December is now upon us, meaning that holidays are just around the corner. However, along with the excitement of our much needed vacation we unfortunately know we have to face the hurdle of exams first.

The entire atmosphere of SMU changes during the month of December. Students aren’t congregating near Tim Horton’s as much and are meeting in computer labs more often. In fact, there was a time when computer labs were completely empty during the day. Now the chances of you obtaining a free computer during normal school hours are slim to none. In fact SMU’s superior Digital Education Neighborhood more commonly known as the “Den” is attracting a lot more attention than normal. It has even attained the attention of a few Dal students who use the 24 hour accessibility for studying purposes. Just this weekend I happened to be in the Den late one evening and witnessed a student break down over accidently losing an assignment on her computer. Someone suggested that she simply start it again and she replied that it wasn’t possible because the library was closed.

This brings me to the issue at hand. Although the facilities of the Den are available 24 hours, a greater percentage of students use the Patrick Power library as their main study grounds. Don’t get me wrong; with the addition of the grand Atrium, study space has been greatly improved. However, study time on campus is still the same. This situation needs to be adjusted, especially during exam time when every minute counts for a student.

If you’re not familiar as of yet, then you should know that the Patrick Power Library has a vast collection of material that students can use to access diverse resources and services for educational purposes. Not only are you able to obtain important material but the library is also an excellent study environment. It is quiet, spacious, clean, and also provides excellent internet access for people who walk in with their own laptops.

I must admit that not every SMU student will benefit from having later hours. Students living off campus aren’t really concerned with how late the Library is open but students that are campus residents or even live near SMU are concerned with the availability of the school library.

Even though it may not be entirely beneficial to EVERY student, at least 40 percent of the school prefers studying during the hours of 9pm and 3am. During this time the building is quiet and students are deeply rooted in their studies; when the lights flicker at 10:50 they get so upset that they lose interest in any more studies for the night. This interruption in studying time makes studying in the library unattractive to some students and unaccommodating to the ones that do. Hopefully, after future renovations are fully completed, if the university can’t keep the library open they can at least keep the Atrium open past library hours.

The Journal is aware that keeping the library open later than 11pm increases costs and it also forces staff to leave later than normal. However, if the library placed a notice informing all students that the library would be open later during the EXAM period, then more than enough students would be grateful for this extra time.

It is possible that the budget to keep the library open may be somewhat stressed due to the recent opening of the Atrium. Even so, the argument for later hours should still be made. If a new schedule was implemented for a few weeks for the staff, such as flexi-hours, then these costs could easily be covered.

The only other alternative for students studying is the Den as mentioned before. Although it may lack the quiet, solitary environment that the library provides it is still usually quiet on empty nights and students have the added benefit of using the computers.

Although there are other alternatives for study places, an extension for library hours, if only during the exam period, seems like a reasonable request. Although the library may not be swarming with students, it would greatly improve the learning experience some students have here and also the university atmosphere.

If you’re interested in studying at the Library in the next few weeks; here are the Patrick Power’s Library hours:

November 30 - December 13:

Monday - Friday 8:00am - 11:00pm
Saturday 8:00am - 11:00pm
Sunday 10:00am - 11:00pm

December 14 - 20:

Monday -Friday 8:00am - 11:00pm
Saturday 8:00am - 11:00pm
Sunday CLOSED

December 21 - 23:

Monday and Tuesday 8:00am - 5:00pm
Wednesday 9:00am - noon