Late hours for the library

With its shadowy stacks, decorative rugs and those green lamps that just scream “law school” – you know the ones, the King’s library is a cosy space to buckle down on those papers. And with exams approaching, its doors are staying open later than ever.
As of Nov. 29, the library will remain open until 3 a.m. every day, but with a catch. Night owls will require a King’s ID card, which they leave with patrol upon signing in. Lending and borrowing services won’t be available in the wee hours.
Alex Bryant, KSU Vice-President of Student Life, has been working on ensuring study space on campus. He thinks later access to the library, and its computers, is a real asset to students. But he’s hoping for more.
“The goal would be that we would get the NAB, we would get the A&A, we would get all of those good places to study open and keep the library open too. But it’s turned out to be more complicated than we expected,” he said.
In April, King’s brought in private security staff in addition to the student-run patrol. Since then, the NAB, which used to be open in the evenings, is no longer accessible after hours.
Bryant said he went to King’s Vice-President Kim Kierans, Director of Facilities Alex Doyle and Dean of Students Nick Hatt to open more study space for the exam period. They discussed the possibility of a sign-in system for the NAB to mirror the one in the library, but weren’t able to make a call on it in time for the fall exam period.
Bryant calls the demand for study space on campus “dramatic and high.” While the library offers quiet work space, those studying for oral exams need seminar rooms and spaces for conversation. He says he intends to push to re-open the NAB for the winter exams.
“Part of the issue is that our students might not think to come to complain to us about it, and then they might just go to the Killam and study, and they shouldn’t have to,” he said. “We’re a university, right? The students are the ones that are paying for the buildings to be here in the first place.”
The last day for late hours at the library is Dec. 12. It will close at 3 a.m. on Dec. 13.