UCO 24 hour library - a success?

According to the UCO student government body it was.

"The 24-hour library was an amazing alternative. It gave students somewhere to study and hang out without having to cram local 24-hour restaurants," O'Brien said.

I don't know - part of what I loved about my undergraduate experience was studying for debate tournaments or finals at the 24 hour restaurant. Snacking on chili cheese fries and watching all the drunk cowboys/girls stumbling in around 2:00am to grab their pile o' fried goodness they called breakfast. Every once in a while we'd help the waitress, "Bee-hive Bev", pour coffee and pick up tables when she got too busy. It was a great way to build camaraderie with those outside our major. And also see a slice of life in which most of us didn't participate.

Hines was also very appreciative of the hard work the library workers and volunteers put in during the week. He said their efforts to work late in the night helped make the 24-hour library a success.

"We are very thankful for library volunteers and staff for their long hours they put in over finals week," said Hines.

As a thank you to all the library staff who helped out during the week, Hines declared January 14, 2008 as Library appreciation day at UCO.

Okay - so this part did make me laugh. Volunteers, eh? I think Hines is unaware who actually works an academic library. I can guarantee you it wasn't volunteers - but full time staff and part time students who have to secure and monitor a building during strange hours and throwing off their normal routines for a student body that believes their college education is a commercial commodity and not a life long personal growth investment.

Hines hopes to write a bill that would keep the library open even later. His plan is to extend the library hours from 11 p.m. to 2:00 a.m. He said that he wants to do this without having to use student activity fees. Passing this bill is one of Hines major goals of the semester.

Their going to pay to keep the library opened later with student activity fees? So that would be staffing, security, maintenance, electricity, etc for a 4 story building. That's a big chunk of change those kids are proposing...I sure hope UCO has super cheap credit hours because it's going to get awful expensive come tuition time with all those fees.

Actually I would be curious to see what the library door count stats said for those extended hours -- if it really matched the perception.