Charles To/The Ubyssey
Pulling all-nighters is a part of university life, but some students are concerned that the university isn’t offering enough study space during the wee hours of the night. And now students have started a petition to keep libraries open.
Students Geoffrey Chu, Shane Galway and Igor Opacic are starting a petition to get the Irving K. Barber Learning Centre (IKB) to extend its regular hours to be open around the clock.
“We believe [the library] should stay open an extra few hours into the night,” said Galway, a first-year Arts student. “We don’t really think there’s anywhere on campus that allows people to pull all-nighters.”
“Midterms and papers are due throughout the year, and a lot of people find that the amount of work we have to do throughout the year means we need more study hours,” he said.
Opacic, a second-year Arts student, has asked some students about what they’d like out of library hours. “I went around surveying people…[There are] people that are pro 24/7, [and] people that want the hours extended. Only 3 out of 19 people said that the current hours were sufficient.”
But there are challenges to changing the library’s schedule. “From our experience with 24/7, cleaning and proper maintenance of spaces can be a major challenge,” said Simon Neame, director of IKB. “[For example], washrooms are also working over capacity, which has created some issues.”
But the largest obstacles is funding a 24 hour facility.
“There is a cost…We’re not immune to the economy; we get our allocation, our funding, and we have to work within those means,” said Corey Sue, director of finance and facilities at IKB.
Sue said the estimated cost of increasing the operation to 24 hours for 32 weeks would be between $150,000 to $175,000 extra. “This does not include longer-term, capital replacement costs that are related to the accelerated wear and tear on the building.”
That would be on top of the current operating costs, which Neame said are difficult to estimate, but security alone costs IKB $340,000 annually.
Other services would be affected as well. “The library has its funding envelope, and we have to work within that,” said Sue. “Do you want all this technology, or do you want the library to stay open?”
BUt petition creators say they recognize the obstacles. “We know there’s a cost involved, but we think that will be marginal. The benefit is it would provide a place for students to study for the night,” said Galway.
Neame said the library is measuring traffic to see if the 24/7 option is viable.
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Hey Galway, McDonald’s not good enough for you? Or your dorm?
There is no need to study at the library. If you want to study 24 hours straight, go somewhere else- your room, local cafes, etc. And more importantly, learn to budget your time. No one should actually have to pull all nighters unless you plan your time poorly. The university shouldn’t have to foot your bill- unless the students using the library are willing to pay more. And there’s no reason to keep the library open if the only students complaining are those who are on campus (i.e. the minority of UBC students).
Yeahhhh, I’m with John here…
If you are pulling all-nighters to get your work done that means that you’re not managing your time well and I do not want to fund the incompetence of others.
Part of university (and life) is learning how to manage time efficiently and you won’t learn anything about that from extending library hours. There are plenty of other places to study in (like your room or a cafe) and besides, the areas of IKB that actually stay open 24/7 aren’t conducive to studying anyways.. ie people are LOUD and obnoxious in them most of the time.. are you going to ask the whole room to be a little quieter?
On a side
Not “On a side [note]“.. I changed my mind… oops!
First World Problems…
The title of this article is so misleading – “Students” aren’t petitioning, one student is, one naive student who it seems should spend more time studying and less time petitioning and maybe he wouldn’t need the library open 24/7
@Erica S. sounds more like #firstYEARproblems
If you’re going to be studying between the hours of 2-6 am on, say, a Tuesday night, chances are your roomate/unit mate/life mate won’t be up to pester you anyways.
#earplugsworklikeacharm
#noisereductionheadphones
#rezlife
#beassertive
#learntobalanceyourtime
I heard Galway hates the homeless… he’s petitioning to turn all of Vancouver’s homeless centres into study spaces
The Ubyssey enabling first years to feel important…
I totally agree with Galway! Who can study in Macdonalds? What you guys are forgetting is that the library contains reference books, Macdonalds contains hamburgers, you can not study in Macdonalds!!!
Idk, the fact that its only one student and apparentely popular opinion is that he hates the homeless, idk if he should even be asked.
Bros, the real issue here is that the Birdcoop isn’t open 24/7!
Whats the deal with this guy?
DO u know how much electricity is needed? no u dont, so stop asking for such ridiculous demands, also security wages are ridiculous. If u need to study study in your room
k the ikb doesnt need to be open all the time u r being rediculous how about having the sub open or sumthin sometimes it’s late at night and i want a blue chip cookie or pizza cuz dominos is rly bad at delivery but theres only vending machines shitty ones to b honest also the convenence store there cuz i need gum or detergent but its not open and it shud be cuz its close to everything on campus so no ikb doesnt need to be open what other ppl said go to ur room . open the sub at night insted
First off Irving should be open 24 hours during exams, look how well attended it was last year. During the rest of the year, maybe not so necessary…
When will poor first years learn there are way better places to hunker in for the night if you want to study till dawn. I recommend Buchanon, Woodward, LSC (if you have a passcard), Swing… In fact pretty much an building as long as you are in before they lock the doors no one minds you being there all night. I have never understood why people crame into Irving and can’t find a table when you can have a whole classroom to yourself (I currently have Wood 1 all to myself, and I would bet that I could have it all to myself until Monday morning no problem if I wanted.)
By the way: WOW time management HATERS GONNA HATE! Just because your bedtime is 10 doesn’t mean the rest of us are going to go to bed that early. I don’t hit my stride till 1 in the morning; different strokes for different folks.
some people might benefit from longer hours seeing how much of the spelling above here is appalling.