Last week, Student Government Association President Sam Howard announced that the Pius XII Memorial Library will remain open 24 hours after the installation of a card swipe system scheduled on April 17. This is designed to be a pilot program to gather data to evaluate the practicality of a permanent 24-hour library for the 2009-2010 academic year.

“The [Presidents Coordinating Council] did approve having Pius library opened during finals if we can get [the card swipe equipment] installed by April 17,” Assistant Provost for University Libraries Gail Staines said.

The main floor will remain open past the normal library closing hours of 2 a.m. with a Department of Public Safety officer and library staff members at the front desk.

“We’ll have an officer here, we’ll have some library staff here, so it should be a safe space,” Staines said.

The new card swipe system will record the number of people in the library during the extended hours. Some students have already expressed interest in using the extended hours to study.
“I am obsessed with the idea. I spend a lot of time in the library studying,” junior Katie Murray said. “Not everyone finishes studying at 2 in the morning, this gives us more options.”
Howard encourages students to use the extended hours effectively to gain accurate data on student usage.

“Be realistic, don’t just use [the library] to make it look like we need it because I don’t want to waste money on something SLU doesn’t need,” Howard said. “If you really legitimately want to study at 4 a.m. then heck yeah study in the library, but don’t take advantage of something just to up the numbers.”

This data will be assessed and presented at the end of the academic year by SGA President-elect Michael Harriss to the PCC to assess the library’s hours for the following year.

“We want to get a real estimate of the use during that time to access for the future,” Howard said.

Howard also said that the extended hours will be cost effective for the University.

“This whole initiative is just funny because it doesn’t cost very much at all, it is not much in the greater picture of what the University spends,” Howard said.

The 24-hour schedule will run Sunday through Thursday night and into Friday morning.

“I am happy because now when I pull all nighters, I can study in a safe comfortable space,” freshman John Gallager said.

The library may also extend Friday and Saturday hours in the future, according to Library Task Force Chair Adnan Hussain. With the extended hours, Chartwells is also looking to increase the hours of Café Libros in the Library.

“This is the next huge change to our campus, having a 24-hour library,” Hussain said.

“We believe that for SLU to remain and advance as a top institution, students must have access to a 24-hour library.”