To meet student demand for safe, quiet places to study overnight, Powell Library will stay open 24 hours this quarter during 10th and finals week for the first time ever.
The majority of rooms in Young Research Library will also operate for 24 hours for four days during finals week – from March 17 to 21, said Carlo Medina, director of access services at the Young Research Library.
“If you’re a student searching for a place to study, we don’t want you to have to walk away from our facilities. You should be able to find a seat,” Medina said.
The change is a part of the UCLA Library’s Stress-Busters Program, which was created by UCLA Library’s Academic Services Council last spring, to offer students healthy ways to relieve stress, said Kelly Miller, director of teaching and learning services and the head of Powell Library. The program offers services including therapy dogs, meditation and yoga classes, Medina added.
The increased hours come from student feedback about the most effective ways to relieve stress, Medina said. Students have indicated the need for more places suited for studying on campus through surveys commissioned by the Academic Services Council and posts on the libraries’ social media websites.
Rina Kim, a second-year microbiology, immunology and molecular genetics student, said she plans to take advantage of the libraries’ extended services.
“There isn’t always a decent place to sit down and study,” Kim said. “It’s stressful if you have to come to Night Powell and turn back home if there are no seats.”
She added that she thinks Powell provides a good work environment because it can be motivating and stress relieving to be surrounded by other students while studying.
Previously, the libraries increased their hours during 10th and finals week, but this is the first time the libraries will keep the majority of their rooms open, Medina said. The libraries will also continue offering all services overnight, including access to the libraries’ book collections, he added.
The libraries will stay open 24 hours as part of a pilot program this quarter and next quarter to determine the program’s impact on students, Medina said.
“In past years there’s been a general increase in the awareness of the amount of stress students have to deal with, and anything we can do to relieve that stress pays off and helps UCLA become a better university,” Medina said.
Staffing the libraries with student workers, library staff and security officers for the extended hours this quarter will cost an estimated $2,500, Medina said. But additional operational costs, including electrical and general library maintenance expenses, cannot be estimated until after the pilot program is completed, Medina said.
The libraries have not received additional funding from the university to provide extended services for students and the libraries’ usual budget will absorb the additional expenses, Medina said.
The Academic Services Council also plans to take hourly head counts at the libraries and to ask students to fill out short, optional surveys to further determine student opinions on the services, said Miller.
The council will assess the data collected during the pilot and the costs and adjust future programs to meet demonstrated student needs, Medina said.
The opening of YRL is really helpful. I went to Powell, and every floors were filled up. Not that many students or freshman study in YRL, it gives more space to the upperclassmen. It’s good that they do the hourly head count to make it more efficient in the future quarter.