Library and Technology Services will extend library hours
Beginning Sept. 12, all rooms in the Goldfarb and Farber Libraries will remain open until 2 a.m. between Sunday and Thursday, Library and Technology Services Director for Integrated Services Josh Wilson said in an interview with the Justice. Last year, as a result of budget tightening, all rooms in the library closed after midnight, with the exception of the Farber Green Room, which remained open until 2 a.m. Wilson said that LTS made the decision this summer in an effort to accommodate students' needs, explaining that a multitude of students had voiced their discontent with the hours of operation, claiming that it hindered their abilities to study effectively.
"We were pretty convinced it was the right thing to do. Students study around the clock, and it doesn't make sense to be closing at midnight, so you know at its core this was sort of almost a moral decision," said Wilson.
Wilson further explained that based on an annual survey of library services that students are asked to complete every year, keeping the Green Room open was not necessarily conducive to effective study habits because it is typically extremely noisy.
"What we discovered from that study are quiet services and study spaces and group study spaces are really important to students and that, over the last two years, quiet work space is more important to students than it was in the past. . Keeping this building open until 2 a.m., the whole building, allows us to offer all those study spaces to students," he said.
When asked about the financial implications of leaving he building open for extended hours, Wilson said that while this decision would stretch the budget, LTS found that providing students with the added study space was essential for them.
"One of the things we realized is that we needed a budget to make that service available, and all the research that we did indicated how important this was, so with all that put together we realized we just needed to make the budget stretched in ways that would allow us to open the building until 2 a.m., the entire building, and make it available," he explained, adding that LTS would economize to make this change happen.
Neelanjana Gupta '13 said in an interview with the Justice that she absolutely believed she would benefit from extended hours, explaining, "Usually during the final exam time, there is no place in the library to study to be very honest,"explaining that the additional space would provide more options.
The decision to leave the whole library open until 2 a.m. comes in conjunction with the resignation of Susan Wawrzaszek as deputy chief information officer and university librarian over the summer. According to a July 2 e-mail to staff and faculty from Vice President and Vice Provostof LTS Perry Hanson, Wawrzaszek resigned from her position to become chief information officer at Wheaton College.
Hanson wrote in an e-mail to the Justice that he is "discussing the best next steps for LTS Leadership broadly" with the LTS Advisory Committee, Provost Marty Krauss and the Senior Vice President for Administration Mark Collins.
"Sue was great; Sue was a wonderful asset to Brandeis, and we're all really thrilled for her that she has this opportunity. I'll miss seeing her on a day-to-day basis," said Wilson.
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