Students Overcrowd Library During Finals

By: Alaina Gizzo
Posted In: Opinion

It is not surprising to any veteran Salve student to experience extreme over-crowding at McKillop Library during finals week and the week preceding it. Friends and classmates often need to plan ahead in grabbing a table before none are left. When times become so desperate, some students resort to taking advantage of the Newport Public Library or even find some haunts downtown, like Empire, which often takes on extended hours for the Salve finals week.

This sudden interest in seeking an ideal realm to focus on their studies within is by no means shocking, that is when students actually use these areas for academic purposes. One quick stroll through the first floor of McKillop will reveal many students using the university computers for networking websites like Facebook or for entertainment on websites like Youtube. Some students will sit alone at a six-person table and simply goof around on their laptops for hours on end.

For someone like me, whose three research projects required frequent trips to the library in order to obtain research materials, this type of behavior is appalling. Big, lofty books of literary criticism are not entirely portable and therefore create the need to use a table. Perhaps the students who have been using the tables to remain on Facebook for hours do not need a full table to themselves to continue procrastinating any further than they already have.

It’s not as if one student’s workload is any more important or difficult than another’s, or that certain students are more deserving of using the library than others. However, using the library for non-academic purposes not only seems silly, it borderlines a misuse of it.

Some may argue that all students pay tuition to use the library and may use the library in any way they see fit, even if that means constantly using it as a means for procrastination or social interaction. This makes about as much sense as going to Rodgers Recreational Center to study for a psychology test or trying to lift weights in O’Hare.

This semester the library conducted a test run of remaining open 24 hours during the week before finals as well as finals week itself. This time extension may help certain students who do prefer to study in the library during finals week, but this certainly does not help with library over-crowding.

The packed nature of the library is simply something that individuals must tolerate; however, this consistent misuse of the library and its resources has become a serious and unnecessary issue. During such stressful times it seems as though the Salve student body may be lacking something simple-consideration for others.