As a part of The Cavalier Daily’s 130 year anniversary, we are republishing articles from our archive. This article originally ran in The Cavalier Daily Oct. 27, 2000.
Beginning Monday at 2 a.m., University night owls and procrastinators won’t have to pack up and head home from Clemons Library. From then on, the library will be open 24 hours in a pilot program to accommodate students who would like to study past 2 a.m., when the library now closes.
At the end of next semester, the library staff and Student Council will evaluate the success of the new hours and determine if the new schedule will become a permanent program.
“We are going to work with the library to ensure enough students are making use of the late night service to justify the cost,” Council President Joe Bilby said.
The Council worked for nearly a year to fight for a 24-hour library. Two weeks ago, at a Board of Visitors meeting, University President John T. Casteen III announced his decision to keep the library open.
Before Casteen’s decision, the library staff had done studies on the number of students still in the library late at night and found that an average of 230 students still study at 12:30 a.m.
Clemons Director Vicki Coleman said she expects the new hours to be very successful, but she said her main concern is the safety of the students.
Under the new program, at 2 a.m. the library will close all of the floors except for the fourth floor, which will remain open all night.
Two new security guards have been hired to patrol the fourth floor and ensure the safety of the students, Coleman said.
Only students, faculty and staff with valid University IDs will be able to enter the library after 2 a.m., and beginning at 2 a.m. the guards also will check for IDs from those already in the library.
Coleman said she also hopes to work with the Escort Service to arrange safe van rides home for students late at night. She said the University Police suggested students wait inside the library and have the escort van call when it is outside the library.
Bilby said he also was concerned about students being turned away from Clemons if they forgot their IDs.
“We are working with the Honor Committee to create a vouching policy which respects the University’s community of trust,” he said.
Executive Vice President Matt Madden said he thinks the new hours will be helpful to students who may not want to return home earlier in the night.
“I think it will be good for students to have a central place to make copies, check email and study and know that they won’t be kicked out at an arbitrary hour,” Madden said.
Second-year College student Jenny Marshall said she was overjoyed about the new hours because she frequently studies at Clemons late at night.
“For students like me who have exams dispersed throughout the semester, not just at finals and midterms, the new hours will be great — 2 a.m. is not quite late enough for me,” Marshall said.
Transcribed by Ankit Agrawal
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