The University of Toronto Scarborough Library has launched reduced hours in response to recent pilot studies, stirring mixed feelings from staff and students.
Last year’s 24/7 service ran 10 weeks through fall and 13 weeks through winter. This year, the service is scheduled only during exams from December 7 to December 21, and from April 9 to May 1. This represents an almost 80 per cent reduction from the previous year. For the remainder of both semesters — after Thanksgiving during fall and after February 7 during winter — the new extended hours stretch from 8 a.m. to 2 a.m. on Mondays to Thursdays, 8 a.m. to 12 a.m. on Fridays and noon to midnight on Saturdays and Sundays.
“The library worked very closely with students in determining hours that will best serve their needs,” said Victoria Owen, UTSC’s head librarian. “We spent years conducting pilot projects, […] consultations, surveys, and focus groups to establish a schedule that is most beneficial to them.”
Since 2005, the library has been running a series of pilot projects that test the efficiency of various operating hours. Last year’s study showed that after 2 a.m., average student usage fell to 31 before exams and to 78 throughout the exam period. The numbers continued to drop until 7 a.m. when they reached an average of 17 and 50 respectively, followed by an upward trend throughout the day.
Owen explained that the changes were “designed to maximize resources and meet student demand where it exists,” but some are concerned that the library‘s current layout is still not quite meeting students’ needs.
“As a university, we aim to educate students and have them attain academic success — longer library hours will help us achieve [this] mission,” said Fran Wdowczyk, special advisor to the chief administrative officer and chair of the study space working committee advocating for the increase of 24/7 study spaces on campus.
“Some students have approached me troubled with the reduced hours,” said Scarborough Campus Students’ Union VP Academics Sulaimaan Abdus-Samad. “They just want a place where they can focus for long periods of time and not have to think of leaving at a certain hour.”
Third-year student Philip So has his own reservations. “Though a 24-hour service is ideal, we are throwing away resources by keeping the library open when less than one per cent of the [student body] is using it,” said So.
The Hazel McCallion Academic Learning Centre is the library at UTM, a campus of similar size to UTSC. It holds extended hours until midnight and also offers 24/7 services only around exam periods.
“UTSC has some of the longest hours among the U of T libraries,” asserts Owen, but Wdowczyk believes that there is still room for improvement.
“Increasing hours is a move that will propel the students towards success, and we will continue to work with the library so that the needs of students are realized.”
