The Student Government Association did not receive approval to keep Bracken Library open for 24 hours during Finals Week.
President of SGA Nick Wilkey met with the assistant deans for University Libraries Tuesday morning to discuss the final decision.
“I was a little upset, but they are doing their jobs,” Wilkey said. “We appreciate the effort they put in.”
The 24-hour library plan was one of SGA's executive board’s platform points during their campaign. They named the project Campus Camp Out.
Wilkey said two of the main concerns were that there would not be enough students utilizing the service.
Suzanne Rice, assistant dean for public services for University Libraries, said there had been two test pilots to keep the library open 24 hours in the past.
The turnouts for both of those pilots were lower than anticipated. Rice said the staff also looked at activity from Finals Weeks starting in 2011 until Spring 2014, which showed a decline of the number of students in the late hours.
Other universities that do have 24-hour library service have different set ups, which allows them the capability to stay open, she said.
“They are able to restrict access to a specific floors,” Rice said. “Others have building card swipe access.”
Safety was also a concern when it came to keeping the library open. During one of the test pilots, Rice said parents called, worried about their children being out late studying and the students who were working late at the library.
“What we have in terms of staffing and the security that goes with it, we didn’t see it as feasible or responsible,” Rice said.
When SGA submitted the proposal, Rice said she and the library personnel were happy to look at it and they took it seriously.
Both Wilkey and Rice said there is also increase of online materials and resources for students to use.
SGA still wants to keep another center or building open 24 hours for students to use. Still, Wilkey said he does not know if that is possible yet.
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