Meriha Beaton, News Contributor
Dalhousie students will soon have a new place to study late at night. For exam preparation time, the Killam Library will be open until 3 a.m.
“After the loss of the Computer Science building as a late night study space, most students had no option for a late night study space facility,” says Rob LeForte, vice president (education) of the Dalhousie Student Union (DSU). “We took this feedback very seriously and lobbied the university administration on the issue.”
Dal Student Services proposed extended study hours last fall, and facility management laid out the project’s cost. The university is working on installing Dal card readers and other security measures.
“The advantage is simple to see for students,” LeForte wrote in an e-mail. “If a student needs a place on campus to study late at night or get together to do group work, it will be there.”
The DSU argued that students had no safe place to study past midnight. Students who work late hours with a part-time job need a place to go afterwards to study. The Killam also provides free Internet access for students who don’t have wireless at home.
When she heard about the extended hours, second-year Dal student Mira Karasik was pleased.
“People have different schedules, so I think it is important that the library’s resources are accessible whenever they need it,” says Karasik. “Especially during midterms and exams, because people do tend to stay up past 12.”
LeForte admits that there are a few concerns surrounding these changes, but says they are minor compared to the advantages. For instance, there’s the danger of students walking home alone at night, along with the health concern that later hours of operation will advocate unhealthy sleeping patterns.
“We did identify that a potential disadvantage could be dangers associated with walking home after a late night of school work, but have considered this around discussions of implementation,” says LeForte. “I think it is important to note that health concerns associated with staying up late to finish schoolwork were a component to the decision to eliminate a 24-hour study space.”
Up until two years ago, the Computer Science Building offered a 24-hour study space. But Jeff Lamb, assistant vice president for Facilities Management, said in a DalNews article that only a few students stayed in the building until the wee hours of the morning. That was not enough to maintain an overnight employee and the university didn’t want to encourage late-night study habits, he said at the time.
Regardless, the DSU recognized the need for a safe after-hours study space.
“People are going to stay up late anyway, and if they go back to, lets say, their homes or the (residence) rooms, that’s not a very good study space all the time,” says Karasik. “It’s important to have quiet computers, if you don’t have one, and books.”
To ensure maximum safety, the university will install security cameras in the Killam’s atrium and Learning Commons.
“To keep the facility open late, security has been top priority,” says LeForte. “Security cameras will enable monitoring and give peace of mind to those using the space.”
The exact date for these changes is yet to be announced, but they should be implemented in time for exam period. If more students use the late-night space, the administration will consider making the changes permanent. Although more time and money will be needed to make these transformations last year round, they will benefit the students in the long run.
“If students need to stay up late to study and do their work, they have a safe and convenient place to do it,” says LeForte.
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