Library hours to be extended after training

Before the total rebuilding of the Ina Dillard Russell Library, the hours of operation extended to 11 p.m. Now students who want to enter after 8 p.m. on weekdays are left in the dark.

According to University Librarian Rachel Schipper, students who are concerned about the library’s short hours of operation should consider the school’s budget situation and the library’s on-going construction.

“The campus as a whole is under a temporary hiring freeze at this time,” said Schipper. “Hiring more people is something that we need to carefully consider in the perspective of the entire campus.”

Schipper said there are plans to “phase in” additional hours as new student workers are trained, but for now construction-based problems that prevent full-operation cannot be resolved by students.

“There are many issues left to resolve before we can operate at full service,” Schipper said, “including hiring, training, staffing, making sure that the building is structurally completed, warranty issues for new items and wiring. These issues are facilities and employee based rather than student solved. The students have been a great resource for us, particularly this year as we have been able to quickly hire and train them for our service-oriented work.”

Schipper said Sunday hours would probably be extended to 2 to 8 p.m. in the future, but said data on library usage will be collected before determining spring semester hours.

Schipper remained positive despite the continuing delays.

“Each of the library employees is dedicated to serving our students. We are working as hard as possible to assure this service to faculty, staff and students,” she said. “The good news is that we are able to be open this year and are offering many of our services despite the construction delays.”

Posted by Colonnade Archives on Sep 24 2004. Filed under News. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0. You can leave a response or trackback to this entry