Moving Forward While we wait to begin the trial 24/4 schedule, we will perform additional headcounts of users in Olin Library, not only late at night, but also during the morning, afternoon, and evening hours. Doing so will help us build a more detailed picture of how late-night usage of Olin compares with usage at other times throughout the day, and the data could inform future decisions about library hours. The Library Hours Committee’s exploration of how to address our students’ desire for 24-hour library access has been extensive. We are confident that the trial 24/4 schedule is the best way to begin to fulfill our students’ requests for extended hours while also learning more about their needs. Until we are able to keep the doors open all night, we lack a complete understanding of how and when students will use our spaces and services. Keeping the doors open is an opportunity not only to understand our users more fully—it is also an opportunity to understand the extent of our role in their educational experiences and in their lives. 1 Washington University in St. Louis Libraries’ Library Service Quality Survey 2010 Final Report is accessible via the libraries’ Assessment Team LibGuide at http://libguides.wustl.edu/assessment/. © 2011 Sarah Laaker This article is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-Noncommercial- Share Alike 3.0 United States License. To view a copy of this license, visit http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-sa/3.0/us/. To cite this article: Sarah Laaker. “Keeping the Doors Open: Exploring 24-Hour Library Access at Washington University in St. Louis.” Research Library Issues: A Bimonthly Report from ARL, CNI, and SPARC, no. 277 (December 2011): 15–25. http://publications.arl.org/rli277/. RLI 277 25 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