Maroon Opinions

It's 10pm on a Friday night...do you know where UChicago students are?

I was wondering about the hours of the libraries. I often study at the libraries on Friday and Saturday, and almost always get thrown out at 10 pm. Why is there not a single study space that's open late on these days?

While we are aware that we inconvenience some Library patrons by closing at 10pm, keeping Crerar and/or Regenstein open poses non-trivial staffing costs.

We do keep some portion of the Library open, usually the all-night study space, on high-use weekends such as the Friday-Saturday between reading period and finals.

[That being said, the Office feels your suggestion perfectly captures UChicago, and if the Uncommon Blog ever asks us to contribute a submission, we're sending them yours.]

Ready to Study But No Place to Go

It's the weekend before finals and you close at 10? This is an outrage. I'm in the Reg struggling for a place to study. I should not have to deal with this for $50,000 a year. The A-Level is closed, the 1st floor has limited space, what am I supposed to do?

There is always Harper Commons...open 24/7 until the end of finals week.

Unfortunately, we can't keep the Reg open in similar fashion: after Circ closes, there are only 2 staff on duty*—at Entry Control and the security desk—who generally can't leave their posts.

When the new cafe space opens in Winter Quarter, we're hopeful the additional seating will allow more people to take advantage of the first floor all-night study space. (We've heard that while the cafe itself will close in late evening, but the space will remain open all night.)

 

*Frequent users of the all-night space may spot an occasional reference librarian or reading room staff member on the first floor. Feel free to ask them questions, but they aren't really on duty...

 

Interim Hours

I noticed today that the Crerar library changed its hours for the rest of the summer.  These weeks are crucial for graduate students writing dissertations. There were a lot of students in the first floor and all of us were wondering why you changed the hours at the end of the summer. There is no other space in the University with extended hours so I would really request that Crerar keep its normal summer hours.

Traditionally both Crerar and Regenstein have closed earlier in the evenings during interims/breaks. (Generally, 8pm for Regenstein and 10pm for Crerar.)

While we understand this inconveniences people who enjoy studying late into the night, having shortened hours during interim allows us to save some money. Further, this year we have a security guard doing walk-throughs of Crerar and Regenstein at closing, and this has required us to keep the closing times of both buildings within a few hours of each other.

Even with our reduced building hours, Crerar is still open over 90 hours each week. The building will also be open Labor Day, a University holiday, for 14 hours (8am-10pm).

 

Longer Hours for the Reg?

I know probably my suggestion as a graduate student wouldn't count... yet it would be great if the Reg. library could be open for longer hours in summer-- for doctoral students who need to work on their dissertation/or papers, and therefore would like to stay in the library for long hours (either because they don't have A/C in their places, or because they need to have access to the rich collection of books at the Reg library)...

Unfortunately we don't have the staff (or more precisely, we don't have the money to hire the staff) to keep the Reg open until 1:00 a.m. as we do during the academic year.

However, if you just need a nice, cool, place to study and write -- Crerar is keeping its regular schedule: open until 1:00am Sunday - Thursday, and until 10:00 p.m. Friday and Saturday.

Library Hours

Will any library be open for twenty four hours during reading period and / or finals week?

If not, I highly suggest the administration work on making that happen. How does the school expect students to prepare for all finals in a two day reading period when closed libraries will force us to waste time finding appropriate places to work? It's already frustrating during the quarter.

The Suggestions Office suspects the University administration would be unsympathetic to your pleas.

That said, here is a summary of Library hours for reading period and finals:

Regenstein A-Level: the A-Level will be open 24/7 beginning Sunday Dec 29 through Friday Dec 11. That includes Friday Dec 4 and Saturday Dec 5.

Rest of the Reg: will be open normal hours (i.e., until 1 a.m. Sunday - Thursday and 10 p.m. Friday-Saturday)

Crerar, Eckhart, SSA: all keeping their normal hours. (UPDATE: The Crerar folks tell me they will be open until 1am this Friday and Saturday.)

Harper: It's not a library anymore, but the Harper Commons will keep it's normal hours and be open 24 hours EXCEPT for Friday Dec 4 (closing at 6pm) and Saturday Dec 5 (closing at 10pm).

Law: Law will keep its normal hours, but it is highly likely the Law School will restrict building access will be restricted to Law students or those using the DLL collections during reading period and finals. If you are an undergrad living in BJ or South Campus, start making plans to go to Harper. (UPDATE: Lo, the restriction has come to pass -- starting Friday, December 4.)

Full hours information is available at: http://hours.lib.uchicago.edu/

Note that the Library completely controls the hours of Regenstein and Crerar only. In all other buildings, the appropriate department/school sets building hours. So if the department decides to close early or to restrict access to its own students (cf. Law), the Library has to abide by that decision. We can be more restrictive, but not more permissive.

Library Reductions

Please don't reduce the hours that the libraries are open--cut anything but the hours, please. Especially for D'Angelo--we law students need to be there as often as possible!

You probably don't have to subscribe to quite so many magazines in the reading room--maybe cut out a few of the super girly subscriptions. Also, please keep the computer lab on the 3rd floor of D'angelo open as long as you can.

Thank you for the comments. Like every other department on campus, the Library has been asked to reduce its budget, and we're currently exploring what to cut. We'd prefer to make cuts that are largely out-of-sight to our users, but nothing is completely off the table at present.

The "light reading" of the Fulton Room and elsewhere on campus is usually purchased with endowments that were donated specifically for that purpose. For example, the senior class gift of the class of 2000 was to establish a book fund for popular literature.

Keep the Library Open!

At an institution like the University of Chicago, it is disgraceful that the library should close at 5pm today, Dec. 12. (Sunday opening time and interim hours are also inadequate.) Please convey to the administration the sentiment, shared by all library users I know, that the library deserves more resources in order to serve the student body.

Duly noted -- although the Suggestions Office staff wonder which library you refer to, since the only campus libraries closing at 5:00 p.m. today are Eckhart, Harper, and SSA.

Regenstein, Crerar, and Law are all still open until 10:00 p.m., our normal closing hours for Friday.

Memorial Day Hours

I would really like if the a-level was open absolutely every night, on the weekends and holidays too, because that is crucial to my study planning flexibility, and I hate working at home, and there are no other places to work in the middle of the night because even Valois closes and it's a little scary up there at night anyway.

Dear Regenstein,
It is Memorial Day today, and I am a graduating senior whose final exams must all be done by the middle of next week, so I have a great deal of work right now. Federal holidays do nothing to lighten my load. It is incredibly inconvenient that the all-night study space was not open last night and will not be open tonight. I wish that the all-night study space was open more in general, specifically on Friday and Saturday nights, because I like to work there and appreciate having the flexibility to work when I want to and not be limited to the restrictions established by library hours. Weekend nights would be especially useful for all-night study, since it is easier to sleep in and take naps the next day on the weekends, and because it would be convenient to avoid drunken noisy roommates at home on weekend nights. Thanks.

We do keep the A-Level open during the Friday and Saturday before finals. However, our current staffing levels don't allow us to maintain this schedule during the entire academic year. It is a topic we periodically revist, though, so if you'd use the library after 10:00 p.m. on Friday or Saturday, please let us know.

Later Friday and Saturday Hours

I think the Regenstein should definitely be open later on Fridays and Saturdays during the academic year, til at least midnight. It is always difficult to find someplace to study on Friday and Saturday nights on campus, esp. when the A-level doesn't open til 1 AM, and there are literally no coffee shops or anything open in Hyde Park.

Regenstein is open until 1:00 AM on weekends of intensive study, such as just before finals. Keeping the library open until 1:00 AM on all Fridays and Saturdays would add significantly to our staffing costs, and we aren't sure if there would be enough use to justify spending this additional money.

Although perhaps not an ideal study environment, the Reynolds Club is open until 2:00 AM on Fridays and Saturdays and is just across the street from the Reg.

Moving Upstairs?

During reading period and finals week, it would be great if the entire Regenstein were open. The A-level is full of loud freshmen in core classes hogging all the tables. A girl can't think with all the noise! The upper levels are nice and quiet and I'm pretty sure we can take care of ourselves up there without creating problems. Just a suggestion.

It's true the A-Level can get a little rowdy, especially at this point in the quarter. A few years ago we experimented with keeping the first floor open all night during finals week; this users of this space did indeed take care of themselves, but it also entailed staffing and security costs.

May I offer Crerar as a suitable alternative? That library's first floor is also open 24 hours, and the Office has heard its legendary atmosphere of quiet extends to all hours of the night.

[UPDATE: The Crerar staff inform the Office that not only the first floor but the entire library is open all night. Even more room to study!]