Letter to the editor: Why extend library hours?

This letter is in response to the article “Hours need to be added,” published on Wednesday, Oct. 22, 2014 in The Independent Collegian. This article attempts to persuade its readers as to why the library should be open twenty-four hours a day, seven days a week. Its key argument is that “Dorms are not conductive to productivity. When roommates are not watching movies…they’re trying to sleep.” This may be true if someone lacks a studious roommate; however, on a campus with hundreds of honors students, this should not be an issue. Though this article does possess valid arguments, keeping the library open 24/7 is not a logical action that the Carlson Library should implement.

No logical reason exists to extend the library’s hours to such an extreme extent because the majority of people who attend the library sleep rather than study. The administration should not have to fund a free motel for students. The author does not acknowledge this issue; rather the author merely attempts a sympathetic appeal, which, will not persuade the administration. The author claims that, “Closing the library is akin to closing…the students’ office.” I personally know many seniors performing very well in school who have never used the library in their academic careers. The author simply entices us to join the crowd, without providing true reasoning: “Successful universities, like OSU and Miami (Ohio), have libraries open 24/7. Since UT touts itself as an outstanding center of higher education, it should strive to operate like those universities.” According to the author, in order to become successful, one must attend a university with 24/7 library access. However, the quality of the school usually has nothing to do with the library’s hours.

Libraries are crucial for students, but are not as popular nowadays with the Internet and personal computers. The administration should not spend more money funding something not completely used. These funds would most likely come from an increase in tuition; and I ask you, from one broke college student to another, is more debt worth an extension of library hours?

— Gianfranco Giuseppe Rolando, student