s hours to 24 hours a day to provide a study center for students. He said creating a study center for students was part of ASI President John Haberstroh and Vice President Jonathon Bolin’s platform in the spring elections and a goal for the 2013-14 year.
The library, however, lacked the resources to stay open 24 hours a day, Phillips said. Nevertheless, he said he was happy with the compromise.
“It’s a positive that came out of it,” Phillips said. “We actually were able to make a really good relationship with the library over the next couple of semesters.”
Mayfield said there are also no additional costs in changing the library’s hours.
“Again, we were able to accommodate the request without additional resources, so we are very happy to be able to meet this request from the students,” Mayfield said.
Fred Poling, an adjunct librarian at CSULB, said he is happy the hours will be extended because evening hours are more valuable to students.
“It’s a matter of trying it out to see if students are going to take advantage of it,” Poling said.
Students, like senior sociology major Samone Dias, said they like the new evening hours because they’re usually kicked out of the library with its current schedule.
“I am in here until 11 p.m. a lot, and I always get kicked out when I’m not done with my work,” Dias said. “I don’t like to study at home, so closing at midnight would at least give me an extra hour to get more studying done.”
Others, like junior political science major Ricardo Mota Jr., said the hours will be useful, but Mota said he would like to see the same extended hours throughout the week.
“It will help a lot of students who prefer to do work at night, but I wish they would open later on the weekends when I have nothing to do but study,” he said. “I like how it opens late on Sunday, but they should try to extend hours on Friday and Saturday.”
Senior political science major Carlos Corrales agreed about the weekend hours.
“I feel like [the extended hours are] an improvement, but I would rather see extended hours over the weekend,” he said. “It is the minimum for a library to be open 24 hours. It is an educational institution, and we are here studying most of the time.”
Phillips said he and Carnes will continue searching for a place on campus to host a 24-hour study center. They have looked into some options like the dining halls on campus, but Phillips said Housing and Residential Life “wasn’t too keen on that.”
Editor in Chief Kristine McGowan and Staff Writer Anita Wang contributed to this report.
New Hours:
Mon – Thur: 7 a.m. to Midnight
Fri: 7 a.m. to 5 p.m.
Sat: 10 a.m. to 5 p.m.
Sun: 12:30 p.m. to Midnight
Current Hours:
Mon – Thur: 6:45 a.m. to 11 p.m.
Fri – 6:45 a.m. to 5 p.m.
Sat – 10 a.m. to 5 p.m.
Sun – 12:30 p.m. to 11 p.m.