The shrill chime of the library bell signaled that it was time to go home. 'I always thought two o"clock was a little early,' sophomore Joanna Troulakis said.E
University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill students have it. North Carolina State students have it. Why don"t Duke students have complete 24-hour access to their main undergraduate library?E
Stephanie Ford, senior assistant librarian at Perkins Library, said it is not a question of the library"s popularity. 'I almost locked someone in last night, if that"s any indication,' Ford said.E
'I"d love it,' senior Erin Ingraham said, leaving Perkins at 1:57 a.m. Monday. 'I always use the library after hours.'E
A lack of staff is currently the most significant obstacle to 24-hour access to the library. 'I would like, in theory, to be open 24 hours,' said Thomas Wall, director of public services at Perkins. 'We just don"t have the resources right now to do it.'E
Maintaining 24-hour operations would require two staff members, at slightly increased wages, to be stationed at the circulation desk between 2 a.m. and 8 a.m.E
These expenses would amount to somewhere between an additional $8,000 and $12,000 per semester at Perkins, said Deborah Jakubs, newly appointed vice provost for library affairs and University librarian. Ford said that while the circulation desk usually has no problems filling early morning shifts during exam weeks, finding students willing to work these hours regularly would be challenging. E
'Good luck finding people willing to work them shifts,' said senior Bryant Harris, who works at the circulation desk until 2 a.m. Most of the staff at Perkins are work-study students who have a normal daytime class schedule. E
While the stacks may not be available to students on a 24-hour basis, Perkins has recently taken steps to provide late-night resources for students. In 2002, as one of his first moves in his new post, Wall created the position of a late-night reference librarian in response to student demand from the regular survey.E
Students will again get their chance to voice their opinions next month, when the library issues the survey to a random sample of the undergraduate population.
And while the Gothic and Hart Reading Rooms are currently open 24 hours for studying, the pavilion currently being built next to Perkins will be open for students 24 hours a day when it is completed next fall. E
'You"ll see that the space is much better--more conducive to group studying, better lighting,' Wall said. 'It"s just going to be a better place.'E
Additionally, the library is considering extending the hours of its virtual chat reference service to 24-hours-a-day from Sunday through Thursday. This would allow students to pose questions to reference librarians through a chat room and receive an immediate response, no matter what time of day. E
Currently, the virtual chat reference system operates until midnight. Were it to be extended, student queries would be answered by librarians across the world--even as far as Australia--working the normal daytime hours. E
Ford, who used to work the late-night shift at UNC"s R.B. House Undergraduate Library, said 'the reason they got 24-hour access is because students were vocal. They said, "We want this."'
Wall said he is committed to addressing the results of next month"s survey in earnest.E
'As I get better feedback from students, we can make a better case for the resources,' he said. 'We want to be the best library in the world
Get The Chronicle straight to your inbox
Signup for our weekly newsletter. Cancel at any time.