Should the Campus Library Be Always Opened? Essay

Introduction

It has been established that the library offers very important services in colleges and universities which students could not do without. Many school administrators can now come out publicly and comfortably say that library has provided a solution to the gathering of information by students. Almost all the campus libraries are full research facilities supporting the teaching needs of faculty, staff, and students. The library staff is there to provide research assistance and introduction in identifying and using various resources (Anderson, 1999). Therefore any campus library has specialists who play a role in:

• They are consulting with students in the hope of meeting their research needs.
• They are helping students to select library materials in assigned subject areas.
• We are collaborating with students and faculty on projects.
• I am communicating with various campus departments concerning research materials availability.
• We are providing research services and scheduled references.
• Assisting students in person, by phone, or e-mail
• Helping with research.

Due to the many services that the campus library provides, there is a need for it to operate for 24 hours, 7 days a week, to ensure that both the students and staff fully exploit it (Kreiser, 1991).

Back Ground information

In the past twenty years, the campus library has experienced extreme digitization of its resources. The students are able to get access to bibliographic resources that define on-site library service anywhere, anytime. Therefore, using the library facilities is no longer a problem for most students since they know where to get particular books. Campus planners have an impact on the attendance frequency of the library. The planners need to consider library users’ need for quiet time by locating a library where there is a minimal disturbance. The off-site computer is really changing and developing, but it cannot replace a campus library. Library reading culture should be encouraged by ensuring that the library services honor and meet the need of every library user (Grigsby, 1993).

Reasons for opening the campus library 24hrs a day and seven days a week

The campus library should be virtually open at all times to meet all the needs of its users. In this era of technology, many Campus libraries have been computerized. This has enabled the libraries to run smoothly without hitches. Similarly, book theft has been reduced to a minimum. The technology needs to be fully utilized, and that is why the library should be open at all times. Accessing the internet in the campus library has enabled many students to be able to catch up on current discoveries, which work to improve their innovative minds. The students are able to get hold of current news as fast as possible and as soon as they make headlines. Opening the library at all times will also solve the problem of overcrowding. Let’s look at a scenario where there are 10,000 students on campus, all of who have to access a library that cannot be able to contain the number at once. Hence, if the library is made open at all times, students will be able to plan their time well and decide on the appropriate time to visit it (Geiger, 1995).

On every campus, there are various programs that cater to different students. There are those students who attend lectures during the day, while there are those who go to lectures at night. These two groups of students will have totally different schedules when it comes to visiting the library. Therefore, the library needs to be open throughout to make sure that it caters to these two groups of students. At times, students need to beat deadlines for writing research papers. They can only do this if they have access to the library at all times.

Over the weekends, most students do not have lectures. Many find this to be an opportunity to visit the library and do their assignments, and write research papers. At the same time, newspapers and magazines in the library can be read by the students at this time. The importance of reading magazines and Newspapers is to keep abreast of current affairs information. Opening the library at all times will serve to improve the reading culture of students on campus. This is important as reading on different subjects will strengthen students’ intelligence quotient and improve their way of thinking (Thomas, 2004).

Conclusion

Any Campus that supports academic pursuits should be in a position to ensure that its library is a place where students enjoy reading from. It can only do this by making sure that it plans and designs the library in such a way that the library users experience the minimum of destructions. A Campus should make it its duty to make sure that the services offered by its library are made available to the students at all times. Especially in this era of technology, there should be constant, maximum tapping of it so that the students get the best quality of education. The frequency of opening a campus library reveals to the library users the extent to which the school cares about its academic performance and success. It has been established that the library is the sole owner of services that tend to retain their essential value in spite of changes to the way in which they are presented. (Anderson, 1999). For this reason, it cannot be stressed further that the library ought to be open 24 Hrs, 7 days a week, to ensure that the services it provides are exploited by all campus library users.

References

1. Allcorn & Grigsby, M. (1993): Developing an academic library in Nigata, Japan. Branch campus of Southern Illinois University, 13-21.
2. Anderson, S.M. (1999): Planning for the future. Combining a community and college library. Library of St. Petersburg Junior College branch campus combines with local public library. Melbourne Press, U.S.
3. Bean, R. Frazier, & Kreiser, B (1991): Staffing off-campus libraries. The Fifth Off-Campus Library Services Conference Proceedings. Central Michigan University.
4. Espinal, J. & Geiger, (1995): Information literacy: boost to the Internet and beyond. The Seventh Off-Campus Library Services Conference Proceedings.Mount Pleasant. Central Michigan University.
5. Thomas, M. (2004): Library services for a branch campus. A partnership between Mississippi State University-Meridian Branch and Meridian Community College. Community & Junior College Libraries.Prentice press, U.S.