For Reading Period, Lamont Adjusts Weekend Hours

With reading period starting on Saturday, staying up late and missing meals won't be the only schedule adjustments undergraduates make as they prepare for final exams.

Some libraries on campus are changing their hours and accessibility to accommodate the deluge of cranky students cramming at the last minute before their exams.

From when it opens at 9 a.m. on Saturday, Lamont Library will remain open for 24 hours a day until the end of final exams—a yearly practice that extends the library’s weekend hours in an effort to provide students with quiet study spaces before the College’s exam period begins.

During the semester, Lamont is open 24 hours from Monday through Thursday. Lamont serves as a research library and study space for all Harvard ID card holders.

But not all Harvard libraries are extending their hours in preparation for reading period: Cabot Library, the Kennedy School of Government Library, and several others will maintain their usual hours throughout the week.

The Law School’s library will not change its hours during reading period, but it will limit which students may study there, according to Harvard Law School Library Executive Director Jocelyn Kennedy.

“During fall and spring reading and exam periods, HUID access to the Harvard Law School Library is limited to Harvard Law School students, faculty and staff” according to the Harvard Law School Library website. Other HUID card holders "must check in at the Circulation Desk for access.”

Some undergraduates plan on utilizing the extra hours at Lamont, while others say they will miss studying in the Law School’s library.

Jillian T. McEneaney ’21 said she “uses the Law School library as quiet place to study away from the stressed undergraduates that are always in Lamont."

“I am disappointed that I won’t be able to study for my exams there,” she said. She added that she will likely be “spending more time in Lamont” because of the extended hours.

Isaiah O. S. J. Michalski ’21 said he splits his studying time between Cabot and Lamont libraries.

“Cabot seems better suited for STEM related studies, while Lamont has a very cozy humanities atmosphere,” he said. During reading period, he said he plans to mainly continue splitting his study time between the two libraries.

"If I really need to focus,” Michalski said, “I will go to the stacks.”