Busy library to extend hours for final exam study crunch

With final exams quickly approaching, students are frantically making their way to the nearest quiet setting to study. Tomorrow through Dec. 18, they'll have an even longer opportunity to do so at the Main Library. The research side of the facility will be open for an additional two hours until 2 a.m.\nMike Rocchio, circulation supervisor for the research section of the library, said the new hours will help, but he expects bigger crowds at the always-open Information Commons.\n"There will be a rush on the undergraduate side for computers with students doing last minute papers," Rocchio said. "I don't expect as much on the research side of the library because studying will have already been done."\nThe Main Library has already seen a tremendous increase in usage by students recently due to final exams, Carolyn Walters, head of the Information Commons and Undergraduate Services, said.\n"This year (student usage) has increased dramatically," she said.\nBesides its accommodating hours, the library offers a wide variety of services, Walters said. The library, which has a partnership with University Information Technology Services (UITS), offers tech support for students.\n"Our wide variety of services provides students with essential services for school as well as enjoyment," Walters said. "We have multimedia labs where students can work in small groups, as well as group work stations. Also, students can check out digital cameras or other video equipment to use on various projects."\nThe library also offers help with citing sources in research papers, various software applications, writing tutorials and features a cafeteria on the lower floor.\n"It's all just personal preference for students whether they come here (to the library) or not," Walters said. "What makes here so attractive are multiple things that students just can't always get elsewhere."\nBetween Sept. 1 and Nov. 21, library computers tallied 234,000 unique log-ins, Walters said. That accounts for 60 percent of the undergraduate population and 35 percent of the graduate students. Rocchio said computers have been the hot item to use in the library for study purposes.\n"Most of the undergraduate section of the library is computers," Rocchio said. "One of the things we do here is sign out laptop computers, which a lot of students have been doing recently. With our wireless service for laptops and computer help desk, we're pretty beneficial to students studying right now."\nThis wide variety of services is just one catch for students coming to study. Freshman Diane Booth, a ballet performance major, said the atmosphere makes the library an ideal place to study.\n"I have a single in the dorms," Booth said. "Even then, it just gets way too loud to study and there are too many distractions around me. I spend about five to six hours a week in the library and it really helps. Now with finals, I plan on spending about 10 in total this week and next."\nThe reasons for studying in the library vary from student to student, but for graduate student Hideo Okazaki, it's rather simple.\n"When I'm at home I usually just go to sleep when it comes time to study," Okazaki said. "At the library there is always just so much going on around you. It's quiet, but I always know I need to work."\nRocchio said he notices a lot of group work being done at the library.\n"With the group study stations we have here and the way in which computers are just kind of clustered together, a lot of people come in here with a friend or two," Rocchio said. "ICORE students have been in here a lot lately, usually working in small groups."\nICORE, the academic program followed by IU business majors, just completed its semester projects, which were due by noon Wednesday, Walters said. Despite this, the library's popularity is still booming. In November alone, nearly 160,000 students walked through the library gates, Walters said. This was almost a 15 percent increase from last year.\n"There are just more people everywhere," Walters said. "At this time of year it just gets so crowded."\nBooth experienced the crowds of students first hand.\n"It's nearly impossible to find computers to use," she said. "What's great about the library is that the students are just so in the zone and ready to work and study all the time."\n-- Contact staff writer Matt Mattucci at mmattucc@indiana.edu.