Friday, July 22, 2011

Morris Library after Midnight

The north end of Morris Library will be open all night for SIUC students Sun. - Thurs. this fall. The possibility to open part of the library late at night without having the entire building open was part of the building design when it was renovated a few years ago. Morris Library had been cutting back on late night hours because there wasn't enough money to have enough staff to monitor all of the floors late at night nor interest in having lots of security cameras instead of staff. The extended hours area at the north end of the library has study and computer space but does not have print books or other physical library materials that would need to be protected.

According to the article in The Southern, Chancellor Cheng comments on this change were, "Institutions that have high quality and rigorous programs, like SIU, must provide appropriate opportunities for on campus and off campus students to study individually and in small groups in a quiet and safe setting." I'm not sure if the extended hours area will live up to that. It already is a challenge for the library to be simultaneously as welcoming, busy, and quiet as everyone would like. The quiet part is especially hard. For example, the UIUC Undergrad Library at 12:13 AM is busy, but it is not quiet.

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