Library listens to students, extends hours

MTSU students can come to the library earlier and stay later this school year after student government officials requested and received an extended schedule.

The James E. Walker Library will now open at 7 a.m. and close at 2 a.m., Monday through Thursday.

The building will open 30 minutes earlier and close two hours later than it did under the previous schedule.

The extended hours will cost the university about $70,000, which will come from the university’s general fund, made up of mostly tuition dollars, Bonnie Allen, library dean, said.

Allen, who took over the position of dean in March, said the change arose from a meeting she had with SGA leaders early on.

“They had been asking Walker Library to extend their hours for some time,” Allen said. “Primarily because so many students work, and by closing at midnight they just didn’t have the time to do their homework, their studying, their research, before we closed at midnight.”

The library also adjusted its Friday and weekend hours. Doors will be open from 7 a.m. to 6 p.m. Friday, 10 a.m. to 6 p.m. on Saturday and 1 p.m. to 2 a.m. on Sunday.

Allen estimated that the library’s hours now rank third among university libraries in the state, but she cautioned that libraries can change hours quickly, and some have 24-hour operation in at least part of the building.

The library will collect data throughout the year to determine whether the hours should stay the same in the future or be changed in some way.

“We’re going to test all of it and see how well it works,” Allen said. “Students can vote with their feet. If they use the library, great. We’ll continue these hours, and if they want additional or different hours we will be changing to meet those demands as well.”

MTSU Walker Library
~Photo by Asher Hudson