By Kim Friel
Student Life Editor
With final exam week quickly approaching, Miller Library is becoming more crowded than usual with students cramming to get papers done or a finding a quiet spot to study for exams.
Senior Page Allen, Head Circulation Desk Assistant of the library, and the rest of the library staff have been keeping the library open until 2 a.m. this past week and the library will continue to be open until 2 a.m. all through exam week. Allen said that the staff is not paid more during exam week, but with the extended hours. everyone working at the library is able to pick up extra shifts.
“There seems to be a lot of people doing last minute papers,” said Allen.
“I know I’m handing in a lot of papers for finals and I feel like there should be more computers out here on the main floor of the library,” said senior Molly Norris. Norris brings her own laptop to the library, like many students, but she says there are not enough working outlets in certain spots of the library.
“I was up on the third floor the other day and had to go in and out of four carrels because they did not have working outlets to keep my computer charged,” Norris said. The Miller Library being outdated and needing renovation has been a popular complaint for the past few years, and there is word of renovations being made this upcoming summer.
“For once it’s an ideal temperature in the library during the time of exam week. Usually it’s too hot to the point that students don’t want to be in the library,” said Allen.
In past years there have been things to comfort students in the library by means of endless caffeine and pastries. Allen and the library staff do not know whether or not these items will be donated again this year.
“I think Dunkin Donuts should donate free donuts to the library during exam week,” said sophomore Lora Wagner. “If students are staying here ‘til 2 a.m. they need some kind of substance to get their work done and at that hour the only option is making a trip to RoFo.”
Wagner also thinks the library should be open 24 hours during exam week, though Norris and seniors Neilly Horstman and Carly Cashen do not think there is much of a crowd from 12 – 2 a.m. in the library.
“I think the most crowded times are right in the middle of the day. We’ll go to lunch and come here around noon and it’s crowded then till about maybe three in the afternoon,” said Horstman.
Norris said that she has been coming to the library at night this past week, but will usually leave around 10 p.m. “It just makes me uneasy to have to walk to my car and get back to my house off campus in the early a.m. hours,” she said.
Cashen, who lives off-campus with Norris and Horstman, said that she finds no need for the library at night. “I’m usually too distracted in here and end up just being on Facebook which I of course could do from my own house,” she said.
Though it faces some complaints, the Miller Library to many students is the idle environment to get work and studying done for final exams week. The Elm staff would like to wish everyone good luck on their exams and to thank the Miller Library staff for their help during this stressful, frantic time.