Marliss Allen, Contributing Writer
College. Full of late nights, early mornings, and not much sleep. When and where do students do most of their studying?
The Henry G. Bennett Memorial Library is open on the weekdays from 7:30 A.M. until 10 P.M., Saturday from 1-5 P.M., and Sunday from 3-10 P.M. The question is, “Is that enough?” Several students on the campus of Southeastern Oklahoma State University don’t think so.
Kaela Ganz, a senior at the university is one of them. “I work every night during the week. I go to school during the day right until the time that I have to head off to work and by the time I get off of work, the library is closed. It’s awful!”
When asked if she thought her grades would improve if she had later access to the library she replied, “Yes! I don’t get financial aide but I can’t afford to buy all of the books that I need so I really rely on the textbooks from the library to get me by. With my work schedule, it just doesn’t happen.”
Does the library closing at 10 P.M. affect all ages of students on campus? Patrick Warren, a freshman at Southeastern, was asked how often he goes to the library and at about what time.
He replied, “I go quite often, maybe like six times a week and I usually go at night probably around 7 or 8 P.M.” He was also asked if he thought he would benefit from the library being open later, “Yes. I would get so much more work done and it would be nice to just have a place to go to relax while I study since my roommate doesn’t always keep it quiet.”
So if the students say that they would benefit from the library being open later at night, then why isn’t it? According to Becky McLain, full-time librarian at Henry G. Bennett Memorial Library, the library staff has done several tests throughout the years to see whether the library itself should be open later and the results have shown that it isn’t necessary. Why?
Becky said, “We used to be open until midnight and statistics showed that most students left by 9 P.M.” When asked if she personally thought that the library should stay open later she replied, “No, it’s not in the budget. We would need two student workers and one librarian and we couldn’t constitute keeping them there for just a few students.”
Several students have voiced opinions that the library would be better if it were open until at least midnight but according to statistics, that’s not the truth. If you are one of those people who wish it were open later, Becky McLain and the library staff encourages you to let them know. “We never know what the students really want unless they say so,” she stated.
To voice your opinion contact one of the three full-time librarians on staff by email or face to face. Becky McLain, Dennis Miles, or Krista Ramirez would be more than happy to hear your thoughts.