Library Hours—Open 24 hours finals; Don’t close at 11:45pm during finals We are currently evaluating our operating hours for next year. There are many factors that go into deciding what our operating hours will be, including building usage, ability to provide services and staffing, funding, safety concerns, and the enormous cost (both financial and sustainability/energy related) of operating a building of this size. We have many years of experience operating at different times and have a good idea of what hours work well for the vast majority of students, but we know that at times some students would like us to be open later and/or earlier. We have explored the option of only keeping the first and second floors open during certain times in the past and unfortunately it is difficult to properly secure the upper areas of the building due to fire codes and elevator access. University Police and other entities on campus have expressed concerns about safety on campus in the middle of the night, not only for student employees who would be required to work those hours, but also for any students who need to leave the library at 3:00 or 4:00am when Campus Connection rides are no longer available. It was a difficult but necessary decision to eliminate the extra hours this semester, but we will re-evaluate in the future.
Free coffee stations! We would love to be able provide free coffee or other drinks but it’s just not feasible with the amount of students, staff, faculty, and community members who visit the library. We had well over one million visits last year! However, we are looking into partnering with the Associated Students to hopefully create a coffee shop or café space inside the library in the future.
Sell stickers with library logo (.50 cents - $1) This is a great suggestion. Once we have a library logo, we’ll look into stickers, bags, coffee cups….all sorts of library swag!
Consider making labeled wings or sections of the library with a map. It is impossible to tell someone where to meet you in the library. That’s a great idea! We are currently reviewing our building signage and coming up with ideas to better describe some of our public spaces. We do have floor maps online (http://www.csuchico.edu/library/maps/index.html) but you’re right, it can be difficult to find someone unless they’re in a room with a name or number. Rather than just saying, “somewhere on the east side of 4th Floor” we could have creative names for each area, with a unique design theme. Thanks for the input.
Have chargers compatible for laptops for checkout. If not returned, they are charged the amount the charger is sold for retail price $10+. We are looking to expand the types of equipment and wires/cables available for checkout, as soon as next semester. We’ll certainly consider charging cables.
Please clean the computers & keyboards. By the time you read this, the library computers and keyboards will likely have been cleaned, as that is always an early summer project for our student employees. They are cleaned regularly but they do get a bit grimy toward the end of the semester. ITSS has a separate cleaning schedule for the computers in the first and fourth floor labs but they are also busy cleaning this summer.
Can we get Dr. Pepper in the machines next semester? We’ll pass this suggestion on to our vending machine vendor. Photo credit: Sean MacEntee