The library will continue to purchase materials (print, online, digital, etc.) to support your work, but we would like to know what other services, facilities or resources might be useful to you. Please rank your 3 highest priorities for Library spending, other than collections. Users responded by selecting priorities from drop-down menus. Among the 10 available priorities was “Extend Library hours.” While “Extend Library hours” ranked as the sixth priority for graduate students and faculty, it ranked as the second priority for undergraduate respondents, after “More study space.” Questions 12, 13, and 14 of the survey were open-ended: Would you like to comment on a specific library? (Comment on all that apply) What services could be provided that would better meet your needs? Anything else? Undergraduates’ and graduates’ expectations about library hours emerged as a theme in their responses to these questions. Comments ranged from general pleas of “Extend the hours!” to more specific statements of need. One graduate student commented, “I am unsatisfied with the current library hours and I feel that there should be 24-hour access to the main library five days a week Sunday- Thursday. I feel that the university as a whole demands a high caliber of work from its students therefore they must provide proper resources for students to meet this requirement.” A first-year undergraduate requested, “Please extend the hours! Almost all universities of our caliber have libraries open 24/7,” and a third- year undergraduate said, “Please leave Olin open later! It is absolutely ridiculous that one of the best schools in the country doesn’t have a 24-hour main library.” About Olin Library John M. Olin Library is at the center of Danforth Campus, which is also home to nine departmental or school libraries. Olin’s five floors house general-interest materials and collections in the humanities, social sciences, and engineering. The Help Desk on the first floor is central to user services. Librarians, staff, and student workers at the Help Desk are cross-trained to assist users with both circulation and reference inquiries. Olin is currently open 115.5 hours per week during the fall and spring semesters, until 2:00 a.m. Sunday through Thursday nights, until 8:00 p.m. RLI 277 16 Keeping the Doors Open: Exploring 24-Hour Library Access at Washington University ( C O N T I N U E D ) DECEMBER 2011 RESEARCH LIBRARY ISSUES: A QUARTERLY REPORT FROM ARL, CNI, AND SPARC
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