Library Cannot Increase Hours

Following the extension of hours at Yale's Sterling Memorial Library, Phillip J. McNiff, Assistant in Charge of Lamont Library, said yesterday that "It just can't be done here. I don't see how Yale can possibly afford to extend library hours, especially when operational costs are rising. Right now the additional expense is too great for the College."

A week ago, Yale's Library Committee responded to agitation by the Yale Daily News for later hours, and extended the closing time for several rooms in the Library from ten until midnight.

Editors of the News took their cue from Princeton, where a midnight closing hour for Firestone Library was reinstated at the beginning of the term, following undergraduate and faculty resentment.

Last year, a movement for increased hours at Lamont Library was initiated by the Freshman Union Committee, which requested longer hours during the week, and the use of Lamont on Sundays. McNiff objected that Lamont would serve only as a very costly study hall, and he suggested using the basement of Memorial Church for a Sunday study hall. He claims, however, that his recommendation was not followed up by the freshmen.