By Nicole Eatz
Staff Writer

Marywood University’s Library hours are Monday through Thursday 8am-11pm, Friday 8am – 7pm, Saturday 8:30am – 7pm, and Sunday noon – 11pm. The University of Scranton students have 24-hour access to their library, but only to certain areas. The question is should Marywood students have 24-hour access to the library. I believe that we should. Even if the students have a designated area of the library like the University of Scranton students do, it is better than getting kicked out of the library at 11pm or 7pm. Some students have class till nine which only gives those students two hours in the library to get work done or to study. Others like myself have class till nine then a meeting till ten and then can only get into the library for an hour.

When talking to students that go to Marywood and asking their opinion on the Library hours, I have learned that many are frustrated and wish to have access 24-hours. I was talking to one of my friends who is a physician’s assistant major. For those who do not know, they are on campus from morning till night for classes and still need to study after all those classes. They never have much time in the library. My friend told me that it frustrates her because since she is on campus so much and studying all the time, she likes a new environment to study in. Sometimes she studies in the Healthy Family building, sometimes in Nazareth but where she would really like to study is the library, but she cannot because it closes at 11pm. I heard that there was a Facebook group that is called “We want 24-hour access to the library!” I was reading through all the wall posts and even those who do not go to the library still think it would be a great idea to have 24-hour access. Students say that they would love to have the option to go to the library at 3am to study and that it shouldn’t be hard to do because so many other colleges already have this option. In my opinion if you need to stay up late to study or get work done and you are in a dorm it is hard to do when you have a roommate. Who knows what your roommate is doing and the library is a place to escape to so you are not distracted by dorm life.

What I and many others are angry about is library access during midterm and finals time. I understand that maybe Marywood University cannot find someone to work the library over night and that is why we do not have 24-hour access, but during midterm and finals which are usually only one or two weeks all students should have 24-hour access. There should be no reason for students not to have this access. I am not one to go to the library a lot but when I have a midterm or final I am there and do not want to have to leave by 11pm. When talking to other students around campus I am told that they would be happy with just the first floor of library being opened 24-hours and the rest can close at 11pm. This way they will still have computer access as well as printer access and an area to study. With one floor opened there is only a need for one person to work. On the Facebook group someone wrote that they would even work the night hours in order for the library to be 24-hours.

I believe that Marywood should really look deeper into this problem and come up with a solution. Students want 24-hour access to the library. They want to be able to step into the library to study, do work, print something, or have internet access whenever they want. If anything, Marywood should be jumping at this opportunity because students want to be in the library. In the end, it shouldn’t be a very hard task for Marywood to complete because it is something that many other colleges and universities do and are successful with and their students are happy.