The underlying truth of every college experience is not beer or dating or passing a good time-it’s procrastination. Completing a term paper in the early hours of the morning or cramming minutes before a final is an art form students master while in college. Campus libraries and computer labs, however, remain unopened to accommodate the temporal breath of students’ study habits. Where can students go to do research on the Internet or check out books late at night?
Ellender Memorial Library is only open until 11 p.m. Monday through Thursday, 4:30 p.m. on Saturday, and 11 p.m. on Sunday, while access to the Writing Across the Curriculum is further limited. Study groups are not allowed in the WAC lab. A complete listing of library hours of different library departments is available at www.nicholls.edu/library/hours.htm.
Ayo computer lab is open from 10 p.m. until 1 a.m. Monday through Thursday, and Cenac computer lab is only open until 9 p.m. on Monday through Thursday and 2 p.m. on Friday. Both labs allow study group sessions, but neither lab is open to students on weekends.
Students who need computer access have few options on campus late at night. Students currently are not given the option to spend a Saturday evening in the library studying or going to a computer lab to write a paper. The hours the library and campus computer labs are closed are often the most convenient times for students to study. This deficiency hinders academic achievement. Given the boisterousness of everyday college life, a quiet place to study may be the difference between an A and an F to many students.
Library and computer lab hours should be extended so students have access to computers and a quiet place to study even if they choose to hit the books at odd hours. Surely, a few librarians and lab technicians would not mind working later hours if financial incentives existed.
Extending the current hours of operation would be a beneficial solution to the lack of study time and place. Increasing weekday hours and adding weekend hours at campus computer labs may bring an increase in University payroll, but the funds would be well spent.
