A Carrel of One’s Own

Many Harvard students owe much of their sanity and their academic careers to the existence of a 24-hour library during the school week. Nearly three years since Harvard College Library (HCL) first approved a 24/5 Lamont, students continue to use the library for quiet study space on school nights, when exams and paper deadlines beckon. It is now time to extend that promise to Friday and Saturday nights.

The onset of reading period erodes the distinction between weekdays and weekends. Classes no longer meet during the week, and finals are administered on Saturdays as well as weekdays. During exam period, HCL tries to accommodate students’ needs by keeping Lamont open until 12:45 am on Friday and Saturday nights rather than closing at 9:45 pm—but the three hour extension is simply not enough. Given the arbitrariness of the distinction between weekday and weekend come exam time, HCL should keep Lamont open 24 hours a day on weekends as well.

To rectify the gap between library hours and exam schedules, some argue that the College might choose instead to stop administering finals on Saturdays. This option would not be practical, however, as the absence of Saturday finals would cramp the already loaded finals schedule, resulting in more cases in which students have to take two finals on the same day. Rather than try to alter the exam schedule, it is time for a 24/7 Lamont during reading and exam period.

Moreover, even when students are not in the throes of exams, many would benefit from extended library hours on Friday and Saturday nights. Thesis and midterm seasons in particular often require that students study on the weekends as well as weeknights. And, during the regular school year, weekends are often the most difficult times to study in one’s room because of loud dorm parties. While some House libraries may be open through the night, students often face a lack of information—as the HCL website does not list House library hours. And even those Houses libraries, like Adams, that are permanently open, often are rendered useless by loud events in adjoining rooms. To accommodate students who cannot study in their rooms on the weekends, there should always be at least one quiet, conveniently located study space open on Friday and Saturday nights after Lamont closes.

On such nights, when students are staying out late studying, legitimate concerns about student safety arise. In lieu of such concerns, the College should provide for student safety by instituting a more regular shuttle schedule that takes students directly from the library to residential areas at late hours of the night.

In an atmosphere fraught with stress, students who wish to study should always be able to do so. The provision of a quiet and easily accessible study space is a demand that any college should be happy to accommodate.