McNiff Agrees on Freshman Lack Of Adequate Late Study Facilities

College and library officials, the Student Council, and the Union Committee have agreed on the lack of suitable studying facilities for freshmen after 10 p.m., Philip J. McNiff, Assistant College Librarian, said last night.

McNiff, speaking on the Student Council program over WHRB, added that upperclassmen's complaints are only "partially justified." But it is still unlikely that the Student Council plan to keep Lamont Library open an additional 20 hours each week will be adopted, he said.

The main objection to keeping the library open an extra two hours each weeknight, and from 2 p.m. until midnight on Sundays is the vastly increased cost. The 20 percent increase in library hours would cost $20,000 per year, McNiff said.

"And if we allow one library to remain open later we will receive legitimate complaints from the Law and Business School students about their facilities, and particularly from the graduate students to whom Widener is essential," he added.

Hevy Sunday Use

There is a greater chance of Lamont opening on Sunday afternoons than of extended hours on weeknights. "While statistics of late hour usage during exam periods show a sharp drop between 10 p.m. and midnight, and only half as many people in the library at 10:30 as at 8:30," McNiff said, "the Sunday attendance was usually high."

The extra two hours a night would also create serious staff problems, since state law prevent girls from working in the library after 10 p.m. "It would be difficult to get male help for Lamont," McNiff continued, "Especially of the calibre of the staff we have now."

State five laws would prevent opening only one level of the library, since there would not be the required number of exits.