Lamont’s 24/5 Hours Will Stay

Denizens of Lamont Library have reason to rejoice, as the library will shift permanently to a 24-hour schedule during the academic workweek after a two-year pilot program that will end this month.

“It’s amazing to us how well it was received,” said Associate Librarian for Collection Management Marilyn Wood. “It was very evident to us that it was something the students were using and saw great value in.”

Lamont’s current ‘24/5’ schedule is part of a two-year pilot program started in the fall of 2005. During the academic year, Lamont library stays open continuously from 8 a.m. on Sunday to 9:45 p.m. on Friday as well as on Saturday from 8 a.m. to 9:45 p.m.

Prior to the fall of 2005, Lamont was open until 12:45 a.m. at the latest on weeknights.

Harvard College Library’s decision to make the hours permanent resulted from an examination of library traffic and use patterns following the initiation of the pilot program, said Harvard College Library (HCL) Director of Communication Beth Brainard.

Lamont established its new hours in 2005 partly in response to repeated student calls for a 24-hour library. A 2004 Undergraduate Council (UC) report authored by former UC President John S. Haddock ’07 and current UC President Ryan A. Petersen ’08, found that 92 percent of undergraduates contacted through a phone survey supported extending library hours.

“Given that most schools have students centers and libraries that are open for 24-hour periods, it seemed notably absent at Harvard,” Petersen said yesterday.

Students working in the Lamont Library Cafe—which opened this past fall—expressed support for making the 24-hour schedule permanent.

“It gives people a place to go if they need to work,” said Peter Zhou ’07, adding that he has on occasion studied in Lamont until 6 a.m.

“People have different studying patterns, and this definitely is accomodating,” Dilshoda Z. Yergasheva ’09 said.

But Chiazotam N. Ekekezie ’08 said she began to avoid Lamont since it moved to the 24/5 schedule.

“You’ll see people who sleep here, wake up in the morning, and have a bottle of mouthwash,” Ekekezie said. “People eat here and move in here.”

Although a 2006 evaluation had raised questions of student conduct, Brainard said the pilot program proved the feasibility of the 24-hour regime.

“The students use the library, they seem to appreciate it,” she said. “The problems that arose weren’t unmanageable.”

According to Wood, the UC was not actively involved in the decision to make the change permanent.

“I think this decision was fairly obvious to everyone involved, so my understanding of it was there wasn’t much contention over it,” Petersen said. “I don’t think students could imagine Lamont any other way than 24/5, except maybe 24/7.”

—Christian B. Flow contributed to the reporting of this story.

—Staff writer David Jiang can be reached at djiang@fas.harvard.edu.