Loyalist College library reduces hours — not all students happy with changes

Loyalist College library stacks. Photo by John R. Moodie.

By John R. Moodie

BELLEVILLE – This fall Loyalist College’s library reduced the hours it is open on weeknights and Sundays, and some students are upset with the changes.

“The people that do use the library during the time that the hours have been reduced are quite stressed,” says student president Chantel Johnston.

“One thing that did come up is that they would like their extended hours back,” says Johnston.

Every fall and winter Loyalist College student government conducts a student survey.

This year’s fall survey asked nearly a thousand students if they were affected by the reduction in library hours.

The results from the survey indicated students were generally concerned with the changes at the library.

Staff at the Parrott Centre did their own analysis. It indicated library usage markedly declined weeknights between seven and nine, and all day Sundays.

“It just didn’t really make a lot sense to continue hours when it wasn’t used for the purpose it is there for,” says Ross Danaher, Director of Library and Research Services.

Danaher says there has been minimal library use of physical resources and digital databases during these hours.

“It becomes an issue of justifying your existence. Why stay open when nobody is here?”

Danaher says he does not believe services have been impacted in a negative way because students still have access to electronic resources. He says the libraries databases are available online.

Danaher says this “takes away the need for people to be physically here in the library. They can do their research anywhere else.”

Johnston says the changes are not affecting students college-wide, but it is affecting certain programs significantly. She said nursing students are particularly affected by the reduction in library hours.

“They are looking for access to the textbooks. A lot of them do not purchase those books because they are expensive. They are heavy. They are hard to carry around,” says Johnston.

She says Justice Studies is another program that heavily relies on library resources.

Johnston says students “are very concerned that the will not be able to get their stuff done in time.”

She says this is a cause for concern. “This is a student experience; they need to be able to access the library.”

Johnston says although the survey was informative, students need speak up if any about the library changes if anything is to happen.

“I really need students who are concerned about the hours to tell me exactly why they concerned and how it is affecting them.”